# Agent Operating Rules

> These rules are written for Claude Code but the concepts apply to any AI agent system.

Rules that govern how agents behave in this repo. These live in `.claude/rules/` and are automatically loaded by Claude Code at session start.

| Rule | What it covers |
|------|---------------|
| [tool-research-protocol.md](tool-research-protocol.md) | Mandatory research sequence before recommending any tool, library, or product — fetch official sources, verify repo health, check platform-specific performance |
| [proactive-engineering.md](proactive-engineering.md) | Pre-task consistency checks, post-fix propagation checks, the persistence layer question, new tool checklist |
| [readme-maintenance.md](readme-maintenance.md) | The hybrid README pattern (human README + agent entrypoint), required sections, when to update |