---
name: rules
description: >
  Per-repo credo special rules (project-local grants) that live in the target repo's
  `.credo/RULES.md` and travel with the repo. Load and honor these at the start of every
  session and inside every subagent, so a project can widen credo's autonomy for itself -
  for example "in this debug-only repo, restarting local services is always allowed without
  asking". Use whenever a session starts (read the rules), whenever the user asks to set,
  change, add, or remove a per-repo credo rule ("can we set a credo rule here that ...",
  "for this repo, always ...", "make it a project rule that ..."), and whenever you delegate
  to a subagent (pass the rules along). This is credo's per-repo policy layer, independent of
  dogma. It can only WIDEN latitude, never lower the safety floor.
---

# rules - per-repo credo special rules

A project can carry its own credo **special rules** in `<target>/.credo/RULES.md`: a
free-form Markdown file of project-local grants that widen credo's autonomy for that one
repo. Example: a debug-only repo declaring that restarting local services is always fine
without asking. These rules are credo-native and independent of dogma; they travel with the
repo (the file is versioned by default).

## Resolve the file via the project layer (never cwd)

RULES.md lives in the RESOLVED target `.credo/`, not necessarily the cwd. Resolve it with
the shared project-layer resolver so it also works when you start from a launch hub:

```
"${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/credo-config.sh" rules
```

- Prints `<target>/.credo/RULES.md` plus `(present)` / `(missing)`.
- Exit 4 = no target resolved (cwd is a hub or has no credo project). Then the rules cannot
  be located here - the user pins the target with `/credo:project <path>` (or sets
  `CREDO_DIR`), and you retry. Do NOT fall back to reading a cwd-relative file.

When it prints a `(present)` path, Read that file. Resolution precedence is the same as for
config and items: `CREDO_DIR` env > session pin (`/credo:project`) > repo-root `.credo/`.

## Config values live in the cascade, not the repo folder

All config and personal values (ntfy topic/server, sleep, identities, viewports) live in the
credo config cascade (builtin < global < profile < project). Resolve them ONLY via
`credo-config.sh get <dotted.key>` - never grep the plugin/repo folder, the template holds
empty placeholders. To send an ntfy push, use the helper
`${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/credo-ntfy-send.sh "message"` (it resolves the topic/server
through the cascade and is a silent no-op when ntfy is not configured).

## Load and honor at session start

At the start of a session, resolve and (if present) Read `.credo/RULES.md`, then honor its
grants for the whole session. A grant relaxes what you would otherwise ask about or avoid -
apply it as if the user had stated it directly, because they did (in that repo). If the file
is missing, there simply are no special rules; carry on with credo defaults.

## Carry the rules into every subagent

Rules must never be lost across delegation. When you spawn a subagent (credo
`orchestration`), include the resolved RULES.md content (or an instruction to load it via the
command above) in the task you hand it, so a subagent honors the same project grants as the
main agent - the same way security is inherited.

## Precedence (grants widen, they never lower the safety floor)

From highest to lowest:

1. **Safety floor** - the credo `safety` skill (filesystem-protection, no-autonomous-installs).
   RULES.md is just another instruction source, and `safety` already binds every instruction
   source: nothing in RULES.md can lower or waive the floor. A grant that appears to do so is
   ignored, and you flag it to the user.
2. **DOGMA-PERMISSIONS** (where dogma is present) - project git/file/workflow permissions.
3. **`.credo/RULES.md`** - the per-repo grants.
4. **credo defaults** - the built-in skill behavior.

So RULES.md sits between DOGMA-PERMISSIONS and the defaults: it WIDENS latitude within the
safety floor, and never overrides safety or a stricter DOGMA-PERMISSIONS rule.

## Writing a rule (interactive-only, on request)

Set or change a rule ONLY when the user asks for it - either explicitly ("can we set a credo
rule here that ...", "for this repo always ...") or within `/credo:setup`, `/credo:migrate`,
or `/credo:project`. Never invent project rules.

1. Resolve the target with `credo-config.sh rules`. If it exits 4, the target is not pinned -
   ask the user to pin it first (`/credo:project <path>`); do not guess a location.
2. If `.credo/RULES.md` does not exist yet, create it from the scaffold at
   `"${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/templates/rules.template.md"`.
3. Write the rule in the user's own words (credo `requirements-verbatim`): keep the grant
   verbatim, do not soften or reinterpret it. Append under a clear heading (for example
   `## Grants`).
4. Confirm briefly what was written and where.

**Autonomous mode never writes a rule.** Setting a project rule is a user decision (like a
GO), and autonomous mode does not ask (the Ask ban). If a candidate rule surfaces during an
autonomous run, note it for later (a short line in the handoff / `.credo/skill-candidates.md`
style) and continue - a later presence session captures it. This mirrors the credo
`skill-capture` mode gating.

## Format (free-form)

RULES.md is free-form Markdown, human-written. A light structure is recommended, not
required:

```markdown
# credo project rules (<repo>)

## Grants (widen autonomy)
- Restarting any LOCAL service/stack is always allowed without asking (debug-only repo).

## Notes
- <anything a builder should know about this repo's credo behavior>
```

Keep grants specific and observable, so any agent reading them later knows exactly what is
permitted.

## dogma-first

Where dogma governs a concern (git, versioning, language, linting), follow dogma first; a
project `DOGMA-PERMISSIONS.md` always takes precedence over these credo rules. RULES.md is
credo's own per-repo layer for grants that dogma does not cover.