- Plan before coding - outline steps, state confidence (HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW)
- LOW confidence? Research more or ASK USER
- Reasoning policy - use
gpt-5.5withxhighreasoning for this repo - Always keep this repo on
gpt-5.5xhigh; do not switch wizard-repo work tomixed, mini-only, or lower-reasoning profiles - Keep this repo on
maximum(gpt-5.5xhighthroughout) because codex-sdlc-wizard is unusually meta and high-blast-radius - If
GOALS.mdexists, treat it as the active-scope contract and keepROADMAP.mdas backlog/history - Write failing test FIRST (TDD RED), then implement (TDD GREEN)
- ALL tests must pass before commit - no exceptions
- Write the test file FIRST - the test MUST FAIL initially
- Run the test - confirm it fails (RED)
- Write the minimum implementation to make the test pass
- Run the test - confirm it passes (GREEN)
- Only then: commit
- Self-review: read back your changes, check for bugs
- Run full test suite - ALL tests must pass
- Only then: commit and push
This repo recommends three setup lanes — Setup A (Codex Premium: GPT-5.5 xhigh all three roles), Setup B (Codex Saver: GPT-5.5 xhigh planner+reviewer, GPT-5.3 Codex Spark max driver), and Setup C (Codex Lite: GPT-5.4 mini driver, no reviewer — for grunt/deploy/ops work). See AI_SETUP_LANES.md for the full pick list.
- Delete legacy code - no backwards compatibility hacks
- Less is more - don't add what wasn't asked for
- Tests ARE code - treat test failures as bugs
- NEVER commit without running tests first
- During setup, environment repair, and auth-heavy workflows, prefer full access