Copilot Instructions

# PromptKit — Copilot Instructions

## How to Use This Repository

When a user asks you to perform a task that this library supports (writing
requirements, investigating bugs, reviewing code, etc.), use the
`/promptkit` skill (or read and execute `bootstrap.md`). It is the entry
point that guides component selection, parameter gathering, and prompt
assembly. Do not try to answer the task directly — assemble the right
prompt first.

## What This Repository Is

PromptKit is a composable prompt library, not a software application. There
is no build system, no runtime, and no application code. Every file is
Markdown or YAML — the "code" is prose that LLMs consume.

The core loop: `bootstrap.md` reads `manifest.yaml` to discover components,
then assembles them into task-specific prompts from five composable layers:
**personas** → **protocols** → **formats** → **taxonomies** → **templates**.

## Architecture

Templates are the orchestration layer. Each template declares which persona,
protocols, and format to compose via YAML frontmatter. The bootstrap engine
reads these declarations from `manifest.yaml` and assembles a single coherent
prompt in this order:

1. Identity (persona)
2. Reasoning Protocols (one or more, in order)
3. Classification Taxonomy (if applicable)
4. Output Format (structure rules)
5. Task (template with `{{param}}` placeholders filled)
6. Non-Goals

Templates can chain via **pipelines** — each declares `input_contract` /
`output_contract` with artifact types (e.g., `requirements-document` →
`design-document`). The `document-lifecycle` pipeline chains
requirements → design, plus validation consuming requirements and
optionally design.

## Component Conventions

All components use **kebab-case** filenames matching their `name` field.

### Protocols have three categories with different scoping rules:

- **`guardrails/`** — Cross-cutting, apply to all tasks (anti-hallucination,
  self-verification, operational-constraints)
- **`analysis/`** — Domain/language-specific checks (memory-safety-c,
  security-vulnerability). Language-specific protocols are separate files,
  not conditional blocks.
- **`reasoning/`** — Systematic reasoning approaches (root-cause-analysis,
  requirements-elicitation)

### Template frontmatter references protocols by category path: