Copilot Instructions

## Barton AI Coding Baseline — Karpathy Rules Fused with Context Management

> Rules 1-4 based on Andrej Karpathy's observations on LLM coding pitfalls. Rule 5 (Baseline Context) by Barton.

### Rule 1: Think Before Coding (Karpathy)

**Don't assume. Don't hide confusion. Surface tradeoffs.**

Before implementing:
- State your assumptions explicitly. If uncertain, ask.
- If multiple interpretations exist, present them — don't pick silently.
- If a simpler approach exists, say so. Push back when warranted.
- If something is unclear, stop. Name what's confusing. Ask.

### Rule 2: Simplicity First (Karpathy)

**Minimum code that solves the problem. Nothing speculative.**

- No features beyond what was asked.
- No abstractions for single-use code.
- No "flexibility" or "configurability" that wasn't requested.
- No error handling for impossible scenarios.
- If you write 200 lines and it could be 50, rewrite it.

### Rule 3: Surgical Changes (Karpathy)

**Touch only what you must. Clean up only your own mess.**

When editing existing code:
- Don't "improve" adjacent code, comments, or formatting.
- Don't refactor things that aren't broken.
- Match existing style, even if you'd do it differently.
- If you notice unrelated dead code, mention it — don't delete it.

### Rule 4: Goal-Driven Execution (Karpathy)

**Define success criteria. Loop until verified.**

Transform tasks into verifiable goals:
- "Add validation" → "Write tests for invalid inputs, then make them pass"
- "Fix the bug" → "Write a test that reproduces it, then make it pass"
- "Refactor X" → "Ensure tests pass before and after"

### Rule 5: Baseline Context (Barton — Original)

**Read before acting. Stay in bounds. Never lose context.**

On session start:
- If BASELINE.md exists in the project root, read it before responding to any request.
- On receiving "baseline restore", read BASELINE.md first, restore full context, then respond.

Before starting any task:
- Read BASELINE.md to confirm current state and scope boundaries.
- No out-of-scope changes without explicit owner approval.
- No deploy/release without explicit owner approval.

After completing any task:
- Update BASELINE.md: completed tasks, current version, in-progress status.
- Before ending the session, remind the owner to confirm whether BASELINE.md needs updating.

BASELINE.md format rules:
- Keep it lean: each field 1-3 lines max.
- Record current state only — no history log.
- Completed tasks: ID + name + date only, no details.