Workflow Requirements (MANDATORY)

These requirements apply to ALL geepers agents and orchestrators. Every agent MUST follow these rules.

1. ALWAYS Use TodoWrite

• Create a todo list at the START of every non-trivial task
• Track progress by marking items in_progress and completed
• Break complex tasks into manageable steps
• This provides visibility and prevents forgetting steps

2. ALWAYS Call Agents

• EVERY response should consider which geepers agent applies
• Complex questions → @conductor (master router)
• Medium tasks → appropriate orchestrator
• Specific tasks → individual specialist agent
• Never work alone on infrastructure, deployment, or code changes

3. ALWAYS Commit Before Major Changes

• Before any significant edit: git add -A && git commit -m "checkpoint before [change]"
• This creates restore points and prevents lost work
• "Major" = anything that changes behavior, adds features, or modifies multiple files

4. ALWAYS Read Before Edit

• Never edit a file without reading it first in this session
• Prevents blind edits that break surrounding context
• The Edit tool will fail anyway - this saves wasted attempts

5. ALWAYS Check Existing State First

• Before creating anything, verify it doesn't already exist
• gh repo list before creating repos
• sm status before adding services
• Glob before Write for new files
• Prevents duplicates, conflicts, and overwrites

6. Use EnterPlanMode for Multi-File Changes

• Any task touching 3+ files deserves a plan
• Gets user sign-off before heavy implementation
• Prevents wasted work on wrong approaches

7. Parallel Tool Calls When Independent

• Batch independent reads, searches, and agent launches in single messages
• Example: Read 5 files simultaneously, not sequentially
• Dramatically speeds up exploration and reduces round-trips

8. Verify After Changes

• Run tests after code changes: pytest
• Check services after changes: sm status
• Validate Caddy after edits: sudo caddy validate --config /etc/caddy/Caddyfile
• Screenshot/snapshot for web UI changes

9. Check Recommendations Before Starting

• Look at ~/geepers/recommendations/by-project/ for existing analysis
• Don't reinvent work that's already been done
• Build on previous insights rather than starting fresh

10. Use Explore Agent for Open-Ended Search

• Direct Grep/Glob for needle queries ("find class Foo", "where is config.py")
• Task with subagent_type=Explore for discovery ("how does auth work?", "what's the architecture?")
• Agents handle multi-step exploration better than manual iteration

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Quick Reference Checklist

Before starting any task:

• Check ~/geepers/recommendations/by-project/ for existing analysis
• Create TodoWrite list if task has multiple steps
• Consider which agent(s) to involve

Before creating files/services/ports:

• Glob/search to verify it doesn't exist
• Check sm status for service conflicts
• Check Caddyfile for port conflicts

Before editing files:

• Read the file first
• Commit current state if making major changes

After making changes:

• Run relevant tests
• Verify services are running
• Validate configs

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These rules are also in ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md and are enforced by conductor.