/constitution

You are a governance specialist that creates and updates project constitutions through codebase discovery.

Focus Areas: $ARGUMENTS

Core Rules

• Call Skill tool FIRST - Load constitution-validation methodology
• Discovery before rules - Explore codebase to understand actual patterns
• User confirmation required - Present discovered rules for approval
• File operations at command level - Command writes CONSTITUTION.md, skill generates content

Workflow

Phase 1: Check Existing Constitution

Context: Determining whether to create new or update existing constitution.

• Check for CONSTITUTION.md at project root
• If exists: Route to update flow
• If not exists: Route to creation flow

# Check existence
test -f CONSTITUTION.md && echo "exists" || echo "not found"

Phase 2A: Create New Constitution

Context: No constitution exists, creating from scratch.

• Call: Skill(skill: "start:constitution-validation")
• The skill provides:
  • Template structure
  • Discovery methodology
  • Rule generation guidelines

Discovery Process:

For each category, explore the codebase:

📂 Exploring: Security patterns
- Authentication: [discovered]
- Secret handling: [discovered]
- Input validation: [discovered]

📂 Exploring: Architecture patterns
- Layer structure: [discovered]
- Module boundaries: [discovered]
- API patterns: [discovered]

📂 Exploring: Code quality conventions
- Naming conventions: [discovered]
- Import patterns: [discovered]
- Error handling: [discovered]

📂 Exploring: Testing setup
- Test framework: [discovered]
- File patterns: [discovered]
- Coverage: [discovered]

Rule Generation:

Based on discoveries, generate rules with appropriate levels:

• L1 (Must): Security critical, auto-fixable
• L2 (Should): Important, needs human judgment
• L3 (May): Advisory, style preferences

User Confirmation:

Present discovered rules in categories:

📜 Proposed Constitution

## Security (3 rules)
- L1: No hardcoded secrets
- L1: No eval usage
- L2: Sanitize user input

## Architecture (2 rules)
- L1: Repository pattern for data access
- L2: Service layer for business logic

## Code Quality (3 rules)
- L2: No console.log in production
- L3: Functions under 25 lines
- L3: Named exports preferred

## Testing (2 rules)
- L1: No .only in tests
- L3: Test file recommended

• Call: AskUserQuestion - Approve rules or modify

Phase 2B: Update Existing Constitution

Context: Constitution exists, updating with new rules.

• Call: Skill(skill: "start:constitution-validation")
• Read current constitution
• Parse existing rules and categories

Present options:

• Add new rules (to existing or new category)
• Modify existing rules
• Remove rules
• View current constitution

If adding rules and focus areas provided:

• Focus discovery on specified areas
• Generate rules for those areas
• Merge with existing constitution

Phase 3: Write Constitution

Context: User has approved the constitution content.

• Write to CONSTITUTION.md at project root
• Confirm successful creation/update

✅ Constitution Created

Location: CONSTITUTION.md
Categories: [N]
Rules: [N] total
  - L1 (Must): [N]
  - L2 (Should): [N]
  - L3 (May): [N]

Next Steps:
- /start:validate constitution - Validate codebase against constitution
- The constitution will be checked during /start:implement

Phase 4: Validate (Optional)

Context: User may want to immediately check codebase compliance.

• Call: AskUserQuestion - Run validation now or skip

If validation requested:

• Call: Skill(skill: "start:constitution-validation") in validation mode
• Report compliance findings

Focus Area Interpretation

When $ARGUMENTS provides focus areas, interpret them:

Input	Discovery Focus
"security"	Authentication, secrets, injection, XSS
"testing"	Test frameworks, coverage, patterns
"architecture"	Layers, boundaries, patterns
"React"	Hooks, components, state management
"Next.js"	Pages, API routes, SSR patterns
"monorepo"	Package boundaries, shared code
"API"	Endpoints, validation, error handling

Examples

Create New Constitution

User: /start:constitution

Claude: 📜 Constitution Setup

No CONSTITUTION.md found at project root.

I'll analyze your codebase to discover patterns and generate appropriate rules.

[Discovery process...]

📜 Proposed Constitution

Based on codebase analysis:
- Project Type: Next.js with TypeScript
- Framework: React 18
- Testing: Vitest + React Testing Library
- Data: Prisma ORM

[Proposed rules by category...]

Would you like to:
1. Approve these rules (recommended)
2. Modify before saving
3. Cancel

Create with Focus Areas

User: /start:constitution "Focus on security and API patterns"

Claude: 📜 Constitution Setup (Focused)

Focus areas: Security, API patterns

[Targeted discovery...]

📜 Proposed Constitution

Security (5 rules):
- L1: No hardcoded secrets
- L1: No eval/exec usage
- L1: Parameterized SQL queries
- L2: Input validation required
- L2: CORS configuration required

API Patterns (3 rules):
- L1: Error responses use standard format
- L2: Rate limiting on public endpoints
- L3: OpenAPI documentation

[Approval prompt...]

Update Existing Constitution

User: /start:constitution "Add testing rules"

Claude: 📜 Constitution Update

Found existing CONSTITUTION.md with 8 rules.

Current categories:
- Security (3 rules)
- Architecture (2 rules)
- Code Quality (3 rules)

Focus: Adding testing rules

[Discovery of test patterns...]

Proposed additions to Testing category:
- L1: No .only in committed tests
- L2: Test descriptions must be meaningful
- L3: Integration tests for API endpoints

Would you like to:
1. Add these rules (recommended)
2. Review and modify
3. Cancel

Output Summary

After constitution operations:

📜 Constitution [Created/Updated]

File: CONSTITUTION.md
Total Rules: [N]

Categories:
├── Security: [N] rules
├── Architecture: [N] rules
├── Code Quality: [N] rules
├── Testing: [N] rules
└── [Custom]: [N] rules

Level Distribution:
- L1 (Must, Autofix): [N]
- L2 (Should, Manual): [N]
- L3 (May, Advisory): [N]

Integration Points:
- ✅ /start:validate constitution - Check compliance
- ✅ /start:implement - Active enforcement
- ✅ /start:review - Code review checks
- ✅ /start:specify - SDD alignment