loop-invariants

Loop Invariants

A loop is only "good" if every iteration satisfies all of these invariants.

Single increment of real value: Avoid scope creep; ship something a user notices. (Phase 0 value hypothesis).
Spec before code (SDD): No code without a PLAN.md. (Phase 1).
Eval defined up front: Define success before building.
Surgical diff: Touch only what the request needs.
100% codebase-rule adherence: Follow Repository Pattern, clean architecture, specific guardrails.
Quality gate green: npm run version:validate MUST exit 0. No exceptions.
PR open + CI green: Nothing is "done" until CI says so.
Learning captured: Never repeat a fixed error. Update ITERATION_LOG.md.
Automate the second time: Extract reusable assets so the loop compounds, never repeats toil (Create Skills, Subagents, Scripts).

A loop is only "good" if every iteration satisfies all of these invariants.

Single increment of real value: Avoid scope creep; ship something a user notices. (Phase 0 value hypothesis).
Spec before code (SDD): No code without a PLAN.md. (Phase 1).
Eval defined up front: Define success before building.
Surgical diff: Touch only what the request needs.
100% codebase-rule adherence: Follow Repository Pattern, clean architecture, specific guardrails.
Quality gate green: npm run version:validate MUST exit 0. No exceptions.
PR open + CI green: Nothing is "done" until CI says so.
Learning captured: Never repeat a fixed error. Update ITERATION_LOG.md.
Automate the second time: Extract reusable assets so the loop compounds, never repeats toil (Create Skills, Subagents, Scripts).