codebase-search-discipline

Shared search discipline rules for all reviewer agents. Prevents false positive and over-claimed findings by enforcing source-branch search, scoped queries, PR diff checks, build status evidence, and claim-strength matching. Invoke before making any claim about what exists, doesn't exist, or is "only/all/always" true in a codebase.

Codebase Search Discipline

Before making any claim about what exists or doesn't exist in a codebase — or making only, all, always, never, or every claims from search results — you MUST follow the search discipline rules.

Load the Rules

Read the full discipline document:

reference/codebase-search-discipline.md

Apply the 7 Rules

After loading, enforce every rule on every finding you produce:

Search the source branch — not the target branch
Scope searches — avoid timeouts on large repos
Check the PR diff — definitions may be in the PR itself
Respect green builds — if it compiles, don't claim it won't
Escalate to deep review — when verification is uncertain
Qualify uncertainty — use "unable to find" not "doesn't exist"
Match claim strength to evidence — exhaustive wording requires exhaustive evidence

A false positive damages reviewer credibility more than a missed finding.