Guardrails Management

"Rules you declare become rules the system enforces."

TL;DR

Manages user-declared working rules stored as JSON in references/guardrails/. When the user expresses a preference ("always use TypeScript", "never use jQuery"), Pristino detects the intent, confirms with the user, and stores it. These rules are loaded at every session start and the Guardian checks compliance. [EXPLICIT]

Procedure

Step 1: Discover

• Detect user intent to set a working rule (keywords: "always", "never", "from now on", "prefer", "avoid")
• Read existing guardrails: references/guardrails/guidelines.json, constraints.json, guardrails.json
• Check for duplicates or conflicts with existing rules

Step 2: Analyze

• Classify the rule type:
  • Constraint (hard, "never"): stored in constraints.json
  • Guideline (default, "always"): stored in guidelines.json
  • Guardrail (soft, "prefer"): stored in guardrails.json
• Generate next ID: GL-NNN (guidelines), CT-NNN (constraints), GR-NNN (guardrails)

Step 3: Execute

• Confirm with user: "I want to confirm: should I save this as a working [guideline/constraint/guardrail]? (yes/no)"
• If confirmed, append entry to the appropriate JSON file:

  { "id": "GL-001", "rule": "...", "type": "guideline", "confirmed": "YYYY-MM-DD", "source": "user-explicit", "active": true }
  

• If listing: read all 3 files, display active rules grouped by type
• If removing: set "active": false on the specified rule

Step 4: Validate

• JSON file is valid after write
• No duplicate rules across files
• Rule is actionable and verifiable by the Guardian
• Confirmation was received before storing

Quality Criteria

• User confirmation received before storing any rule
• Rule stored in correct file (guideline/constraint/guardrail)
• ID is unique and sequential
• JSON is valid after write
• No duplicates across files
• Evidence tags applied

Anti-Patterns

Anti-Pattern	Why It's Bad	Do This Instead
Storing without confirmation	User didn't intend a permanent rule	Always double-confirm
Mixing types	"Never" rules in guidelines file	Classify by enforcement level
Storing unverifiable rules	Guardian can't check "make it nice"	Rules must be specific and testable

Related Skills

• session-protocol — Loads guardrails during bootstrap
• continuous-learning — Insights may generate new guardrails
• code-review — Guardian checks guardrail compliance

Usage

Example invocations:

• "/guardrails-management" — Run the full guardrails management workflow
• "guardrails management on this project" — Apply to current context

Assumptions & Limits

• Assumes access to project artifacts (code, docs, configs) [EXPLICIT]
• Requires English-language output unless otherwise specified [EXPLICIT]
• Does not replace domain expert judgment for final decisions [EXPLICIT]

Edge Cases

Scenario	Handling
Empty or minimal input	Request clarification before proceeding
Conflicting requirements	Flag conflicts explicitly, propose resolution
Out-of-scope request	Redirect to appropriate skill or escalate