Production-First Rule

Production-First Rule

Production code MUST be created, validated, and committed before test code or infrastructure code.

The Rule

Order of creation:

1. Production implementation
2. Production validation (lint, type check, compile)
3. Tests for the production code
4. Infrastructure/deployment config (if needed)

Why this order:

• Tests written before production code often test assumptions, not reality
• Infrastructure built before code is tested often requires rework
• Production-first ensures the core logic is sound before wrapping it

Pre-Flight Checklist

Before creating ANY test or infrastructure file:

• Production implementation exists and is functional
• Production code passes lint/type-check/compile
• Production code has been read and reviewed
• The interface/API is stable enough to test against

Violation Patterns (NEVER ALLOW)

1. Test stubs before production code — test_foo.py exists but foo.py is empty or missing
2. Infrastructure before code — Terraform/CloudFormation written before the service it deploys
3. Mock-heavy tests with no real implementation — All tests pass against mocks, but the real code is unwritten
4. Deployment config before validation — Dockerfiles, Helm charts written before the app runs locally

Enforcement

When asked to create tests or infrastructure:

1. Check if production code exists
2. If not: prioritize creating production code first
3. If yes but incomplete: complete production code before adding tests
4. If user explicitly asks for tests first: confirm they understand the production-first rule

Test Data Rules

• Test data must be clearly fake or synthetic
• Never use production data in tests without sanitization
• Test fixtures must be version-controlled, not generated ad-hoc
• Mock only external dependencies, not the code under test

Pi Enforcement

When running in pi, the Production-First Rule is supported by the @architectit/pi-guardrails extension:

• Read tracking (Law 1) ensures production code is read before tests reference it
• Scope enforcement prevents test files from pulling production code out of scope
• The MCP bridge (when connected) provides guardrail_mcp with action validate_production_first for explicit verification

See [[guardrails-core]] for the full enforcement coverage map.

Task

Evaluate the current task against the Production-First Rule. Ensure production code exists and is validated before any test or infrastructure code is created. If production code is missing or incomplete, prioritize creating it first.

References

• docs/standards/TEST_PRODUCTION_SEPARATION.md — Full environment separation rules
• docs/workflows/TESTING_VALIDATION.md — Testing workflow and validation gates