rule-audit

Rule Audit

When to invoke

• After adding/modifying any rule
• After supervibe:sync-rules completes
• Periodic (every 90 days as part of supervibe:audit)

Expert Operating Standard

Follow docs/references/skill-expert-operating-standard.md: start from source of truth, preserve retrieval evidence, apply scope safety, use real producers with runtime receipts for durable delegated outputs, verify before completion claims, and keep confidence below gate when evidence is partial.

Step 0 — Read source of truth (required)

1. Read all selected host adapter rule files, e.g. .codex/rules/*.md in Codex or selected host rules files in Claude Code
2. Read MEMORY.md for prior incidents
3. Read the active host instruction file for mandatory rule references

Decision tree

Two rules require incompatible behavior in the same context
  -> CRITICAL contradiction; recommend one canonical rule or an explicit precedence note.

Rules repeat the same broad section or checklist
  -> Run validate:rule-content-quality and recommend linking to the canonical rule instead of copying filler.

Mandatory rule lacks rationale, scope, examples, enforcement, or related rules
  -> MAJOR content gap; route to rules-curator with the missing section list.

Rule references a deleted path, old command, or old host surface
  -> STALE reference; route to supervibe:adapt or a narrow rule update.

Fix would delete, merge, or change mandatory enforcement
  -> Require explicit approval before mutation.

Procedure

1. Contradictions: grep across rules for conflicting directives (e.g., "always X" vs "never X" for similar context)
2. Redundancy: detect rules saying same thing differently
3. Gaps: known anti-patterns from MEMORY.md not covered by any rule
4. Mandatory consistency: every rule with mandatory: true referenced in the active host instruction file
5. Settings.json deny consistency: every "ban" rule has corresponding deny entry
6. Cross-link integrity: every related-rules reference exists
7. Output ranked findings (CRITICAL contradictions → MAJOR redundancy → MINOR gap)
8. Score with confidence-scoring

Audit dimensions

Dimension	What to inspect	Evidence
Contradiction	Two rules require incompatible behavior for the same context	rule path, heading, quoted short phrase
Redundancy	Rules repeat the same requirement with different wording	canonical rule candidate
Coverage gap	Known incident or anti-pattern lacks a rule	memory entry or incident id
Host drift	Host instruction file omits mandatory rule	host file path and missing rule
Deny mismatch	Rule bans an action but settings do not enforce it	rule path and settings path
Link integrity	related-rules points nowhere	missing rule id
Severity mismatch	rule severity does not match risk	proposed severity and rationale
Staleness	rule references deleted paths, old commands, or old host names	grep evidence

Finding format

Each finding must include:

• severity: CRITICAL, MAJOR, or MINOR;
• category: contradiction, redundancy, gap, drift, deny-mismatch, link, severity, stale;
• affected files;
• direct evidence;
• recommended remediation;
• whether the remediation is safe to automate.

Safety policy

This skill audits and recommends. It does not merge, delete, or rewrite rules by default. Escalate to rules-curator for edits and require explicit approval before:

• deleting a rule,
• merging two rules,
• propagating through sync-rules,
• changing a mandatory rule,
• changing deny settings.

Verification

• All selected rule files were read.
• Active host instruction file was checked for mandatory references.
• related-rules were resolved.
• Findings cite concrete files and sections.
• False-positive risk is stated when wording is similar but not contradictory.
• Recommended follow-up owner is named.
• Audit scope and skipped files are stated.
• Confidence score reflects evidence quality.
• Remediation risk is stated.
• Re-audit command is named.

Output contract

Returns:

• Findings table per category
• Recommended remediation per finding (merge / split / extract / link / add)

Guard rails

• DO NOT: auto-merge or auto-split (suggest only)
• DO NOT: flag false positives (every contradiction has actual conflict)
• ALWAYS: cite specific rule:section per finding

Related

• agents/_meta/rules-curator — primary user
• supervibe:audit — periodic invocation