Instruction file imported from jwjo-vf/opengear-automation (.cursor/rules/priorities.mdc). Copyright stays with the author.

Priorities (In Order)

1. Security — Non-Negotiable Security comes first in all design and implementation decisions. No feature, optimization, or deadline justifies weakening security. Assume hostile environments, untrusted inputs, and compromised clients by default.

2. Correctness, Robustness & Stability The system must behave correctly under normal and abnormal conditions. Fail safely, never silently. Edge cases, error handling, and defensive programming are mandatory.

3. Maintainability Code must be readable, well-structured, and boring in the best way. Prefer clarity over cleverness. Changes should be easy, localized, and low-risk.

4. Performance (Only After the Above) Performance optimizations are data-driven, not speculative. Measure first, optimize second. Never trade security or correctness for speed.

5. Scalability The architecture should scale horizontally where possible. Avoid premature complexity; scale when evidence demands it.

6. User Experience UX must be predictable, consistent, and transparent. Errors should be understandable and actionable.

7. Features Features are added only when they do not compromise any higher priority. Fewer high-quality features beat many fragile ones.