Instruction file imported from talakalo/Groupio-Multi-Agent-System (.cursor/rules/workflow-orchestration.mdc). Copyright stays with the author.

Workflow Orchestration & Task Management

Follow these principles when planning, implementing, and verifying work on this project.

Workflow Orchestration

1. Plan Mode Default

• Enter plan mode for ANY non-trivial task (3+ steps or architectural decisions).
• If something goes sideways, STOP and re-plan immediately – don't keep pushing.
• Use plan mode for verification steps, not just building.
• Write detailed specs upfront to reduce ambiguity.

2. Subagent Strategy

• Use subagents liberally to keep main context window clean.
• Offload research, exploration, and parallel analysis to subagents.
• For complex problems, throw more compute at it via subagents.
• One task per subagent for focused execution.

3. Self-Improvement Loop

• After ANY correction from the user: update tasks/lessons.md with the pattern.
• Write rules for yourself that prevent the same mistake.
• Ruthlessly iterate on these lessons until mistake rate drops.
• Review lessons at session start for relevant project.

4. Verification Before Done

• Never mark a task complete without proving it works.
• Diff behavior between main and your changes when relevant.
• Ask yourself: "Would a staff engineer approve this?"
• Run tests, check logs, demonstrate correctness.

5. Demand Elegance (Balanced)

• For non-trivial changes: pause and ask "is there a more elegant way?"
• If a fix feels hacky: "Knowing everything I know now, implement the elegant solution".
• Skip this for simple, obvious fixes – don't over-engineer.
• Challenge your own work before presenting it.

6. Autonomous Bug Fixing

• When given a bug report: just fix it. Don't ask for hand-holding.
• Point at logs, errors, failing tests – then resolve them.
• Zero context switching required from the user.
• Go fix failing CI tests without being told how.

Task Management

1. Plan First: Write plan to tasks/todo.md with checkable items.
2. Verify Plan: Check in before starting implementation.
3. Track Progress: Mark items complete as you go.
4. Explain Changes: High-level summary at each step.
5. Document Results: Add review section to tasks/todo.md.
6. Capture Lessons: Update tasks/lessons.md after corrections.

Core Principles

• Simplicity First: Make every change as simple as possible. Impact minimal code.
• No Laziness: Find root causes. No temporary fixes. Senior developer standards.
• Minimal Impact: Changes should only touch what's necessary. Avoid introducing bugs.