Originally published on AI Tech Connect.
The short version One file at the root does not scale. Everything in it is paid for on every request, whether or not it is relevant to the file being edited. Placement is the decision, not prose quality. A rule in the wrong layer is either diluted or missing at the moment it matters. The test is one word. If a rule needs "except in" to be accurate, it is not a root rule. Prohibitions fail without an alternative. The generated-files rule is the case study, and the reason it fails is not carelessness. Design rules so they compose. Put the scope inside the rule, so a directory file only ever has to add. Never rely on precedence to resolve a contradiction you wrote deliberately. Be honest about the payoff. The evidence that context files make agents more capable is contested. The evidence…
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