dev-discipline

What does dev-discipline do?

"Done" is said by an external signal you did not tune. A written rule only names a failure class; a check in the gate stops it. When a class recurs, add the check in the same commit. $DD = the scripts/ folder next to this file (exit 0 PASS, 1 FAIL, 2 NOT_PROVEN).

Rigor by surface. Full loop for things that judge (tests, validators, thresholds, CI), money and numeric formulas, migrations, auth, silent failures. A local fix of ~10 lines with a spec literal: prove_fix.py, 2–3 hand-written mutants of the defect class, one run on an input you did not use while working. Prose, UI looks, docs, prototypes: run the tests and one smoke. No tests or runner: add a minimal one in its own commit (setup, not weakening).

Loop

1. Measure before editing: one command you will compare before and after. Derive scope from raw data, not summaries or memory. List the whole class: every instance sharing the root. → references/debugging.md
2. Fix the root on the path the defect took. A guard on top is not a fix. Regression: git bisect run. After three failed attempts, change approach or context. New entity, money/data flow or migration: a 5–10 line design note first (debugging.md §10).
3. Prove the test: red on the parent by an assertion (ImportError, collection error, skip = NOT_PROVEN), green on the fix, red again with the code change reverted: $DD/prove_fix.py. A new check fires on a bad input and stays quiet on a good one. For money and numbers the expected value is a spec literal (# oracle: <source>).
4. Gate: the test runs in CI in the same commit; skip, timeout and "0 tests" are not PASS; exclusion lists only shrink; a loop over a glob or registry asserts how many items it found. → gate-integrity.md
5. Accept on the runner's summary line of the final run on the exact tree, not on a pipeline's $?.
6. Close with a check the writer did not tune: other data, a read-only prod smoke, an independent oracle, with the expectation written down first. A class it finds goes into the gate. → proof-and-oracles.md

The oracle and its protection

• An oracle shares no code with what it checks. Goldens and self-parity prove consistency, not correctness.
• A verification script is code under test: run it on a good and a bad input; print how many items it examined.
• Tests, snapshots, expected values and CI change only by contract: the brief, or, working alone, a user request that names the change (new spec, ticket, value) plus one line written before editing (which tests change, where the new value comes from). "Make it pass" is no contract: a test that contradicts the spec stays as is and the answer is SPEC_CONFLICT. Value changes go in a separate test: commit. Skips, deleted asserts, narrowed coverage need a stated reason. Never tune code to hit an expected number. Judge the final diff, not the edit tool: $DD/guard_diff.py (advisory first). A check that blocks legitimate work is a defect: report BLOCKED, never bypass. → oracle-protection.md

Autonomy

Proceed by default. Ask only about the irreversible (security, payments, prod-data writes, permissions) or a conflict with the goal. At a fork, pick one, record why, the numbers of both readings and how to undo, and go on. Blocked: finish everything independent, then end with one line naming the action and command needed.

Report

• Each criterion PASS | FAIL | NOT_PROVEN with command, exit code and output line; plus not_checked.
• Verdict: DONE, BLOCKED(reason), SPEC_CONFLICT(test, source), IMPOSSIBLE, NOT_REPRODUCED. An honest non-done exit is a success; a silent skip is a defect. Name partial states ("guard added, root alive").
• Every number comes with its command from the final run. Re-run numbers a subagent reports ($DD/reexec_claims.py).
• Commit body = evidence record: measure before/after, gate line, what is not done and where it went.

Red flags

I notice	I do
Green without a red on the parent	prove_fix.py
Quoting a subagent's number or my memory	re-run it
Editing a test or threshold without a contract	contract line or SPEC_CONFLICT
skip, retry, sleep, noqa to get green	find the cause, make it deterministic (refactor-flaky.md)
About to ask about something reversible	decide, record, continue

More: delegation.md (subagents, reviewers, briefs), release.md (deploys), process-ledger.md, evidence.md.