principle-encode-lessons-in-structure

SKILL.md

Encode Lessons in Structure

Encode recurring fixes in mechanisms (tools, code, metadata, automation) instead of textual instructions. Every error, human correction, and unexpected outcome is a learning signal. Capture it, route it, and close the loop.

Why: Textual instructions are easy to miss. They require the reader to notice, remember, and comply. Structural mechanisms (lint rules, metadata flags, runtime checks, automation scripts) enforce the rule without cooperation.

Pattern:
When you catch yourself writing the same instruction a second time:

Ask: can this be a lint rule, a metadata flag, a runtime check, or a script?

If yes, encode it. Delete the instruction

If no (requires judgment), make the instruction more prominent and add an example of the failure mode

Pick the strongest mechanism. When more than one mechanism would work, choose the strongest the situation allows (an unrepresentable state that cannot compile, then a lint or banned API that fails CI, then a canonical helper, then a runtime check), because agents copy whatever the surrounding code already does and a weaker guard becomes the next template.

Corollary: If the fix is structural, only use the structural fix. The instruction is the symptom.