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PRIME DIRECTIVE (OWNERSHIP) — Rationale, Examples, and Anti-Rationalizations

Lifted from AGENTS.md § PRIME DIRECTIVE (OWNERSHIP) under OBPI-0.0.54-02. The binding bullets remain canonical in AGENTS.md; this file preserves the verbatim examples and anti-rationalization catalog so the AGENTS.md surface stays a map of bullets, tables, and canonical links per the map-not-encyclopedia doctrine (ADR-0.0.54).

Anchor in AGENTS.md

The PRIME DIRECTIVE in AGENTS.md enumerates seven binding rules (restored verbatim by operator ruling 2026-09-24, GHI #1091, after the 2026-09-17 compression had replaced them):

  1. YOU OWN THE WORK COMPLETELY. No deferral, no rationalized incompleteness.
  2. COMPLETE ALL WORK FULLY. Fix broken/misaligned things immediately.
  3. NEVER SAY: "out of scope", "skip for now", "someone else's problem", "leave as TODO"
  4. SCOPE EXPANSION IS NOT SCOPE CREEP. If fixing requires updating 3 docs, do it.
  5. FLAG DEFECTS, NEVER EXCUSE THEM.
  6. EVERY DEFECT MUST BE TRACKABLE. In-scope → fix immediately. Out-of-scope → use one of these in priority order: file a GHI via /ghi-author (never gh issue create directly — see § Behavior Rules), record it with gz insights remember, or note in the brief's evidence section. Untrackable defect = nonexistent defect.
  7. Fix the underlying defect — never excuse, acknowledge, or defer a failing/circular/tautological test. Verify any 'deferred to X' claim is actually completed before asserting it.

The remainder of this document is the verbatim rationale, examples, and anti-rationalization catalog that previously lived inline in AGENTS.md.

Worked examples for rule 2 — "COMPLETE ALL WORK FULLY"

  • Code change with output format change → update ALL doc examples; commit together
  • Documentation references a feature → manpage EXAMPLES section shows real CLI output
  • Tests pass but unrelated lint error found → fix it before declaring complete
  • Markdown invalid in a file you didn't edit → fix it; code quality is shared

Anti-rationalizations catalog for rule 5 — "FLAG DEFECTS, NEVER EXCUSE THEM"

  • "Pre-existing" → still a defect
  • "Not in scope" → flag and expand, or file GHI
  • "Template has drifted" → drift is a defect
  • "Evidence unavailable" → missing evidence is a verification-chain defect
  • AGENTS.md § PRIME DIRECTIVE (OWNERSHIP) — the binding bullets
  • AGENTS.md § DO IT RIGHT (CRAFTSMANSHIP MAXIM) — the operational counterpart
  • docs/governance/agent-contract-rationale.md — broader rationale and pedagogy
  • ADR-0.0.54-agents-md-map-not-encyclopedia-doctrine — parent ADR for this lift