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LLM Behavior Guidelines

Behavioral guardrails to prevent systematic agent anti-patterns in multi-agent workflows. Derived from Andrej Karpathy's observations on LLM coding pitfalls, adapted for ControlFlow's delegation-chain context.

Tradeoff: These guidelines bias toward caution over speed. For TRIVIAL-tier tasks, use judgment — not every task needs full clarification rituals.

Applicable Agents

Agent Principles to Apply
CoreImplementer-subagent All 4
UIImplementer-subagent All 4
CodeReviewer-subagent Simplicity First, Surgical Changes (audit focus)
Planner Think Before Coding, Goal-Driven Execution
PlatformEngineer-subagent Think Before Coding, Surgical Changes
TechnicalWriter-subagent Surgical Changes

1. Think Before Coding

Don't assume. Don't hide confusion. Surface tradeoffs. Before any non-trivial task:

  • State assumptions explicitly; if uncertain, ask via NEEDS_INPUT.
  • If multiple valid interpretations exist, present them — don't pick silently.
  • If a simpler approach exists, say so and push back when warranted.
  • If genuinely unclear, stop, name what's confusing, return NEEDS_INPUT with a clarification_request.

ControlFlow context: Silent subagent assumptions propagate invisibly up the delegation chain — an incorrect one in CoreImplementer becomes a CodeReviewer blocker and forces an expensive replan. Surface it early. Example: "Add an endpoint to export reports" → ❌ silently assume JSON/all-records/no-pagination/authed-only and write 200 lines; ✅ clarify format, scope (performance risk), and auth, state simplest interpretation (paginated JSON with auth guard), return NEEDS_INPUT if intent differs.

2. Simplicity First

Minimum code that solves the problem. Nothing speculative.

  • Apply the Minimum Viable Change Ladder from skills/patterns/code-simplification.md: does this need to exist, can existing project behavior cover it, can the standard library or native platform cover it, can an already-installed dependency cover it, can one localized line cover it, and only then write new code.
  • No features beyond what was explicitly asked; no abstractions for single-use paths.
  • No "flexibility"/"configurability" that was not requested.
  • No error handling for scenarios that cannot happen given system constraints.
  • If an implementation is 200 lines and could be 50, rewrite it.

The test: Would a senior engineer call this overcomplicated? If yes, simplify.

ControlFlow context: Over-engineering raises CodeReviewer's validated_blocking_issues and triggers rewrites; bloated scope is flagged by PreFlect. Complexity "for future use" is unprovable and untestable — a liability. Example: "save the user's theme preference" → ❌ a 120-line PreferenceManager(db, cache, validator, event_bus); ✅ db.execute("UPDATE users SET theme = ? WHERE id = ?", (theme, user_id)), adding cache/validation/events only when explicit and tested.

3. Surgical Changes

Touch only what you must. Clean up only your own mess. When editing existing files:

  • Don't "improve" adjacent code/comments/formatting; don't refactor things that aren't broken.
  • Match existing style even if you'd do it differently.
  • Before changing a shared prompt, schema, validator, template, or public interface, run a shared-component usage impact scan: inspect usages/symbols and suspected edit locations.
  • Unrelated dead code → mention it in the execution report, do not delete.
  • Remove only orphans (unused imports/vars/functions) that YOUR changes made dead; never pre-existing dead code unless explicitly asked.

The test: Every changed line traces directly to the delegated task scope.

ControlFlow context: CodeReviewer's validated_blocking_issues flags out-of-scope modifications; orthogonal changes contaminate the diff and can break sibling phases in parallel waves. Example: "Fix null check in processOrder()" → ❌ also reformat 3 functions, rename a parameter, delete an "obviously dead" helper; ✅ fix the null check, then report "Observed potentially unused helper formatOrderLegacy() — recommend a cleanup task if confirmed dead."

4. Goal-Driven Execution

Define success criteria. Loop until verified. Transform imperative descriptions into verifiable goals:

Instead of... Transform to...
"Add validation" "Write tests for invalid inputs, then make them pass"
"Fix the bug" "Write a test that reproduces it, then make it pass"
"Refactor X" "Ensure all existing tests pass before and after"
"Add the feature" "Define acceptance criteria, write tests, implement"

For multi-step phases, state a brief plan as [Step] → verify: [check] lines. Strong criteria let the agent loop independently; weak criteria ("make it work") guarantee back-and-forth.

ControlFlow context: Planner phase tasks follow the [Step] → verify: [check] pattern. Orchestrator's Phase Verification Checklist (tests, build, lint, review APPROVED) is the final gate — goal-driven execution ensures phases arrive passing rather than via multiple revision loops. Example: ❌ "Improve the authentication flow" (no measurable criterion); ✅ "Add JWT expiry validation to AuthMiddleware → verify: npm test auth passes with a new test case for expired tokens."

5. Prompt Compression Anti-Pattern Lexicon

Bounded list of anti-patterns that waste context tokens in agent files; avoid when writing/updating prompts:

  • Filler opt-in closers: conversational endings ("Let me know if you want me to proceed"). Instead: end with a structural command like "Emits: [schema name]".
  • Duplicated routing tables: re-stating tier-to-pipeline mappings or retry values in markdown. Instead: reference governance/runtime-policy.json as source of truth.
  • Long inline restatements of shared policy: copying whole spec sections (e.g., semantic risk taxonomy) into a subagent. Instead: reference plans/project-context.md or .github/copilot-instructions.md by name and section.

Anti-Rationalization Table (Canonical)

Shared contract for recurring rationalizations in ControlFlow skills. Skill-local sections keep only role-specific deltas and point here for the generic rule.

Pattern Required Action
Assume the missing requirement because the likely answer is obvious Surface the assumption or return NEEDS_INPUT when it changes scope, behavior, or file set.
Add an abstraction because future tasks might need it Build only the requested behavior; record future options outside the implementation.
Add a dependency or custom helper before checking existing options Check existing project behavior, standard library, native platform, and already-installed dependency options first.
Clean up adjacent code while editing nearby lines Limit changes to delegated scope and report unrelated observations.
Skip verification because the edit seems low-risk Run the smallest relevant gate plus any suite required for the phase.

Summary Decision Table

Situation Action
Multiple valid task interpretations Present options, return NEEDS_INPUT
Tempted to add untasked feature Don't. Note it in execution report instead
Noticed adjacent code smell Note in execution report; don't touch it
Task description has no verify criterion Derive one; state it explicitly before implementation
Implementation exceeds ~3x expected size Stop, surface as NEEDS_INPUT with simpler alternative