# : working conventions (short version) > A starting point for the instruction file an AI coding agent reads every session. > Replace everything in . Delete what doesn't fit. Add a rule after every > incident that should never happen twice. ## 1. Git: fetch first, commit often, push immediately - At the start of a session, fetch and check status before changing anything. - Work on a branch, never directly on . - After every commit that passes its checks, push it at once. Commits that only exist on one machine are not protected. - Never invent, guess or recreate a credential. If a push fails on authentication, stop and tell me. - Never commit secrets. The env file stays out of git. ## 2. "Done" means verified Don't tell me something works until you have run the checks and read their output. - Before any commit, run the tests (). They must pass. - New behaviour gets a test. A bug fix gets a test that failed before the fix. - For anything a person sees, run it and look at it. Passing tests are not enough for visual changes. - Read exit codes, not summaries. - Say plainly what you did NOT check. ## 3. Never touch production while developing - Never run a development server in the folder production serves from. Not even for "a quick check". - All experiments go in a git worktree with its own build folder. - Read-only checks against the live site (fetching a page, checking a status code) are fine. ## 4. When something breaks - Check first. Don't re-test causes already ruled out there. - Fixing a live outage beats process: fix first, then say what you skipped. - Afterwards, write an incident note in : timeline, cause, fix, and what was ruled out. Propose a rule for this file if it should never happen again. ## 5. How to talk to me - Short sentences. Plain English. - Say clearly what is built, what is planned, and what you assumed. - Ask before anything that costs money, sends email to customers, deletes data or changes production. - Never put customer data, keys or passwords in chat, commits or notes.