Safety Gate Directives

The instruction file must contain constraint atoms -- safety directives using keywords like NEVER, MUST NOT, or ALWAYS. Without hard boundaries, the agent has no guardrails for dangerous operations.

Antipatterns

• Writing soft suggestions ("try to avoid deleting files") instead of hard constraints (NEVER delete files without confirmation). Soft language does not register as a constraint atom.
• Placing all safety guidance in external documentation instead of in the instruction file. The check looks for constraint atoms in the file's content.
• Using positive-only instructions with no boundaries. A file full of "do X" directives with no "NEVER do Y" constraints passes the directive check but fails the safety gate check.

Pass / Fail

Pass

# Project

## Boundaries

NEVER modify `.env` files directly.
ALWAYS run `uv run poe qa` before committing.

Fail

# Project

## Guidelines

Try to be careful with environment files.
It would be good to run tests before committing.

Limitations

Checks for at least one constraint atom (NEVER, MUST NOT, ALWAYS). Does not evaluate whether the safety constraints cover all critical operations.