papadopouloskyriakos/agentic-chatops/constitute

/constitute — define non-negotiables + cross-cutting rules

After /specify produced PROJECT.md + requirements.md, the project needs:

1. constitution.md — 5-15 articles of non-negotiable principles
2. steering/{coding-standards,security-baseline,test-strategy,repo-conventions}.md — cross-cutting rules every Claude session loads

Constitution authoring

Start from <bootstrap-pack>/templates/constitution.md.tmpl (7 default articles cover test-first, library-first, contract-before-code, bounded-context isolation, atomic tasks, files-owned non-overlap, one-MR-per-feature).

Add 0-8 project-specific articles based on the operator's domain. Examples:

• Performance budget (e.g. all endpoints <500ms p99)
• Security baseline (e.g. all PRs scanned, high-severity blocks merge)
• Privacy (e.g. no PII in logs, encrypted at rest)
• Compliance (e.g. SOC2 type II controls, GDPR data subject rights)
• Operational (e.g. zero-downtime deploys, automated rollback)

Use AskUserQuestion to elicit these — most projects have 2-3 worth adding.

Steering files

Start from the 4 templates under <bootstrap-pack>/templates/steering/*.tmpl. Customize the placeholders (indent style, file naming, error handling, etc.) per operator preference.

Steering files are loaded into every Claude session via @steering/foo.md references in CLAUDE.md, so keep them tight (≤200 lines each).

Operator review gate

After writing all files, present them as a summary table to the operator and explicitly ask: "review constitution.md + 4 steering files — any changes before locking in?"

Don't proceed until operator confirms.

Definition of done

• [ ] constitution.md has 5-15 articles
• [ ] All 4 steering files exist
• [ ] Operator has explicitly approved both
• [ ] validate-project-spec.py --check constitution_article_count passes