automaton/tasks/framework-self-enforcement/SPEC.md

SPEC: Enforce Task-Driven Development via Framework Rules

Overview

The automaton framework has a task-driven workflow (SPEC → Design → Implementation → Verification → Resolution) but nothing tells the AI agent to follow it. The agent makes ad-hoc edits instead of creating proper tasks first.

Root Cause

The agent reads system-prompt.md, .agent.md, and .rules.md at startup, but none instruct it to use the task-driven process. The agent treats framework modifications as "normal coding."

Framework Audit Context

This task covers 4 gaps identified in framework-audit/RESEARCH.md:

Gap	Principle	Rule to Add
G1	Task-driven development	Create task before editing files
G2	VRAM-aware task sizing	Check config.md VRAM before scoping tasks
G4	No manual task creation	Never mkdir tasks/ — use Orchestrator
G5	Agent reads global rules	system-prompt.md must read global .rules.md
G6	Self-improving rules	Add rules per failure mode observed

Changes

1. ~/.automaton/.rules.md

Replace the template with concrete rules:

# .rules.md

## Task-Driven Development
- All changes must go through a task in tasks/{name}/ with SPEC.md → phases → VERDICT.md
- Never edit files directly without a corresponding task
- Never create task directories manually (mkdir tasks/) — use the Orchestrator

## VRAM-Aware Task Sizing
- Before creating or scoping a task, check ~/.automaton/config.md for VRAM limits
- Verify the task fits within max peak context (default: 12k tokens)
- If no config exists, default to 8k with 25% headroom

## Self-Improvement
- Add one rule per observed failure mode with a concrete example
- Consolidate contradictions monthly. Remove stale rules.
- No rule without a real example of the problem it prevents

2. system-prompt.md

After existing instructions, add:

4. Read ~/.automaton/.rules.md (global framework rules)

Acceptance Criteria

• ~/.automaton/.rules.md has Task-Driven Development, VRAM-Aware Sizing, and Self-Improvement sections
• system-prompt.md instructs agent to read global .rules.md
• Agent creates tasks before making changes
• Agent checks VRAM limits before scoping tasks
• Agent never creates task directories manually

Out of Scope

• Documentation/changelog process (separate task)
• Project migration/cleanup (separate task)
• Onboarding changes (separate task)
• Dashboard task review UI (separate task)