From Junk Drawer to Tool: Making Agent Rules Actually Work

Rules files often devolve into context-wasting junk drawers because they accumulate aspirational statements and redundant facts that don't actually change agent behavior. The solution is brutally simple: every rule must pass two tests—would the agent behave differently without it, and what concrete action should it take? Teams that apply these criteria transform rules files from bloated documentation into effective tools that genuinely improve agent outcomes.