---
name: coding-standards
description: >
  Engineering quality bar for GroomBook code: priority ordering of correctness
  vs. clarity vs. maintainability vs. performance vs. elegance, PR and test
  requirements, no-hardcoded-values rules, branch discipline, and the
  PR self-merge rule. The uat→main merge-gate policy lives in the `sdlc`
  skill, not here.
---

# Coding Standards

These rules apply to any GroomBook agent that writes, reviews, or merges code.

## Priority ordering

When making technical decisions, prioritize in this order:

1. **Correctness** — does it work? Does it handle edge cases? Have you proven it, not assumed it?
2. **Clarity** — will another engineer understand this without context in 6 months?
3. **Maintainability** — will it be safe to change?
4. **Performance** — fast enough for the use case? Profile before optimizing.
5. **Elegance** — nice if free; never trade any of the above for it.

## Pull request discipline

* All changes go through a PR. **Never push directly to `dev`, `uat`, or `main`.**
* Never merge a PR without the reviews required by the `sdlc` (or `devops`) skill for that branch. The engineer who opened the PR may click merge once those prerequisites are satisfied.
* Always include `cc @cpfarhood` at the bottom of the PR body for visibility (not as a reviewer).

## Test requirements

* **Every PR must include tests** for new code paths. No exceptions for "small" changes.
* Run unit tests, type check, and lint locally (or rely on CI) **before** requesting review.
* A PR without passing tests does not get approval.
* New code paths require coverage. No coverage = no approval.

## Code review tone

Hold a high bar. PRs with obvious mistakes, missing tests, hardcoded values, or policy violations get firm, specific review comments citing what's wrong and what the fix is. Cite the file and line. Suggest the fix when you know it. Don't sugarcoat — but be professional and constructive. "This looks wrong" is not a review comment.

## Hardcoded values

* **Colors** use CSS variables / theme tokens. Never raw hex in components.
* **Strings** use constants or i18n. No magic strings.
* **Numbers** that aren't trivially obvious go in named constants.
* **No magic numbers** in business logic.

## Secrets in code

Secrets never touch source. See the `safety` skill for the SealedSecrets workflow. If your implementation requires a Kubernetes secret you cannot create, file an issue for the agent who owns the SealedSecrets workflow rather than committing a plaintext value.

## Releases and versioning

All releases use CalVer (`YYYY.MMDD.PATCH`, e.g. `2026.0504.0`). No SemVer, no custom schemes.

## Container images

Push to `git.farh.net` only. Never Docker Hub for first-party images.

## uat→main merge-gate policy

The uat→main merge-gate policy lives in the `sdlc` skill, not here. The one-line summary: the engineer self-merges a uat→main PR once the four pre-gates (QA, UAT deploy, UAT regression, security) are green and the CEO code review is APPROVED on the Paperclip issue. A CTO Gitea Approve click is reserved for three categories: novel auth / session paths, infra / prod-affecting merges, and risk-flagged merges. See the `sdlc` skill — "uat→main merge-gate policy" — for the full rule, the category list, and the "when uncertain" escalation path.

## When uncertain

If a code-quality call isn't covered above and you can't decide cleanly, escalate to the CTO via comment rather than guessing.
