Ardur Runtime governance for AI agents

source

Shared Agent Contract

These rules apply to every agent runtime: Conductor, Codex, Claude, and any

These rules apply to every agent runtime: Conductor, Codex, Claude, and any future automation.

Startup

  1. Run ./scripts/conductor-bootstrap.sh.
  2. Read .context/ARDUR_CONTEXT.md.
  3. Read .context/ardur-graph.md.
  4. Use .context/ardur-graph.json as the structural map, then verify exact behavior with source files and tests.

If bootstrap fails, stop and fix or report the bootstrap problem before making task-specific edits.

Branch Flow

  • dev is the integration branch.
  • origin/dev is the default diff and PR base for normal development.
  • main is release-only.
  • Promote to main only after work has landed on dev, passed verification, and is ready as public-facing open source.
  • If a workspace starts from origin/main, do not rename the branch. Still target the eventual PR/merge at dev unless the task is explicitly a release promotion.

Repo Truth

Use current repo state over stale notes:

  1. git status, branch refs, and live files.
  2. .github/workflows/.
  3. AGENTS.md, docs/engineering-standards.md, docs/TESTING.md, docs/public-import-plan.md, and docs/decisions/.
  4. Generated .context/ files, after checking their timestamp.

When sources conflict, state the conflict and verify from the current tree.

Work Rules

  • Preserve user work in progress.
  • Do not reset, clean, revert, or switch branches destructively unless the user explicitly asks.
  • Keep changes small, reviewable, and tied to the request.
  • Keep public claims evidence-backed: test, command, artifact, verifier path, or explicit limitation.
  • Do not add secrets, machine-local private paths, generated credentials, or local session state.
  • Update docs when behavior or workflow changes.

Validation

For small docs/script changes:

./scripts/check-local.sh --quick

For runtime changes after local setup:

./scripts/setup-dev.sh
./scripts/check-local.sh --full

If local Go is below go/go.mod, report the mismatch and do not claim full Go validation.

Local-Only Information

Local skills, session notes, scratch plans, and private agent state must stay in ignored paths:

  • .context/skills/
  • .agents/
  • .local-skills/
  • .ai-context/
  • .agent-context/
  • .codex/
  • .claude/
  • HANDOFF.md
  • workdone-so-far.md

Run ./scripts/check-local.sh --quick before publishing to verify none of those paths are tracked.