vise

Two-path protocol for failing subagents. Hot path (during task) — re-brief the same agent with the quoted failure, record the incident under a shape slug in that agent's charter-keyed ledger, escalate after 2 misses; never edits agent files. Cold path (batched heal) — only when that ledger counts the SAME shape twice for one agent, classify root cause and apply ONE surgical fix. Use after a subagent fails review/validators, or when experience_query on an agent's charter path surfaces a repeat failure shape.

Software architecture reasoning — non-functional requirements, design-pattern selection, and scenario-based tradeoff evaluation (ATAM/SAAM essence). Use when designing a system, choosing a pattern, evaluating an architecture, or writing a design doc. Biased toward the simplest structure that meets the requirements.

Shell scripting conventions — strict mode, quoting, safe expansion, no eval, portable exits. Use ONLY when the file under edit or review is a shell script (.sh/.bash/.zsh, or a file with a shell shebang), or when writing a non-trivial one-off shell pipeline; do NOT apply to any other language.

Read and change code through the symbol layer instead of by file path — read_unit, find_symbol, search_similar, resolve_location. Load when working in a repo where VISE_CODELAYER is set, when a Read or Grep on source was denied, before writing a new helper, or when deciding whether a piece of code is worth decoupling. Covers when NOT to decouple, which is the part that keeps the layer from turning under-engineering into over-engineering.

C and C++ conventions — RAII, ownership, no raw new/delete, bounds and lifetime safety. Use ONLY when the file under edit or review is C/C++ (.c/.h/.cpp/.cc/.cxx/.hpp/.hxx/.C/.H); do NOT apply to any other language.

C# conventions — nullable reference types, async/await discipline, IDisposable, LINQ hygiene. Use ONLY when the file under edit or review is C# (.cs); do NOT apply to any other language.

Decide what a UI should look like before any of it is built — a compact token system (palette, type scale, layout, one signature element) written down as an artifact the implementer follows. Use before writing or reshaping user-facing UI in any framework (.html/.css/.scss/.tsx/.jsx/.vue/.svelte/.astro), when a design looks templated or generic, or when a task says "make it look better" and nothing states what better means.

The language-agnostic rules every vise agent carries, plus the precedence rule that settles conflicts between the project's own conventions, a `*-rules` skill, and `ponytail`. Use on every code-touching task, in any language — it is what the per-language rules skills sit on top of. Also use when two loaded instructions contradict each other and you need to know which one wins.

Go coding conventions — context discipline, error wrapping, goroutine safety, small interfaces. Use ONLY when the file under edit or review is Go (.go); do NOT apply to any other language.

Java coding conventions — immutability, Optional discipline, resource safety, modern language features. Use ONLY when the file under edit or review is Java (.java); do NOT apply to any other language.

Kotlin conventions — null safety, immutability, coroutines discipline, idiomatic scope functions. Use ONLY when the file under edit or review is Kotlin (.kt/.kts); do NOT apply to any other language.

Lua conventions — locals by default, explicit nil handling, 1-based indexing, careful metatables. Use ONLY when the file under edit or review is Lua (.lua); do NOT apply to any other language.

The single entry point for substantial work — picks and activates the matching phase workflow, then runs wave-based parallel delegation to subagents inside it. Use when a task spans multiple domains (backend + frontend + db), has independent streams that could run in parallel, or needs 3+ sequential phases of mechanical work. Also use proactively when about to grind through 5+ file edits yourself that a well-briefed subagent could execute.

PHP coding conventions — strict types, typed properties, PSR standards, safe SQL. Use ONLY when the file under edit or review is PHP (.php); do NOT apply to any other language.

Lazy-senior-dev solution minimalism — the simplest, shortest thing that actually works. Use when implementing any feature or fix, to prevent over-engineering, unneeded dependencies, and speculative abstractions.

Python coding conventions — modern typing, async discipline, safe subprocess, tooling. Use ONLY when the file under edit or review is Python (.py/.pyi); do NOT apply to any other language.

Ruby coding conventions — idiomatic blocks, safe navigation, frozen strings, small methods. Use ONLY when the file under edit or review is Ruby (.rb/.rake/.gemspec); do NOT apply to any other language.

Rust coding conventions — error handling, ownership idioms, unsafe discipline, cargo tooling. Use ONLY when the file under edit or review is Rust (.rs); do NOT apply to any other language.

How to name, rank, and triage a security finding — CWE as the vocabulary, an evidence-anchored severity ladder instead of an invented CVSS score, the reachability-first protocol for a dependency CVE, and supply-chain discipline. Use when auditing code, triaging scanner output (SAST/SCA/secrets), reviewing a security-sensitive diff, deciding how urgent a vulnerable dependency is, or writing up findings.

SQL and schema-migration conventions — parameterized queries, reversible DDL, safe index creation, expand/contract for destructive changes. Use ONLY when writing or reviewing SQL, DDL, or a database migration (.sql files, migration directories, ORM migration classes); do NOT apply to any other language.

Swift conventions — optionals discipline, value types, error handling, structured concurrency. Use ONLY when the file under edit or review is Swift (.swift); do NOT apply to any other language.

TypeScript coding conventions — strict types, discriminated unions, boundary validation. Use ONLY when the file under edit or review is TypeScript/JavaScript (.ts/.tsx/.js/.jsx); do NOT apply to any other language.

Framework-agnostic UI conventions — semantic HTML, accessibility, CSS layout and specificity, responsive and theme discipline. Use ONLY when the file under edit or review renders user interface — HTML, CSS/SCSS, or a component template (.html/.css/.scss/.jsx/.tsx/.vue/.svelte/.astro/.erb/.liquid); do NOT apply to non-UI code.