Skip to content

Writing Rules

Jump to bottom
github-actions[bot] edited this page Jun 15, 2026 · 7 revisions

Writing Rules

Rules live in llm/rules/ as Markdown files with YAML frontmatter. They are the always-on, passive context that AI assistants see on every interaction.

Format

---
description: Short description of what this rule enforces.
scope: '**'
---

# Rule Title

Rule content in Markdown. This is what the AI assistant sees.

Frontmatter fields

description (required)

A one-line description of the rule. Used as metadata in all platform outputs.

scope (optional, default: '**')

Controls which files the rule applies to.

Value Meaning
'**' Global — applies to all files
'src/**' Applies only to files matching the glob
['src/**', 'lib/**'] Multiple glob patterns

stacks (optional)

Version-aware technology constraints. A map of stack name → semver range declaring which framework versions the rule applies to. At sync, the rule is emitted only when every named stack is present in the project and its detected version satisfies the range; otherwise it is hard-excluded.

---
description: Payload 3 uses Next-native config and RSC admin.
scope: 'src/payload/**'
stacks:
  payload: '>=3 <4'
---
stacks: value Behavior
(absent) Stack-agnostic — applies regardless of stacks (the default).
{ payload: '>=3 <4' } Applies only on a Payload 3.x project; a Payload-2 (or non-Payload) project never sees it.
{ payload: '*' } Any version of Payload (name-level).
{ angular: '>15 <=17' } Migration window — half-open ranges fall out of the same semver matching.

Notes:

  • Version is a constraint on the rule, never part of the stack name. There is no payload-3 stack — there is payload plus a range.
  • Matching coerces loose versions and includes prereleases, so 15.0.0-canary.3 satisfies >=15.
  • When two ranges in one project both match, the most-specific (narrowest) range wins, deterministically.
  • Invalid ranges are dropped (never an accidental match); a version resolved from a low-confidence source (a coerced package.json range) still applies but emits a warning — guidance is never silently dropped.
  • The same field works on guardrails (llm/guardrails/). Pack-level stacks in the catalog supply coarse name-only routing; a rule's own range is the precision gate.

Run bluetemberg detect to see the detected versions your ranges are matched against, and declare versions in the stacks config field.

How scope is transformed

The sync engine converts scope into platform-specific frontmatter:

Source scope Cursor Claude Copilot
'**' alwaysApply: true paths: ['**'] applyTo: '**'
'src/**' globs: ['src/**'] paths: ['src/**'] applyTo: 'src/**'
['a/**', 'b/**'] globs: ['a/**', 'b/**'] paths: ['a/**', 'b/**'] applyTo: 'a/**,b/**'

Rule tiers

Not all rules are equal. Bluetemberg has three intent levels:

Rules ship inside bluetemberg-rules-* npm packages, not as local templates. The wizard lets users select which collections (packages) to install; individual rule selection is not supported.

Tier Behavior When to use
Collection default Collection is pre-checked for tagged profiles The collection's rules are broadly useful for that team type
Collection optional Collection is available but not pre-checked Specialized rules that only apply to certain stacks

Collections are defined in src/init/presets.ts as RULE_COLLECTION_PRESETS. See Contributing for how to add a new collection.

Naming convention

  • Use kebab-case for filenames: coding-standards.md, no-console-log.md
  • The filename (minus .md) becomes the output filename stem across all platforms

Available rule collections

Rules are grouped into collections. For the full list of individual rules inside each pack, see the Catalog in the bluetemberg-packs wiki.

Collection Package Profiles Contents
TypeScript bluetemberg-rules-typescript Frontend, Backend, Full-stack type-safety, coding-standards, early-returns, no-console-log, design-system-reuse
Git bluetemberg-rules-git All except Custom git-workflow, git-move, pre-commit-checks
Security bluetemberg-rules-security All except Custom never-read-env, security-secrets, api-error-handling
Docs bluetemberg-rules-docs All except Custom docs-parity, post-edit-diagnostics, mermaid-diagrams
DevOps bluetemberg-rules-devops DevOps, Pure Infra Docker, Ansible, K8s, Terraform, CI/CD, idempotency, runbooks
Next.js bluetemberg-rules-nextjs Frontend, Full-stack nextjs-public-env-vars

Writing a good rule

  • Be concise. The AI reads every rule on every interaction. Long rules waste context.
  • Be actionable. Say what to do, not what to think. "Run the formatter" beats "consider formatting".
  • Use examples. Code blocks clarify expected behavior better than prose.
  • Scope it correctly. A rule about Docker should scope to Dockerfile* or docker-compose*, not **.
  • One rule per file. Easier to enable/disable individually, and clearer intent.
  • After creating or editing rules, run npx bluetemberg sync to regenerate platform files.

Tips

  • Rules live in bluetemberg-rules-* packages — to add or update a rule, contribute to bluetemberg-packs
  • If a behavior only matters for certain stacks, it belongs in a collection tagged for those profiles
  • If it requires multi-step reasoning or judgment calls, it might be a skill instead

Clone this wiki locally