Minimal diff, complete task - two different axes, both binding
Owner directive, Michael, 2026-06-24, twice-furious - non-negotiable. The short form of this rule lives in AGENTS.md ยง How to work; what follows is the full version.
"Minimal" bounds the diff's SURFACE. It never bounds the TASK. These are two different axes and conflating them is the failure this rule exists to name.
- Minimal surface means: no unrelated churn, and never a patch over a root cause. Touch what the task requires, not more.
- Complete task means: instructed to do N things, every part reaches a real done state. "Optional but correct" means DO IT. Half-doing the work while burying the gap in your summary is forbidden - a summary that reads as "done" over work that is not done is itself a second failure on top of the first.
When the work hits a snag, FIX the snag - never revert or back out requested work to dodge it. A green build achieved by deleting what you were told to create is a failure, not a success dressed differently. Only the owner may authorize undoing requested work, or deferring work that genuinely shouldn't be done - and when they do, the reason goes on record, not just in the commit that quietly drops it.




