The 12 Rules Every AI Coding Agent Should Follow (Free)

If you let Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or Gemini CLI write code for you, you have probably had a moment where it did something you did not ask for. It changed ten files instead of one. It said "done" without running anything. It printed a key into the log.

This free pack gives you 12 short rules to guard against exactly that. Each rule comes with three things: the rule in one line, why it matters (a common failure pattern, in plain words), and a snippet you can paste straight into your CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md (Cursor reads this too) or GEMINI.md file. There is also one short block with all 12 together, so setup takes about five minutes.

Topics include secrets, deleting files, tests, deploys, branches, made-up packages, and what to do when the agent gets stuck.

It is honest about its limits: a rules file is a request, not a lock. The last page explains when that is enough and when it is not, and points to the free built-in controls your tool already has.

Free. Take it, edit it, share it. Want rules that are enforced automatically instead of just requested? See the Claude Code Seatbelt Kit ($27, Claude Code only): https://payhip.com/b/Vwnjt