Rules

Rules are the core of dev-workflows. Each rule is a piece of guidance for AI editors, written in natural language and stored in YAML.

File Structure

Rules live in .dwf/rules/, organized by scope:

.dwf/rules/
  architecture.yml
  conventions.yml
  security.yml
  testing.yml
  workflow.yml

Rule Format

scope: conventions

rules:
  - id: named-exports
    severity: error
    content: |
      Always use named exports. Never use default exports.
      This applies to all files: components, utilities, hooks, and types.

  - id: no-barrel-files
    severity: warning
    content: |
      Avoid barrel files (index.ts re-exports).
      Import directly from the source file.

Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
`id`	string	Yes	Unique identifier (kebab-case)
`severity`	enum	No	`error` \| `warning` \| `info` (default: `error`)
`content`	string	Yes	The rule in natural language (multiline YAML)
`tags`	string[]	No	Tags for filtering
`enabled`	boolean	No	Default: `true`. Disable without deleting

Severity Behavior

error and warning rules are included in compiled output
info rules are internal documentation only — they are omitted from output
Rules with enabled: false are always omitted

Scopes

The five built-in scopes organize rules by concern:

Scope	Purpose
`architecture`	Project structure, patterns, module organization
`conventions`	Naming, formatting, code style
`security`	Auth, RLS, secrets, input validation
`testing`	Test strategy, naming, coverage
`workflow`	Git, CI/CD, PR process, deployment

Custom Scopes

Beyond the five built-in scopes, you can define your own using the kind:name pattern:

scope: team:payments
scope: agent:reviewer
scope: pipeline:ci

Custom scopes follow the same rules as built-in ones. Create a new YAML file in .dwf/rules/ with your custom scope:

# .dwf/rules/team-payments.yml
scope: team:payments

rules:
  - id: payments-no-raw-sql
    severity: error
    content: |
      Never write raw SQL in payment flows.
      Always use the PaymentRepository abstraction.

Custom scopes appear after built-in scopes in compiled output, sorted alphabetically. The scope name is used as-is for the heading (e.g., ## team:payments). Format: lowercase alphanumeric, hyphens allowed in name. Examples: team:frontend, agent:reviewer, pipeline:ci.

Get Started

Commands

Concepts

File Structure

Rule Format

Fields

Severity Behavior

Scopes

Custom Scopes

​File Structure

​Rule Format

​Fields

​Severity Behavior

​Scopes

​Custom Scopes

File Structure

Rule Format

Fields

Severity Behavior

Scopes

Custom Scopes