LLM Friendly Context

LLM-Friendly Context

The goal is stable downstream execution: the next agent should know what to read, what to do, what counts as success, and when to stop or escalate.

Core Rules

• Use positive, executable instructions
• State what the next agent should do.
• Convert quality policies into positive criteria.
• Keep a prohibition only when it protects an irreversible boundary or shipped contract. Name the protected condition and the allowed action.
• Example: "Preserve existing public API behavior across the documented compatibility cases."

• Make vague instructions concrete
• Replace subjective terms with observable conditions, paths, commands, schemas, examples, or decision rules.
• Terms that often need clarification when they leave a decision to the next agent: appropriate, proper, related, existing behavior, optional, as needed, if needed, per convention, unresolved alternatives, TBD, placeholder.

• Specify output shape
• Define required sections, fields, table columns, JSON keys, or checklist items.
• For handoffs, include paths to produced artifacts and the exact status fields the caller must inspect.

• Provide necessary context
• Include the purpose, source artifacts, hard constraints, accepted decisions, and unresolved conditions.
• Prefer concrete file paths and section hints over broad module names.
• Follow references while they can change an in-scope decision, action, or verification result.

• Decompose complex work into verifiable steps
• Split work with 3+ objectives or sequential dependencies into ordered steps.
• Each step needs a checkpoint: what evidence proves it is complete.

• Permit uncertainty explicitly
• If the source material is missing, contradictory, or not verifiable, state the uncertainty and the required escalation.
• Record unknown business, product, security, or compatibility decisions as blocking unresolved items with the input needed to resolve them.

• Keep constraints proportionate
• Add only constraints that reduce ambiguity or preserve a real requirement.
• Keep simple downstream tasks lightweight when the target action, context, and success criteria are already clear.
• Apply minimal, a few lines, and explicit line estimates to the completed diff as one total budget.

Rewrite Patterns

Use these rewrites before treating a prompt, handoff, or artifact as complete.

| Ambiguous form | Rewrite as |

|---|---|

| optional used as an unresolved choice | Required, omitted, or required only under a named condition |

| Multiple alternatives that the next agent must choose between | The selected option, or a deterministic decision rule |

| as needed / if needed | The triggering condition and required action |

| per convention | The file, function, test, or documented convention to follow |

| related files | Specific paths, globs, or search hints |

| existing behavior | The observable behavior, source file, test, API response, or UI state to preserve |

| placeholder | Exact temporary value/behavior, allowed dependencies, and verification expectation |

| TBD used as a placeholder for required information | A blocking unresolved item with owner, required input, or escalation condition |

| appropriate / proper | A measurable criterion or checklist |

Handoff Checklist

Before sending a prompt or artifact to another agent, verify:

• [ ] The target action is explicit.
• [ ] Required input paths and source artifacts are named.
• [ ] Accepted decisions and constraints are stated once, without alternate wording.
• [ ] Output format or expected status fields are specified.
• [ ] Success criteria are observable.
• [ ] Ambiguous expressions have been rewritten or marked as unresolved.
• [ ] Each instruction states the allowed action; each retained prohibition names the protected condition and allowed alternative.
• [ ] The next agent can complete its scope with explicit choices, decision rules, or blocking unresolved items.

Generated Artifact Checklist

Before writing or finalizing a generated document:

• [ ] Each requirement, claim, task, test skeleton, or review finding has enough source context to trace why it exists.
• [ ] Every executable instruction names the target, action, and expected result.
• [ ] Verification steps say what to run or observe and what result proves success.
• [ ] Each instruction states the allowed action; each retained prohibition names the protected condition and allowed alternative.
• [ ] If an artifact is derived from another artifact, copied decisions stay consistent in wording and meaning.
• [ ] If downstream work is blocked by missing information, the artifact records the missing input and escalation condition.