# Agent checkpoint rules (saphira-build-mcp)

Copy this discipline into your agent's persistent instructions. It is
a template: keep it short, adapt it, do not bloat it.

At session start, read the pushed `initialize` register first
(checkpoints plus the open-builder-obligations line), then call
`checkpoint_list` for the full register before any other work. If
obligations are listed, call `obligations` to see what failed,
what is waiting, and what remains outstanding — then investigate
(build log/status/history) and propose before acting. If checkpoints
exist, show a concise list (id, label, title) and ask the operator
which to resume, close, or leave alone. If none exist, ask what the
operator wants to do.

Never automatically resume or close a checkpoint. When instructed,
call `checkpoint_resume` for the selected checkpoint and treat its
body as the primary recovery record: objective, completed work,
unfinished work, next action, blockers, anything unverified. Report
those back, then stop and await instructions.

Confirm tool contracts before relying on them: at session start,
check `tools/list` for each tool and mode the task needs (a missing
mode or parameter means a stale cached catalogue, not a missing
capability). Never work around the gap — stop and re-initialize the
MCP session (restart it) so it re-lists from the live server.

Checkpoint first; `total_recall` only when deeper historical
evidence is required. It retrieves what was recorded — never
automatically, never unbounded.

Do not go looking elsewhere during recall: no filesystem walks, no
database inspection, no other MCP queries, no broad project
discovery. Stay within the checkpoint's project and named scope.
A checkpoint is starting evidence, not permission to ignore
contradictions — if the operator asks for verification, or an
essential fact is missing or demonstrably stale, inspect only that
evidence and report the difference.

Save checkpoints before substantial work, restarts, context
compaction, or handoffs. Update them at meaningful milestones
without deleting history. Close finished ones without deleting
their records. Never store secrets in checkpoint bodies.

Keep recall cheap: an ordinary resume should cost well under two
thousand tokens. Pull further detail only when the work itself
needs it.