ai-dev-kit — agent onboarding

Rules an agent must hold that the tree doesn't self-evidence; everything else is pointed at, not restated here.

• Source vs install: edit skills/ and hooks/, never the .claude/ copies — the tracked .claude/ is the kit's own dogfood install. After any behavior change, re-run node install.mjs --adapter adapters/ai-dev-kit.json --hooks (add --global when a dual-home skill changed) or CI's root --check fails.
• Behavior change ⇒ version bump: the kit version plus each touched skill's version in manifest.json, VERSION, the CHANGELOG.md top entry, both deck stamps, and .claude-plugin/plugin.json move together — CI gates the six sites.
• Program discipline: forward-only banded backlog (docs/BACKLOG.md); every row goes plan → explicit sign-off → build; a test that claims to catch a bug is shown failing first; CHANGELOG entries end with a Verification paragraph.
• Hooks advise by default: an advisory handler exits 0 and injects context; the agent decides. Blocking (exit 2) exists only in the enforcement handlers, each inert without its adapter enforcement key. Exec-form wiring (command: "node" + one anchored args entry) is a smoke-enforced invariant.
• Zero dependencies: pure Node ≥ 22 — no package.json, no npm packages, no shell-specific scripts.
• Never rename a skill directory without a migration plan — stale-prune covers manifest-listed names only; a silent rename orphans every consumer's installed copy.
• Gate before commit: run the adapter gate array (adapters/ai-dev-kit.json) and keep skill bodies generic — project facts go in an adapter or project memory, never hardcoded in a skill.
• A release commit is self-contained: version bump, self-install, and fixture/doc updates land in one commit — the pre-tag gate checks only the sha it is pointed at (why: README.md → Rules → Versioning).
• One release commit per push, and let CI go green on it before the next — release.yml tags against VERSION as of the pushed sha, so a second bump in the same push silently skips the first release.

Pointers: README.md (status doc · install · release ritual) · CONTRIBUTING.md (local suite · ground rules) · docs/PLAYBOOK.md (the why-layer) · manifest.json (machine index: versions · pipeline · hook registry · decision log) · docs/BACKLOG.md (pending work).