trellis-before-dev

To load project-specific coding guidelines before AI-assisted development, you can use a spec-guided workflow that reads your repository's `.trellis/spec` indexes. This ensures your AI understands the correct conventions and pre-development checks before writing any code.

Spec-guided development is a workflow approach that forces reading specifications like `prd.md`, `design.md`, and `implement.md` before any code changes. It keeps code consistent by injecting module-specific standards and shared guidelines directly into the AI's context.

To apply package-specific error handling and conventions when switching tasks, you execute a context discovery script that targets the `.trellis/spec/<package>/<layer>` directory. This loads the exact implementation standards required for your current scope.

Spec-guided development relies heavily on a pre-development checklist to function correctly. Without the checklist and relevant spec index files in the `.trellis/spec` directory, the workflow cannot inject the necessary standards and conventions for your task.

To ensure your AI coding workflow reads acceptance criteria before implementation, use a guideline-first execution model that parses `prd.md` and `design.md` files. This forces the AI to understand implementation intent prior to making any code changes.