Rules and instructions

Rules are provider-facing projections of durable project instructions. In this repository the source is always .fractal/, never a generated provider folder. Subscribers and teams author or edit the source records in .fractal/ and then convert them to the provider they use. File-based operation is valid without the Fractal runtime.

Source layout

.fractal/
├── agents/                 # Agent prompts and per-agent memories
├── skills/                 # SKILL.md capabilities and references
├── instructions/           # Scoped standards and workflows
├── tasks/                  # Lifecycle, todos, comments, and evidence
└── chats/                  # Durable conversation and run records

Read the schema references in .fractal/skills/fractal/references/ before editing a source record. Read .fractal/skills/saas-boilerplate/references/code-agents.md before converting it to a provider.

Provider mapping

Keep the canonical body and translate only metadata required by the provider. Do not flatten memories, task lifecycle, comments, or evidence into shared rules.

Continuity and activation

Ask during onboarding whether the project should track continuity in file-backed records, an optional Fractal runtime, or neither. Do not silently change ignore rules, delete history, or migrate private records. Starter goals and routines are disabled by default and require explicit review and activation.

Drift and manual edits

At the start of a session, check for missing adapters, dead symlinks, stale content, and provider discovery issues. Compare content or hashes. If an adapter differs, inspect whether the difference is an intentional provider-only exception; otherwise regenerate it from .fractal/. Manual edits are exceptional and must never become an untracked second source.

Lia should suggest new instructions, skills, agents, or task templates when repeated work reveals a reusable pattern. Use tasks for meaningful changes and delegate only after inspecting the specialist roster.