# Ground Rules (binding)

These apply to every lane and every session. Read before doing anything.

## Credentials
- Credentials live **only** in the git-ignored `.env`. Never print, commit, or persist keys
  elsewhere (not in docs, not in `config/targets.yaml`, not in commit messages).
- Load with `set -a && . ./.env && set +a`.

## The criteria Google Doc
- **Never write the criteria Google Doc from a session.** Concurrent writes spliced tables
  mid-word in the prior eval. Compose `criteria-section-N.md` locally; **the human pastes.**
- Criterion / gate / benchmark-question wording is **verbatim** from the criteria doc —
  never paraphrase. Re-read the doc if unsure.

## Live-state check (REQUIRED before any conclusion)
The deployment is actively changing; status docs age within a day. Before drawing any
conclusion from the live instance:
```
git -C ~/repos/k8s-backstage-v2 log --oneline -8 origin/master -- apps/arcade
```
plus a dashboard/gateway health probe (e.g. `curl -sS -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}\n' https://dashboard.arcade.st.dev`).
Any not-yet-reverted in-flight "TEMPORARY"/teardown commit means the bench is NOT in a
validated steady state — don't draw conclusions from it.

## File ownership (parallel-session safety)
| You may write | You may NOT write |
|---|---|
| your `categories/catN-*/` subtree (criteria-section-N.md, tests/, NOTES.md) | another lane's `categories/` subtree |
| your own section of `STATUS.md` | another lane's STATUS section |
| `config/targets.yaml`, `lib/`, top-level docs — **append-mostly**, coordinate | — |
| `results/` (git-ignored) | the criteria Google Doc (see above) |

`git pull --rebase` before starting and again before pushing; on rejection, `git pull --rebase`.

## Deployment changes
- `~/repos/k8s-backstage-v2/apps/arcade/**` is read freely but changed **only deliberately,
  with the operator** (infra owns this cluster/POC). Expected case: the cat-5 collector+exporter
  remediation — propose first, execute together, document before/after.

## Scoring
- Single candidate (Arcade only): 1–5 scale, anchors at 1/3/5. Scores drafted locally;
  nothing lands in the Google Doc/spreadsheet without the human pasting.