- **Version sync:** When adding a new version to `CHANGELOG.md`, also update `version.json` and `package.json` (root) to match. Check `README.md` for any version badges or references that need updating. The installer displays the version from `version.json` in its header. All three files (`CHANGELOG.md`, `version.json`, `package.json`) must always show the same version number.
- **CHANGELOG ordering:** Entries in `CHANGELOG.md` must be in reverse-chronological order — newest version at the top, oldest at the bottom. New entries are always inserted immediately after the file header.
- **Loop `.gitignore` setup:** `ensureGitignore()` runs at startup in `Controller.run()` as a pre-flight step, not just inside `createTaskCommit()`. This is critical for phase mode where the Node controller doesn't handle commits — without it, `git add -A` would stage spec files.
- **Workflow file character limit:** All `src/plan2code-*.md` files must be ≤ 11,000 characters. A husky pre-commit hook enforces this. The 11,000 limit leaves buffer for platform-specific YAML headers (106-142 chars) to stay under Windsurf's 12,000 char limit.
- **Metrics internal prompts have no char limit:** Files in `plan2code-metrics/src/prompts/` are NOT subject to the 11,000 char limit — only `src/plan2code-*.md` consumer-facing prompts are.
- **User Feedback table format:** The `## User Feedback` markdown table in `overview.md` has a strict format the collector regex depends on. Field names must be exactly `Rating`, `Reason`, `Went Well`, `Went Poorly`. Pipe characters in values must be escaped as `\|`.
- **Reference file sizing guideline:** Files in `src/plan2code-*-references/` directories target ~100-200 lines each (soft guideline; evaluate splitting above 300). They are NOT subject to the 11,000 character limit. The pre-commit hook (`validate-char-count.js`) only checks `src/plan2code-*.md` flat files — subdirectory contents are automatically excluded.
