# COW RULES

The recurring operating principles for how The Ideas Shed builds software with AI.

**Purpose:** We should not have to explain the same fucking principles in every prompt.

**Use in build prompts:** Follow Cow Rules.

The human website at https://cowrules.theideasshed.com/rules is primary. Its visible build stamp is the current version and last-updated record.

## THE RULES

1. **IF I CLICK IT, SOMETHING SHOULD HAPPEN** — Meaningful actions need obvious feedback.
2. **DON'T MAKE HUMANS HUNT** — Make the current destination, context and version obvious.
3. **ONE OBVIOUS CURRENT VERSION** — One publish should produce one clear current live build.
4. **CHAT THINKS. WORK BUILDS.** — Use chat for thinking and WORK for implementation and delivery.
5. **HUMAN NAMES BEAT SYSTEM NAMES** — Show meaning, not only IDs, slugs and generated labels.
6. **DON'T ADD ANOTHER BLOODY TOOL UNLESS IT HELPS** — Reuse what works and never fake a capability.
7. **AI PROPOSES. HUMAN DECIDES.** — The machine assists; the human keeps final judgement and control.
8. **REWARD COMPLETION** — Make successful completion clear and satisfying.
9. **DOGFOOD BEFORE THEORY** — Learn from an honest real journey, not a secretly pre-solved founder demo.
10. **SIMPLE FIRST. CLEVER LATER.** — Do not give an early product mature-company architecture before it earns it.
11. **DON'T TEACH THE HUMAN TO BE THE MACHINE** — Remove complexity that merely makes the human keep up with tooling.
12. **DON'T GUESS WHEN YOU CAN LOOK** — Look first. Reason second. Act third.
13. **STAMP EVERY SHIP** — A successful build shows its build number, local publish date, time and timezone.
14. **DON'T MAKE THE HUMAN ASSEMBLE THE ANSWER** — One complete answer for one action.
15. **DON'T TELL ME THE TANK IS FULL IF THE TRACTOR ISN'T ALLOWED OUT OF THE SHED** — Show usable truth, including limits and real cost.
16. **MAKE IT EASY TO TELL US WHEN SOMETHING IS SHIT** — Put quick feedback and human contact near the problem.
17. **MATCH THE INSTRUCTION TO THE INTELLIGENCE** — Use clear work orders for bounded models and stronger reasoning where consequences demand it.
18. **IF IT FAILED, SAY IT FAILED** — Never optimise the appearance of success at the expense of truth.
19. **MAKE THE SOFTWARE COME TO THE HUMAN** — Work where people and their existing tools already are when practical.
20. **CONVERSATION FIRST. STRUCTURE SECOND.** — Let humans communicate naturally and structure it behind the scenes.
21. **FREE SHOULD BE GENUINELY USEFUL** — Do not cripple near-zero-cost value merely to manufacture subscriptions.
22. **NEVER HOLD USER WORK HOSTAGE** — Paid capability may stop; core user work remains available wherever reasonably possible.
23. **VERSION CREATIVE WORK** — Preserve good earlier versions and support branching creative work.
24. **ONE SOURCE OF TRUTH** — Store each shared fact once in one authoritative home.
25. **HUMAN WORK IS NOT A CONVEYOR BELT** — Support iterative work instead of forcing false linearity.
26. **MOBILE IS FIRST-CLASS** — Deliberately design and test useful mobile experiences.
27. **PRESERVE THE BRAND. RESPECT THE SCOPE.** — Functional work is not permission for an unrelated redesign.
28. **FIX FOUNDATIONS PROPERLY** — Prefer the correct foundation over an avoidable buried workaround.
29. **KEEP THE PLUMBING DOWNSTAIRS** — Keep provider jargon and raw infrastructure errors away from customers.
30. **GITHUB IS AUTHORITATIVE FOR PRODUCTION CODE** — Production maps to committed source in the authoritative repository.
31. **TEST IN PROPORTION. PRESERVE WHAT WORKS.** — Match validation to risk without wasting time or breaking established flows.
32. **PRIVACY AND OWNERSHIP ARE REAL BOUNDARIES** — Enforce them in data, APIs and storage, not only in the UI.
33. **NO DARK PATTERNS** — Be commercially sensible and unusually honest.
34. **PRODUCT COPY TELLS THE TRUTH** — Be clear, specific and candid about capability and uncertainty.
35. **MAKE THE NEXT ACTION CLEAR** — Never leave the user stranded after an important moment.
36. **FOLLOW COW RULES. DON'T PASTE COW RULES.** — Reference the living rules instead of making Marcus repeat them.

## THE TEST

Will this lesson make the next build better?

If yes, it probably belongs in Cow Rules.

Cow Rules records **HOW WE BUILD**, not **EVERYTHING WE HAVE EVER THOUGHT**.