constraint-check
Purpose
The internal affairs department for Rune skills. Checks whether HARD-GATEs and mandatory constraints were actually followed during a workflow — not just claimed to be followed. Reads the constraint definitions from skill files and audits the conversation trail for compliance.
While completion-gate checks if claims have evidence, constraint-check checks if the PROCESS was followed. Did you actually write tests before code? Did you actually get plan approval? Did you actually run sentinel?
Triggers
- Called by
cook(L1) at end of workflow as discipline audit - Called by
team(L1) to verify stream agents followed constraints - Called by
audit(L2) during quality dimension assessment /rune constraint-check— manual audit of current session
Calls (outbound)
None — pure read-only validator.
Called By (inbound)
cook(L1): end-of-workflow discipline auditteam(L1): verify stream agent complianceaudit(L2): quality dimension- User: manual session audit
Execution
Step 1 — Identify Active Skills
Parse the conversation/workflow to identify which skills were invoked:
Extract from context: - Skills invoked via Skill tool (exact list) - Skills referenced in agent narrative - Phase progression (cook phases completed)
Step 2 — Load Constraint Definitions
For each invoked skill, extract HARD-GATEs and numbered constraints:
For each skill in invoked_skills: Read: skills/<skill>/SKILL.md Extract: - <HARD-GATE> blocks → mandatory, violation = BLOCK - ## Constraints numbered list → required, violation = WARN - ## Mesh Gates table → required gates
Step 3 — Audit Compliance
Check each constraint against the conversation evidence:
| Constraint Type | How to Verify | Evidence Source |
|---|---|---|
| "MUST write tests BEFORE code" | Test file Write/Edit timestamps before implementation Write/Edit | Tool call ordering |
| "MUST get user approval" | User message containing "go"/"yes"/"proceed" after plan | Conversation history |
| "MUST run verification" | Bash command with test/lint/build output | Tool call results |
| "MUST show actual output" | Stdout captured in agent response | Agent messages |
| "MUST NOT modify files outside scope" | Git diff files vs plan file list | Git + plan comparison |
| "Iron Law: delete code before test" | No implementation code exists before test creation | Tool call ordering |
Step 4 — Classify Violations
| Violation Type | Severity | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| HARD-GATE violation | BLOCK | Skill says this is non-negotiable |
| Constraint violation | WARN | Skill says this is required but not fatal |
| Best practice skip | INFO | Recommended but optional |
Step 5 — Report
## Constraint Check Report - **Status**: COMPLIANT | VIOLATIONS_FOUND | CRITICAL_VIOLATION - **Skills Audited**: [count] - **Constraints Checked**: [count] - **Violations**: [count by severity] ### HARD-GATE Violations (BLOCK) - [skill:test] Iron Law: implementation code written at tool_call #12 BEFORE test file created at #15 - [skill:cook] Plan Gate: Phase 4 started without user approval message ### Constraint Violations (WARN) - [skill:verification] Constraint 2: "All tests pass" claimed at message #20 without stdout evidence - [skill:sentinel] Constraint 3: files scanned list not included in report ### Compliance Summary | Skill | HARD-GATEs | Constraints | Status | |-------|-----------|-------------|--------| | cook | 3/3 ✓ | 6/7 (1 WARN) | WARN | | test | 0/1 ✗ | 8/9 (1 WARN) | BLOCK | | verification | 1/1 ✓ | 4/6 (2 WARN) | WARN | | sentinel | 1/1 ✓ | 7/7 ✓ | PASS | ### Remediation - BLOCK: test Iron Law — delete implementation, restart with test-first - WARN: verification — re-run and capture stdout
Constraint Catalog (Quick Reference)
Key HARD-GATEs across skills that constraint-check audits:
| Skill | HARD-GATE | Check Method |
|---|---|---|
| test | Tests BEFORE code (Iron Law) | Tool call ordering |
| cook | Scout before plan, plan before code | Phase progression |
| plan | Every code phase has test entry | Plan content |
| verification | Evidence for every claim | Stdout capture |
| sentinel | BLOCK = halt pipeline | No commit after BLOCK |
| preflight | BLOCK = halt pipeline | No commit after BLOCK |
| debug | No code changes during debug | No Write/Edit in debug |
| debug | 3-fix escalation | Fix attempt counter |
| brainstorm | No implementation before approval | User message check |
Output Format
Constraint Check Report with status (COMPLIANT/VIOLATIONS_FOUND/CRITICAL_VIOLATION), HARD-GATE violations, constraint violations, compliance summary table, and remediation steps. See Step 5 Report above for full template.
Constraints
- MUST check all HARD-GATEs for every invoked skill — not just the ones that seem relevant
- MUST use tool call ordering (not agent narrative) to verify temporal constraints
- MUST distinguish HARD-GATE violations (BLOCK) from constraint violations (WARN)
- MUST report specific evidence for each violation — not just "violated"
- MUST NOT accept agent's self-report as compliance evidence — check independently
Sharp Edges
| Failure Mode | Severity | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|
| Agent self-reports compliance and constraint-check trusts it | CRITICAL | Constraint 5: check tool calls independently, not agent narrative |
| Only checking cook constraints, missing test/sentinel/etc | HIGH | Constraint 1: audit ALL invoked skills, not just the orchestrator |
| Temporal check wrong (tool calls reordered in context) | MEDIUM | Use tool call sequence numbers, not message ordering |
| Too strict on optional steps (INFO treated as BLOCK) | LOW | Step 4 classification: only HARD-GATE = BLOCK, constraints = WARN |
Done When
- All invoked skills identified from context
- HARD-GATEs and constraints extracted from each skill's SKILL.md
- Each constraint checked against conversation evidence
- Violations classified as BLOCK/WARN/INFO
- Compliance summary table emitted per skill
- Remediation steps listed for each violation
Cost Profile
~1000-2000 tokens input, ~500-1000 tokens output. Haiku for speed — reads skill files and checks tool call ordering.
