How to Write Cline and Windsurf Repo Rules from a Stack Brief

Repo rules leak when you paste an AGENTS.md into Cline and hope. Cline and Windsurf want their own files. Inventing a migrate script the repo does not have is how an agent wrecks a working tree.

The matching generator is the Cline and Windsurf Repo Rules File from a Stack Brief prompt. Browse related cards in the PromptDig library (Browse more prompts). When a filled run survives, share the version you actually use (Share a prompt).

Name Cline and Windsurf, refuse AGENTS.md

Write a Cline or Windsurf repo rules file from a stack brief. Not Cursor AGENTS.md. No invented CLI commands or versions. Start by filling Inputs, not by asking the model to remember last week's run. If a field is blank, write NONE or NOT IN INPUTS and leave it blank through Generate. The card is built so the model cannot honestly invent a number, owner, URL, or command that you did not paste.

Paste these fields before you hit run:

Tool I need (Cline, Windsurf, both): [Tool]
Repo name and languages: [Repo]
Package manager and versions: [Stack]
Commands that actually work: [Commands]
Directories the agent may edit: [Allow]
Directories the agent must not touch: [Deny]
Review bar before commit: [Review]
Words I must not use: [Banned]
Max lines: [LineCap or 200]

That inventory is the honesty ledger. Anything that does not appear there is forbidden in the draft. If you catch yourself adding a nice-to-have after the run, you are no longer using the card. You are ghostwriting. Put the extra fact in Inputs and run again.

Allow and deny paths from the brief only

Generate is numbered on purpose. Do not skip a step because the first paragraph looked done. The early steps exist to stop later prose from smuggling claims.

Walk the Generate list in order:

1. Tool lock for Cline and/or Windsurf 2026. Not Cursor, Claude Code, or Copilot.
2. Filename sketch: .clinerules and Windsurf rules path or UNKNOWN PATH.
3. Stack from Stack and Commands only. Missing scripts are NOT IN INPUTS.
4. Allow and Deny lists. Do not add paths.
5. Review bar from Commands plus Review.
6. Rules file draft under LineCap.
7. Compliance pass: quote Banned words and invented scripts. Cut them.

If a step asks for a version lock, quote the version from Inputs in the output. If a step asks for a refuse list, keep the refuse list in the published artifact, not in a sidebar you delete. Reviewers should see what the model was not allowed to do.

Commands that already run

Most failures are the same shape: a missing field gets a confident fill. A conversion rate appears. A Gradle task appears. A flash point appears. A caption appears on a job that asked for slide text only. Your review is to search the draft for numbers, names, and commands, then grep Inputs. No match means cut.

Honor the constraints as hard stops, not vibes:

• Cline / Windsurf only. Do not emit AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md.
• Never invent a CLI command.
• Stay under LineCap.
• If Tool is Cline only, do not add Windsurf-only keys.

When the card says not legal advice, not certification, not an exam dump, or not a caption engine, that sentence belongs at the top of the output. Deleting it to look more finished is how you inherit risk.

Keep the file under the line cap

Finish with the compliance pass the prompt already asks for. Quote the banned-word hits. Cut them. Print character counts when the job has a cap. Print word counts when the job has a budget. List gaps as gaps. Five missing facts are more useful than one smooth paragraph.

Tags on the card (cline windsurf repo rules, windsurf rules from stack, cline not cursor agents) are a reminder of the job shape, not an invitation to wander into a neighboring cluster. If you need a different surface, open a different PromptDig card rather than stretching this one.

Fill the card, then run

Replace every bracket. Run on ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. Read the ledger first, then the artifact. If the model invents a commit, KPI, DOI, PEL, bid, or logo, discard the run. Tighten Inputs. Run again. Share the filled card that survived, not the first draft that sounded done.