v2026.2.5

Previous release

v2026.2.5 - "Lean Rules" Release

Released: February 14, 2026

This release replaces the deployment of 31 individual rule files (~9,321 lines total) with a single consolidated `RULES-INDEX.md` (~200 lines), achieving ~95% context reduction across all 8 providers. Agents scan short summaries and load full rules on demand via @-links, keeping context windows lean without sacrificing discoverability.

Highlights

What Changed	Why You Care
Consolidated rules deployment	Single `RULES-INDEX.md` replaces 31 individual files — ~95% context reduction
Automatic cleanup	Old individually-deployed rule files removed on redeploy
All 8 providers	Claude, Codex, Factory, Copilot, Cursor, OpenCode, Warp, Windsurf all updated

The Problem

Every `aiwg use sdlc` deployment copied 31 individual rule `.md` files into the target rules directory. That's ~9,321 lines of content loaded into agent context on every session — most of which was irrelevant to the current task. Context windows aren't infinite, and every wasted line of rules context is a line that can't be used for actual work.

The Solution: Index-Based Rules

Instead of deploying all 31 full rule files, AIWG now deploys a single `RULES-INDEX.md` containing:

2-3 sentence summaries per rule — enough to determine relevance
@-links to full rule files — load the details only when needed
Tier grouping — Core (9 rules), SDLC (20 rules), Research (2 rules)
Enforcement ordering — CRITICAL > HIGH > MEDIUM within each tier
Quick Reference table — maps 11 task types to relevant rules

Before/After

# Before: 31 files, ~9,321 lines
.claude/rules/
├── no-attribution.md
├── token-security.md
├── versioning.md
├── citation-policy.md
├── anti-laziness.md
├── executable-feedback.md
├── failure-mitigation.md
├── ... (24 more files)

# After: 1 file, ~200 lines
.claude/rules/
└── RULES-INDEX.md

How It Works

1. Agent starts a session and loads `RULES-INDEX.md` (~200 lines) 2. Agent scans summaries to find rules relevant to the current task 3. When a rule is relevant, agent loads the full rule via its @-link 4. Only the rules that matter consume context window space

Example Index Entry

#### no-attribution
**Summary**: AI tools are tools — never add attribution to commits, PRs, docs, or code.
No "Co-Authored-By", no "Generated with", no tool branding. Universal across all 8 providers.
**When to apply**: Commit creation, PR drafting, code generation, documentation output
**Full rule**: @agentic/code/frameworks/sdlc-complete/rules/no-attribution.md

Automatic Cleanup

When redeploying with `aiwg use sdlc`, old individually-deployed `.md` rule files in the target directory are automatically cleaned up before the new index is deployed. Non-`.md` files (like Cursor's `.mdc` rules) are preserved.

This means upgrading from v2026.2.4 to v2026.2.5 is seamless — just run `aiwg use sdlc` again.

All 8 Providers Updated

Every provider deploys the consolidated index to its native rules location:

Platform	Target
Claude Code	`.claude/rules/RULES-INDEX.md`
Codex (OpenAI)	`.codex/rules/RULES-INDEX.md`
Factory AI	`.factory/rules/RULES-INDEX.md`
GitHub Copilot	`.github/copilot-instructions.md` (content injection)
Cursor	`.cursor/rules/RULES-INDEX.md`
OpenCode	`.opencode/rule/RULES-INDEX.md`
Warp Terminal	`.warp/rules/RULES-INDEX.md`
Windsurf	`.windsurf/rules/RULES-INDEX.md`

Fallback Behavior

If `RULES-INDEX.md` is not found in the source (e.g., when deploying from an older AIWG version), all providers fall back to deploying individual rule files. No breakage for existing setups.

Manifest v2.0.0

The rules manifest (`manifest.json`) has been bumped to v2.0.0 with new consolidation metadata:

{
  "consolidation": {
    "strategy": "index-with-links",
    "indexFile": "RULES-INDEX.md",
    "deployIndexOnly": true,
    "rationale": "Deploy ~200-line index instead of ~9,321-line bulk to reduce context waste by ~95%"
  }
}

New Functions in base.mjs

Six new shared functions support the consolidation across all providers:

Function	Purpose
`loadRulesManifest(srcRoot)`	Load and parse rules manifest.json
`groupRulesByTier(rules)`	Group rules into core/sdlc/research
`groupByEnforcement(rules)`	Group rules by critical/high/medium
`getRulesIndexPath(srcRoot)`	Get path to RULES-INDEX.md (or null)
`generateConsolidatedRulesContent(srcRoot, provider, addonRuleFiles)`	Generate full index content with optional addon rules
`cleanupOldRuleFiles(rulesDir, opts)`	Remove old individual .md files, preserving RULES-INDEX.md

Testing

31 new unit tests covering all consolidation functions
7 new integration tests validating deployment and cleanup behavior
All 76 tests passing (31 unit + 45 integration)

Migration

# Just redeploy — old files cleaned up automatically
aiwg use sdlc

# Or for a specific provider
aiwg use sdlc --provider cursor

No manual cleanup needed. The deployment handles everything.

Install

npm install -g [email protected]