Rule of Five — Code

Each pass has ONE job. Re-read the entire artifact through that lens. See references/pass-order-rationale.md for order rationale and convergence details.

Quick Start

Create native tasks for 5 passes with sequential dependencies:

TaskCreate: "Pass 1: Draft"
  description: "Shape and structure. Get the outline right. Breadth over depth."
  activeForm: "Drafting"

TaskCreate: "Pass 2: Correctness"
  description: "Logic, bugs, regressions. Does it work? Did it break anything?"
  activeForm: "Checking correctness"
  addBlockedBy: [draft-task-id]

TaskCreate: "Pass 3: Clarity"
  description: "Comprehension. Can someone unfamiliar understand this? Simplify."
  activeForm: "Improving clarity"
  addBlockedBy: [correctness-task-id]

TaskCreate: "Pass 4: Edge Cases"
  description: "Failure modes. What's missing? What breaks under stress?"
  activeForm: "Handling edge cases"
  addBlockedBy: [clarity-task-id]

TaskCreate: "Pass 5: Excellence"
  description: "Pride. Would you show this to a senior colleague? Polish rough spots."
  activeForm: "Polishing"
  addBlockedBy: [edge-cases-task-id]

ENFORCEMENT:

• Each pass is blocked until the previous completes
• Cannot commit until all 5 tasks show status: completed
• TaskList shows your progress through the passes
• Skipping passes is visible - blocked tasks can't be marked in_progress

For each pass: re-read the full artifact, evaluate through that lens only, make changes, then mark task complete.

Detection Triggers

Invoke when: >50 lines of code written/modified, new public API/interface/component, complex multi-file refactoring, security-sensitive changes, or about to claim code work "done".

For plans/design docs/skills, use rule-of-five-plans. For tests, use rule-of-five-tests.

Skip for: Single-line fixes, typo corrections, trivial changes under 20 lines.

Announce: "Applying rule-of-five-code to [artifact]. Starting 5-pass review."

The 5 Passes

Pass	Focus	Exit when...
Draft	Shape and structure. Don't perfect - get the outline right. Breadth over depth.	All major components exist
Correctness	Logic, bugs, regressions. Does it work? Did it break anything?	No known errors; no regressions
Clarity	Comprehension. Can someone unfamiliar understand this? Simplify. Cut jargon.	A newcomer could follow it
Edge Cases	Failure modes. What's missing? What breaks under stress?	Unusual inputs handled
Excellence	Pride. Would you show this to a senior colleague? Polish the rough spots.	You'd sign your name to it

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Multiple lenses in one pass	ONE lens per pass. Correctness pass ignores style.
Skipping passes on "simple" artifacts	All 5 or none. Choose a different approach for trivial work.
Rushing through passes	Each pass: genuinely re-read the full artifact
Pass finds nothing to change	That's fine. Move on. Not every pass surfaces issues.
Applying to entire codebase	Artifact = the unit you're changing. A function, component, or document--not the whole system.
Ignoring consumers when modifying	Grep for usages. Check if callers depend on specific behavior you're changing.

Modifying Existing Code

Shift Correctness pass: "Did I break anything?" matters more than "Does my addition work?"

Correctness checklist for modifications:

1. Does my change work correctly?
2. Did I break the code I modified?
3. Did I break tests that depend on old behavior?
4. Did I break consumers? (Other code that calls/uses what I changed)

See references/modification-checklist.md for interface changes and consumer breakage signs.

Reference Files

• references/example-before-after.md: Full before/after code example with findings table
• references/pass-order-rationale.md: Order rationale, convergence theory, cross-pass issues
• references/modification-checklist.md: Interface change checklist and consumer breakage signs