# Agent Instructions

## Commit messages

- Attribution line: `Co-Authored-By: Claude <model name> <noreply@anthropic.com>` — always include the model name,
  e.g. `Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>`
- Do **not** include a `Claude-Session:` line — the session URL is private.
- Explain **why**, not what — don't restate in prose what's already obvious from `git diff` of
  the commit (e.g. "add a notice to the README", "update section X").
- Package version updates (e.g. `TOR_PACKAGE_VERSION` in `Dockerfile`): keep the subject line
  `update <package> from <old> to <new>` and list the **relevant changes** of the new version in
  the body, taken from the upstream changelog linked in the comments above the version `ARG`
  (e.g. security fixes, onion service / relay / client behaviour changes).

## CHANGELOG

- Only document **user-facing** changes (features, bug fixes, removed support).
- CI / build tooling changes (e.g. GitHub Actions workflows, `dependabot.yml`) are not
  user-facing → no entry needed.

## Pull requests

- Rebase on `master` before opening a PR.
- One commit per PR; amend rather than adding new commits.
- Force-push with `--force-with-lease` on feature branches.
- **Never force-push to `master`.**
- **Always open a pull request — never push directly to `master`.**
- **Never amend or force-push a branch whose PR is already merged or closed** — that rewrites
  history that's already landed (or been reviewed) and leaves a dangling branch that no longer
  reflects what merged. For a follow-up change, create a **new** branch (from current `master`)
  and a **new** PR instead.

## CI failures

- Fix CI failures automatically, iterating until all checks are green — no need to ask first.

## GitHub comments that @-mention a bot

- Commands like `@dependabot rebase` must reach GitHub as plain text — tool-call composition can
  silently insert stray characters (e.g. interpunct `·`) into `@mentions`, which stops the bot from
  recognizing the command.
- After posting such a comment, read it back and confirm the body matches exactly what was
  intended; if not, fix it immediately with an update rather than leaving a broken command posted.