The 9 Constitutional Articles
The constitution is the governance layer of Charter-Orchestrated Engineering. It defines non-negotiable rules that every charter, plan, and task list must satisfy.
The Articles
Section titled “The Articles”| # | Article | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| I | Library-First | Prefer existing libraries over custom code |
| II | CLI Interface | All tools must have CLI interfaces |
| III | Test-First | Write tests before implementation |
| IV | Integration Testing | Test components together, not just in isolation |
| V | Observability | Build in logging, metrics, and tracing |
| VI | Versioning | Track versions for all artifacts |
| VII | Simplicity | Minimize moving parts and complexity |
| VIII | Anti-Abstraction | Don’t abstract until you must |
| IX | Integration-First | Define contracts before building components |
How Articles Work
Section titled “How Articles Work”Articles act as phase gates — checkpoints that charters must pass before moving to the next phase.
Gate 1: Charter to Plan Pass -> Plan
Fail path returns to Charter for corrections.
Gate 2: Plan to Tasks Pass -> Tasks
Fail path returns to Plan for architectural adjustment.
Gate 3: Tasks to Implement Pass -> Implement
Fail path returns to Tasks for sequencing and coverage fixes.
Each gate verifies that the output of a phase doesn’t violate any constitutional article. For example:
- A plan that introduces an ORM when direct SQL works violates Article VIII (Anti-Abstraction)
- A task list with no test tasks violates Article III (Test-First)
- A charter requiring 5 microservices for a simple CRUD app violates Article VII (Simplicity)
Key Articles in Detail
Section titled “Key Articles in Detail”Three articles have the most day-to-day impact:
- Library-First (Article I) — Stop reinventing wheels
- Test-First (Article III) — Tests drive design, not the reverse
- Simplicity & Anti-Abstraction (Articles VII + VIII) — Less is more
Customizing Your Constitution
Section titled “Customizing Your Constitution”The default constitution works for most projects. You can customize it with:
/auro.constitutionCommon customizations:
- Relaxing Test-First for prototypes or spikes
- Adding domain articles like “HIPAA Compliance” or “Offline-First”
- Adjusting complexity thresholds for larger teams