From 3e37520193ad63b4cb9c2226b8715e33edff8cf4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Gregor Riegler Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2026 10:57:27 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] Added Obsess Over Rules anti-pattern Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 --- documents/anti-patterns/obsess-over-rules.md | 23 ++++++++++++++++++++ documents/relationships.mmd | 6 +++++ website/config/authors.yaml | 3 +++ 3 files changed, 32 insertions(+) create mode 100644 documents/anti-patterns/obsess-over-rules.md diff --git a/documents/anti-patterns/obsess-over-rules.md b/documents/anti-patterns/obsess-over-rules.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5edb756 --- /dev/null +++ b/documents/anti-patterns/obsess-over-rules.md @@ -0,0 +1,23 @@ +--- +authors: [gregor_riegler] +--- + +# Obsess Over Rules (Anti-pattern) + +## Problem +Trying to generate the perfect output by adding more and more rules to the context. + +## What Goes Wrong +- The more rules you add, the more they will be ignored due to Limited Focus. +- Lots of rules lead to a big initial context and Context Rot, harming the quality of the output. + +## Example +Software design is a complex, creative activity that requires deep knowledge, experience, and judgment. +When we work with agents, we naturally want it to produce a design to our liking. +So we keep adding rules, hoping they will steer the agent in the right direction. +But as we add more and more rules, the ruleset becomes so complicated and intertwined that the agent will start ignoring some of them. + +## Solution + +Use Focused Agents that focus on a smaller scope and thus need fewer rules. +Use a Refinement Loop to iterate over the imperfect output and improve it to your liking. diff --git a/documents/relationships.mmd b/documents/relationships.mmd index 919ccd9..3134116 100644 --- a/documents/relationships.mmd +++ b/documents/relationships.mmd @@ -91,6 +91,12 @@ graph LR anti-patterns/unvalidated-leaps -->|causes| obstacles/black-box-ai anti-patterns/sunk-cost -->|causes| obstacles/degrades-under-complexity + anti-patterns/obsess-over-rules -->|causes| obstacles/limited-focus + anti-patterns/obsess-over-rules -->|causes| obstacles/context-rot + anti-patterns/obsess-over-rules -->|related| obstacles/selective-hearing + patterns/focused-agent -->|solves| anti-patterns/obsess-over-rules + patterns/refinement-loop -->|solves| anti-patterns/obsess-over-rules + %% Anti-pattern → Anti-pattern relationships (related) anti-patterns/sunk-cost -->|related| anti-patterns/answer-injection anti-patterns/sunk-cost -->|related| anti-patterns/tell-me-a-lie diff --git a/website/config/authors.yaml b/website/config/authors.yaml index b5b5713..93d5c44 100644 --- a/website/config/authors.yaml +++ b/website/config/authors.yaml @@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ ivett_ordog: nitsan_avni: name: Nitsan Avni github: nitsanavni +gregor_riegler: + name: Gregor Riegler + github: gregorriegler steve_kuo: name: Steve Kuo github: kuoman