Guardian Engineering Framework: mechanically enforcing code standards against AI assistant drift

Short summary

AI coding assistants like Cursor and Copilot often start strong but gradually 'forget' coding standards, producing bloated functions and skipping tests, leading to exponential technical debt. The Guardian Engineering Framework (GEF) proposes mechanically enforcing engineering rules rather than relying on readable style guides. Key principles include hard limits on code quality, treating AI as a Tech Lead governed by SOLID principles, and a 'Crash Clause' requiring AI to fail fast and ask for help rather than improvising toxic solutions.

• •AI coding tools degrade code quality over time by forgetting standards mid-session
• •GEF framework mechanically enforces engineering rules instead of relying on documentation
• •Core tenets: hard limits, AI-as-Tech-Lead, fail-fast Crash Clause, secure-by-design Git guardians

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