update-project-rules

Update Project Rules

Overview

This developer's rules (rules/*.md) live in SatanLittleHelper/ai-dev-kit and are pulled into a project as a git submodule at .claude/ai-dev-kit, wired into CLAUDE.md via @import. A source-repo change doesn't reach an installed project until someone updates that submodule there. This skill wraps that sequence — and the companion AGENTS.md regeneration for Codex, when the project has opted into it — so it's safe and predictable to invoke on request.

For updating the installed skills themselves (npx skills update), see update-project-skills instead — a separate skill, deliberately not folded into this one.

Steps

1. Scope check. Confirm .claude/ai-dev-kit exists as a submodule in the current project (git submodule status .claude/ai-dev-kit succeeds, or just [ -d .claude/ai-dev-kit ]). If it doesn't, tell the user this project doesn't have the ai-dev-kit rules submodule and stop — no action.
2. Update the submodule to the latest commit on its tracked branch:

   git submodule update --remote .claude/ai-dev-kit
   

   CLAUDE.md's @import of rules/RULES.md picks up the new content automatically the next time it's loaded — no further action needed for Claude Code itself.
3. Regenerate AGENTS.md, only if the project opted into Codex support. Check whether AGENTS.md contains the marker <!-- ai-dev-kit:rules:start — its presence is what "opted in" means (set by ai-dev-kit's setup.sh prompt, or a manual run of the generator), not something to ask about again here. If present:

   bash .claude/ai-dev-kit/rules/build-agents-md.sh
   

   If the marker isn't there, skip this step silently — don't ask the user to opt into Codex support as a side effect of an unrelated "update rules" request; that question belongs to ai-dev-kit's setup.sh, asked once, at setup time.
4. Show what changed. Run git status --short and git diff --stat; report the changed files to the user (typically .claude/ai-dev-kit's submodule pointer, plus AGENTS.md if step 3 ran).
5. Ask before committing. Per rules/base/git-and-commits.md, git commit only runs on explicit user request — never automatically here. Present the diff and ask whether to commit. If the user says yes, follow rules/base/git-and-commits.md for message shape (past tense, one line, ticket prefix from .claude/dev-conventions.json if the project tracks one) — and the pre-commit branch check from that same file.
6. No-op case. If the submodule update reports nothing changed (already at the latest commit) and step 3 didn't run or produced no diff, say so plainly — skip the diff and the commit question.
7. Failure case. If any command errors (network, missing submodule init, etc.), surface its actual output to the user rather than swallowing it or retrying silently.

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Also running npx skills update here because skills come from the same repo	That's update-project-skills's job — keep the two separate, don't fold skill-updating logic back into this skill
Regenerating AGENTS.md when the project never opted into Codex support	Only run the generator if the ai-dev-kit:rules:start marker is already present in AGENTS.md — don't ask again or add it here
Committing the submodule pointer/AGENTS.md changes automatically after updating	Ask first, per rules/base/git-and-commits.md — commit only on explicit request, after the branch check and message approval
Running this in a project with no .claude/ai-dev-kit submodule	Stop and tell the user this project doesn't use the ai-dev-kit rules submodule
Retrying silently on a git submodule update error	Surface the actual error to the user