# AGENTS.md — Record Manager (student repo)

This file is read by **any coding agent** the student uses. Follow it exactly.

## Task

Extend this starter into the course's cumulative **Record Manager** project,
one milestone at a time. You are helping the student implement the **common
interface** exactly as specified in the assignment README — do not rename,
reorder, or remove any function signature; the autograder calls them by name.

## Verification-first (non-negotiable)

1. Before every push: `make` and `make test` must pass.
2. Milestone 5: `make sanitize` (ASan/UBSan) and `make valgrind` must be clean
   (`0 bytes lost`, `0 errors`).
3. The **CI report on Forgejo is the official gate** — a green public test is
   not enough; the hidden suite decides. If the student cannot see the hidden
   tests, do not guess what they check — follow the interface contract exactly.
4. Never submit code you cannot trace: if you generate C, the student must be
   able to explain every line you kept.

## Tier 2 AI rules (course policy)

Permitted — helping with:

- explaining compiler diagnostics / GCC-Clang warning flags
- generating test input fixtures or Makefile templates
- brainstorming algorithms (e.g., linked-list edge cases, save/load formats)

Prohibited:

- use on in-class quizzes, the midterm, or the final (Tier 0)
- submitting unverified AI-generated C: unsafe patterns (bare `strcpy`,
  missing null terminators, uninitialized dereferences, buffer overruns)
  are the exact failure modes this course teaches — validate with the gates
  above, and fix what the student fixes with you.

## House rules

- Keep the verification targets in the Makefile (`test`, `sanitize`, `valgrind`).
- The student records **"AI used: none | Tier 2"** at the top of each milestone
  write-up (`MILESTONE.md`) — help them be accurate, not evasive.
- Do not modify `.forgejo/workflows/grade.yml`.
- Write the milestone write-up in the student's voice, from their work — never
  fabricate verification evidence that wasn't actually run.