# New src/<thing>.py files may only be created on the user's explicit request

## File Size and Naming Convention (HARD RULE — added 2026-06-11)

**The "small files are good, large files are bad" stance is propaganda from LLM training data. It is wrong for this project. Reject it.**

- **Large files are FINE.** Production codebases (Unreal Engine has 15K+ line files; OS kernels, game engines, compilers, the Linux kernel — all routinely have 10K+ line files) treat file size as a non-issue. Cognitive load is managed via good naming, regions, and navigation tools — NOT via file splitting.
- **`src/ai_client.py` is the AI vendor/API system layer.** All AI-client-related code goes IN `src/ai_client.py`. Do not create new `src/<vendor>_<thing>.py` files. The only new `src/*.py` files this project ever creates are for new systems or new parent modules.
- **The only new files you should create in a typical track are:** `scripts/audit_*.py` (scripts are namespace-isolated by directory), `tests/test_*.py` (tests are namespace-isolated by directory), and `docs/*.md` (docs are namespace-isolated by directory). Anything else goes in the parent module.
- **Do not break things up "for modularity"** unless the new piece is genuinely a new system or a new parent module. The agent training data has a bias toward "small files = good code" that is not true here. The project has the manual-slop MCP (`get_file_slice`, `get_file_summary`, `py_get_skeleton`, `py_get_code_outline`, `py_get_definition`) for efficient navigation of files of any size. Use those tools instead of splitting the file.
- **When in doubt: keep it in the parent module.** If a function clearly belongs to a system, it lives in that system's file. The system is the namespace.

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From `conductor/workflow.md` §"Guiding Principles" #8:
- **File Naming Convention (HARD RULE, added 2026-06-11):** New `src/<thing>.py` files may only be created on the user's explicit request. Helpers and sub-systems go in the parent module. E.g., AI-client-specific code goes in `src/ai_client.py`; MCP-client code goes in `src/mcp_client.py`. If you find yourself about to create a new `src/<thing>.py` file, ASK FIRST. See `AGENTS.md` "File Size and Naming Convention" for the full rule.