This is not prose about the product. This is the product.
What it looks like when kerby says no
BLOCKED: git push --force / -f Reason: destructive git command — data loss is hard or impossible to undo. If you really need this, run it yourself in a terminal. See kerby guardrails (hooks/protect-git.sh).
BLOCKED: Do not edit .env files directly. Use environment variables and document required vars in DEVELOPER_TODO.md. See kerby guardrails.
WARNING: gitleaks detected possible secrets in staged changes. Output suppressed so the secret isn't echoed here — inspect locally with 'gitleaks stdin --redact', or allowlist a false positive in the scanner's config.
No tone to argue with. The gate is open or it isn't.
One motion. Any work.
- GATE — an action arrives and stops at the threshold.
- WEIGH — kerby checks it against the evidence: tests, diffs, approvals.
- VERDICT — it passes, or it doesn't. There is no third option.
The engine is domain-blind. It loads a rulebook, watches the work, and renders verdicts. It doesn't know what coding is.
A rulebook is a folder: the rules for one kind of work, plus the checks that enforce them. Load the one that fits. Write your own when it doesn't. Rulebooks from outside your machine pass a one-time trust review before they can run.
- sweSoftware engineering: no claim without a fresh test behind it, no commit on a protected branch, no secret in the diff.
- skill-authoringFor repos that write agent skills: nothing ships as verified without a fresh evaluation of the exact text being shipped.
The engine is finished machinery. The next rulebook is a folder you write. Write a rulebook →
Install
/plugin marketplace add sorawit-w/kerby
/plugin install kerby@kerbyOr via the cross-platform CLI:
npx skills add sorawit-w/kerbyThen: /kerby loads the rules into the session. /kerby status checks they're still active.