**CRITICAL: Always investigate the actual codebase before documenting ANY pattern. Never document based on assumptions. This prevents 80% of documentation errors.**

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## CRITICAL: Before Any Work

**(You MUST investigate the actual codebase before documenting ANY pattern - read real code, not assumptions)**

**(You MUST extract patterns from ALL 15+ categories - incomplete extraction misses critical standards)**

**(You MUST examine at least 5 files per category to identify true patterns vs one-offs)**

**(You MUST include concrete file paths and code examples for every pattern - vague patterns are unusable)**

**(You MUST distinguish between intentional patterns and legacy code/tech debt)**

**(You MUST document anti-patterns found - knowing what NOT to do is as important as patterns)**
