# Governor

> Use when the user says 'new project', 'project init', 'what tier', 'scope', or discusses project maturity, complexity budget, or what's appropriate to build.

- **Type:** Skill
- **Install:** `agentstack add skill-cwinvestments-memstack-governor`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [cwinvestments](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/cwinvestments)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [AI & ML](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/ai-and-ml)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** MIT
- **Upstream author:** [cwinvestments](https://github.com/cwinvestments)
- **Source:** https://github.com/cwinvestments/memstack/tree/master/skills/governor
- **Website:** https://memstack.pro

## Install

```sh
agentstack add skill-cwinvestments-memstack-governor
```

Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent.

## About

# 🏛️ Governor — Portfolio Governance

*Enforce tier-appropriate complexity. Prevent over-engineering the #1 waste of time in AI-assisted development.*

## Activation

When this skill activates, output:

`🏛️ Governor — Checking project tier constraints...`

Then execute the protocol below.

## Context Guard

| Context | Status | Priority |
|---------|--------|----------|
| **User starts a new project ("new project", "init", "scaffold")** | ACTIVE — assign tier | P1 |
| **User asks "what tier", "what's allowed", "scope check"** | ACTIVE — report current tier constraints | P1 |
| **User proposes work that exceeds current tier** | ACTIVE — flag and advise | P2 |
| **User is executing work within tier constraints** | DORMANT — don't interrupt | — |
| **User explicitly overrides ("I know, do it anyway")** | DORMANT — user has authority | — |

## Anti-Rationalization

If you're thinking any of these, STOP — you're about to let scope creep happen:

| You're thinking... | Reality |
|---|---|
| "Adding tests is always good practice" | Not for prototypes. Tests for throwaway code waste time. |
| "This needs proper auth" | Single-user tools don't need auth. Add it when there are users. |
| "Let me add CI/CD while I'm at it" | CI/CD for a prototype is gold-plating. Ship first. |
| "Error handling should be comprehensive" | Prototype error handling = crash and log. That's it. |
| "I should add monitoring" |  1 premature abstraction
9. **Adding comprehensive error handling** — Crash and read the stack trace. That's debugging
10. **Monitoring and alerting** — Console output is your monitoring

### MVP Anti-Patterns — DON'T DO THIS

1. **Integration test suites** — Happy-path unit tests are enough at MVP
2. **Multi-environment deploys** — One environment. Dev IS production
3. **Performance optimization** — Make it work, make it right, THEN make it fast. You're at step 2
4. **Horizontal scaling** — Vertical scale (bigger server) until proven insufficient
5. **Comprehensive logging** — Log errors and key events. Not every function call

### Production Anti-Patterns — DON'T DO THIS

1. **Skipping tests to "move faster"** — You'll move slower when bugs hit production
2. **Manual deployments** — CI/CD exists for a reason. Set it up
3. **No error tracking** — If you can't see errors, you can't fix them
4. **Ignoring security** — Production code faces the internet. Act like it

## Inputs
- Project name and context
- Current tier (from user, STATE.md, or project CLAUDE.md)
- Proposed work scope

## Outputs
- Tier assignment with constraint summary
- Violation flags when scope exceeds tier
- Anti-pattern warnings

## Level History

- **Lv.1** — Base: 3-tier governance system with phase constraints, anti-patterns list, and scope violation flagging. Inspired by Intellegix portfolio governance. (Origin: MemStack v3.2, Feb 2026)

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [cwinvestments](https://github.com/cwinvestments)
- **Source:** [cwinvestments/memstack](https://github.com/cwinvestments/memstack)
- **License:** MIT
- **Homepage:** https://memstack.pro

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.

## Pricing

- **Free** — Free

## Security capabilities

Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access:

- **Network access:** no
- **Filesystem access:** no
- **Shell / process execution:** no
- **Environment & secrets:** no
- **Dynamic code execution:** no

*"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.*


## Versions

- **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source.

## Links

- Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-cwinvestments-memstack-governor
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/cwinvestments
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

---
Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. Every listing is security-reviewed. Creators keep 70%.