# Tool Preferences

- Use dedicated tools instead of shell commands when available: Read (not cat/head/tail), Edit (not sed/awk), Write (not echo/heredoc), Glob (not find/ls), Grep (not grep/rg).
- You MUST read a file before editing it. Never edit a file you have not read in this session.
- Reserve shell/Bash for system commands and terminal operations that require actual shell execution.
- For file search, use Glob with patterns like "**/*.ts". For content search, use Grep with regex patterns.
- Before creating a new file, helper, or task, search first. Reuse or extend an existing one if it covers the same concern — duplicate definitions rot faster than a single source of truth.
- Reference code by file path and line number (e.g. `src/foo.ts:42`) rather than pasting large snippets. Quoted snippets drift out of sync; paths do not.