# Critical Rules and Anti-Patterns - Autonomous Low-Code Agents

These rules are the canonical source for rules specific to low-code autonomous agent authoring, in addition to the shared rules defined in [critical-rules.md](critical-rules.md). Capability files cross-reference back here; they do not restate rules.

## Critical Rules

1. **Inline autonomous agents in flows use `uipath.agent.autonomous` nodes.** The node's `inputs.source` references the inline agent's `projectId` UUID. Attached resource nodes (`uipath.agent.resource.tool.*`, `uipath.agent.resource.escalation`, `uipath.agent.resource.context.*`) use the same `inputs.source` convention to reference their `<RES_UUID>` subdirectory under `<projectId>/resources/`. The definition still declares `model.source: true`, but flow-core hoists the source identity onto `inputs.source` for the node instance; no node instance carries an instance `model` block. The agent definition lives in a subdirectory inside the flow project. See [../capabilities/inline-in-flow/inline-in-flow.md](../capabilities/inline-in-flow/inline-in-flow.md).

2. **Use `uip agent memory` for memory spaces and seed items.** The memory commands own `features/{FeatureName}/feature.json`, memory item type validation, and generated `memorySpace` bindings. Attach existing memory spaces by `--memory-space` plus literal `--folder-path`; seed items require `--memory-type episodic|escalation`, and episodic seed items require `--feedback-id`. Run `uip agent refresh --output json`, `uip agent validate --output json`, and then `uip solution resources refresh --output json` after memory changes in a solution. See [../capabilities/memory/memory.md](../capabilities/memory/memory.md).

## What NOT to Do

1. **Always include `"guardrail": { "policies": [] }` in every tool resource.json, and never populate `policies` with entries** — the field must be present for backward-compatible solution loading; omitting it causes the runtime to fail. All guardrails are configured at the agent.json root `guardrails` array with `selector.scopes` and `selector.matchNames`. **This anti-pattern is autonomous-only — for conversational agents, populate `policies` per-tool per [conversational-critical-rules.md](conversational-critical-rules.md) Critical Rule 1 + Anti-pattern 2.**

2. **Do not hand-edit memory feature files for routine changes** — use `uip agent memory add/list/remove` and `uip agent memory item add/list/remove`. Hand-writing `features/{Name}/feature.json` or `bindings_v2.json` can desynchronize generated state and skip CLI validation for search mode, field weights, metadata JSON, and memory item type.