AGENTS.md Template for Quorum Based Database Systems

Overview

Direct answer: This AGENTS.md template defines the operating context for quorum based database systems where AI coding agents coordinate to achieve quorum for reads and writes, enabling safe handoffs and multi-agent orchestration. It provides a concrete, copyable blueprint you can paste into an AGENTS.md file to govern project-level agent behavior, architecture, and escalation paths.

This template governs a workflow where a roster of specialized agents maintains data integrity across a distributed database cluster using quorum rules, handles leader election and failover, and coordinates tool access, validation, and human review when needed. It supports both single-agent operations and multi-agent orchestration with explicit handoffs, memory, and source-of-truth constraints.

When to Use This AGENTS.md Template

• Building an AI-assisted control plane for quorum-based databases with coordinated reads and writes across replicas.
• Defining clear handoffs between planner, implementer, verifier, tester, and reviewer for database operations.
• Ensuring risk controls, security, and approval gates are embedded in the agent workflow.
• Documenting project-level operating context to reduce ambiguity in multi-agent orchestration.
• Standardizing how memory, context, and source-of-truth are managed during cluster reconfigurations and failovers.

Copyable AGENTS.md Template

# AGENTS.md

Project role: DataOps Engineer, DB Architect, and AI Coordinator for quorum-based databases.

Agent roster and responsibilities:
- Planner: designs targeted quorum strategy for reads/writes across replica sets, including leader election and conflict resolution.
- Implementer: executes the plan against the cluster, applies updates with idempotent operations.
- Verifier: cross-checks outputs against quorum rules and detects drift.
- Tester: runs unit/integration tests including failover and partition tests.
- Reviewer: ensures policy compliance, security, and risk controls.
- Researcher/Domain Expert: provides domain knowledge and ensures schema-level invariants are preserved.

Supervisor or orchestrator behavior:
- The Orchestrator maintains plan+state, enforces quorum constraints, triggers handoffs, and times out stalled steps.
- It tracks memory of the command history and ensures a single source of truth for each operation.
- It surfaces escalation when human review is required.

Handoff rules between agents:
- Planner → Implementer: provide a concrete plan with acceptance criteria and IDs.
- Implementer → Verifier: share execution results and logs; Verifier cross-checks with quorum criteria.
- Verifier → Planner/Orchestrator: report mismatches or success; if critical, escalate to Reviewer.
- Any agent → Human on clear risk.

Context, memory, and source-of-truth rules:
- Central memory store holds operation context, plan IDs, and last committed ballot.
- Source of truth is the distributed database cluster’s quorum state; all outputs must be verifiable against cluster logs.
- Input data provenance must be recorded with a timestamp and source.

Tool access and permission rules:
- Planner and Implementer have write access to cluster APIs; Verifier has read access; Secrets stored in secure vault with rotation.
- No agent should leak credentials; rotate tokens every 24h.
- All tool calls must be audited.

Architecture rules:
- Use a modular, pluggable architecture: planner, implementer, verifier, tester, and reviewer as separate components.
- Interactions are idempotent and deterministic; avoid side effects on retries.
- All changes must pass through the orchestrator before applying to production.

File structure rules:
- Keep all agent configurations under /quorum-db/agents-md-template.
- Each agent has its own directory with explicit scope and tests.
- Logs, data, and artifacts go under /quorum-db/agents-md-template/logs and /quorum-db/agents-md-template/artifacts.

Data, API, or integration rules:
- Use REST/gRPC endpoints to the cluster’s API with strict input validation.
- Validate reads using majority quorum; writes require quorum acknowledgement.
- Ensure idempotent write requests and deduplication on retries.

Validation rules:
- Validate quorum reached before committing; verify with cluster state.
- Validation must be deterministic and replayable.

Security rules:
- Enforce RBAC; rotate keys; disable inline secrets; encrypt in transit and at rest.

Testing rules:
- Unit tests for each agent; integration tests simulate network partitions; end-to-end tests in staging.

Deployment rules:
- CI runs unit/integration tests; deployments require the orchestrator approval gate; canary and rollback supported.

Human review and escalation rules:
- Escalate critical failures to on-call engineer; require human review for reconfigurations.

Failure handling and rollback rules:
- If quorum cannot be achieved within timeout, rollback to previous stable state; ensure no split-brain.

Things Agents must not do:
- Do not bypass quorum checks; do not apply destructive changes without plan; do not leak secrets; do not drift from the official architecture.

Recommended Agent Operating Model

The agent operating model defines roles, decision boundaries, and escalation paths for quorum-based database workflows. It emphasizes predictable handoffs, strict adherence to quorum rules, and human-in-the-loop when risk is high.

• Planner decides the quorum strategy (read/write quorum, timeout, and leader election) and generates a concrete plan.
• Implementer executes the plan against the cluster with idempotent operations and stateful retries.
• Verifier validates outputs against quorum state and cluster logs; flags drift or anomaly.
• Tester validates end-to-end behavior, including failure modes and recovery paths.
• Reviewer approves changes that affect cluster topology or security posture.
• Researcher/domain expert provides domain invariants and data model constraints.

Recommended Project Structure

/quorum-db/
  /agents-md-template/
    /planner/
    /implementer/
    /verifier/
    /tester/
    /reviewer/
    /researcher/
    /domain-expert/
  /configs/
  /policies/
  /tools/
  /data/
  /logs/
  /tests/
  /docs/

Core Operating Principles

• Quorum-first decisions: all commits require quorum acknowledgement.
• Deterministic retries: retries must be idempotent and traceable.
• Single source of truth: orchestrator maintains authoritative operation state.
• Explicit handoffs: every transition has a documented trigger and recipient.
• Auditable tool access: credentials are never hard-coded and are rotated regularly.

Agent Handoff and Collaboration Rules

• Planner communicates a concrete plan with IDs and acceptance criteria to Implementer.
• Implementer reports progress and results to Verifier; Verifier validates against quorum and logs.
• Verifier reports to Planner/Orchestrator; escalation to Reviewer if anomalies persist.
• Tester runs regression tests before production deployment; any failures trigger halt and rollback.
• Domain Expert validates data-model invariants during topology changes.

Tool Governance and Permission Rules

• Cluster API access is role-based; read vs write permissions are strictly separated.
• Secrets are stored in a vault; credentials rotate on a defined cadence.
• All tool access is audited with time-stamped logs.
• Production changes require orchestrator approval and, if risky, human review.

Code Construction Rules

• All changes must be traceable to a plan ID and a plan description.
• Implementations must be idempotent; retries must not duplicate effects.
• Database operations must specify the quorum target and timeout explicitly.
• All API calls must validate inputs strictly and sanitize outputs.
• Configuration changes must be validated for security impact before apply.

Security and Production Rules

• RBAC governs who can change cluster topology or rewire quorum settings.
• All secrets encrypted at rest and in transit; rotation policy enforced.
• Audit trails must exist for all plan executions and deployment events.
• Canary deployments with automatic rollback on failure are mandatory for production changes.

Testing Checklist

• Unit tests for each agent role; integration tests for quorum behavior.
• Failover and partition tests to verify leader election and quorum maintenance.
• End-to-end tests in staging that simulate real-world workloads.
• Security and access tests to ensure no credential leakage.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Assuming eventual consistency negates quorum requirements.
• Bypassing the orchestrator for critical changes.
• Inadequate logging or memory drift across steps.
• Injecting credentials into code or plan artifacts.
• Neglecting rollback paths in failover scenarios.

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FAQ

What is the purpose of this AGENTS.md Template for quorum based DB systems?

It provides a concrete, copyable operating manual for AI coding agents to coordinate quorum-based database operations, define handoffs, enforce tool governance, and handle escalation and rollback.

Who should use this AGENTS.md Template?

engineering leads, platform teams, and AI-enabled SREs implementing quorum-aware distributed DB workflows.

How do agents coordinate to achieve quorum in this template?

The Planner designs a quorum strategy, the Implementer executes it, and the Verifier ensures outputs meet quorum criteria; the Orchestrator enforces the process and triggers escalations when needed.

What about security and approvals in this template?

Roles are RBAC-governed, secrets are rotated and encrypted, and production changes require orchestrator approvals or human review as appropriate.

How is failure handled and rollback performed?

If quorum is not achieved or a failure occurs, the template prescribes rollback to a known safe state and escalation to human operators.

Can I adapt this AGENTS.md Template to other distributed systems?

Yes. The structure is designed for any multi-agent orchestration pattern with strict quorum or consensus requirements.