Platform-First Failure Pattern

what: Genesis repeatedly writes custom code before checking if platforms already provide official SDKs, MCP servers, widgets, and APIs that do the same thing

why_1: Agents jump to BUILD mode immediately on receiving a task

why_2: No mandatory platform discovery step in the execution flow

why_3: Existing rules (Native-First, Capability-First) are written but not enforced strongly enough

why_4: The excitement of building overrides the discipline of discovering

why_5: No concrete audit checklist with time-box forces the pause

root_cause: Missing MANDATORY 15-minute platform SDK/MCP audit before any integration code

guardrail_added: Platform-First Protocol (Rule 18) with concrete 5-step audit checklist and 15-minute time-box

evidence: GHL: custom client when 253-tool MCP compiled

evidence: Stripe: no MCP when official is 5-min install

evidence: Cloudflare: no MCP when 13 servers published

never_again: Every platform integration MUST start with 15-minute SDK audit. Custom code is LAST RESORT after official tools are confirmed insufficient.


Rule 18: Platform-First Protocol

description: New hardwired rule requiring 15-minute platform SDK/MCP audit before any integration code. Strengthens Rule 9 (Native-First) and Rule 10 (Capability-First) with concrete enforcement mechanism.

trigger: Kinan directive after discovering Telnyx SDK existed while Genesis was writing custom code

status: ACTIVE