gemini-cli - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug] Systemic Failure to Enforce Mandatory Project Guidelines and Persistent Ignoring of User Directives

What happened?

The Gemini CLI agent exhibits a fundamental failure in implementing and maintaining project-specific operational guidelines (GEMINI.md). Despite explicit instructions, the agent bypasses mandatory protocols (specifically backup and logging rules) in a way that suggests a breakdown in policy enforcement logic rather than simple error.

1. Failure to Persist Guidelines Across Sessions

• Volatile Context: Upon session restarts, the agent fails to load and maintain the mandatory operational protocols defined in GEMINI.md. Even when the file is present in the workspace, the agent "forgets" these constraints, causing core features (such as versioned file backups and history logging) to stop functioning entirely.

1. Selective Compliance and Passive Error Acknowledgement

• Passive Correction: The agent exhibits a reactive, passive behavior; it fails to monitor its own adherence to guidelines and only acknowledges violations after they are explicitly pointed out by the user. It fails to identify its own failure to log or back up code.
• Performative Compliance: Even when the agent explicitly agrees to "load and adhere" to the guidelines upon re-instruction, it fails to translate this commitment into actual code execution. It acknowledges the instructions but continues to ignore them in subsequent operations.

1. Inability to Diagnose Policy Violations

• Lack of Root-Cause Attribution: When challenged on why it ignored mandatory directives, the agent consistently fails to distinguish whether the failure stems from a misinterpretation of instructions, a memory/persistence error, or an underlying systemic logic flaw. It cannot perform a self-diagnostic analysis to explain why it bypassed core mandates.

What did you expect to happen?

1. Force Policy Persistence: The agent must reliably maintain the state of mandatory guidelines across all session boundaries. Instructions in GEMINI.md should be treated as inviolable operational code, not volatile text. 2. Active Self-Monitoring: Require the agent to proactively report on its compliance (e.g., "I am currently adhering to the backup and logging protocols...") before executing tasks. 3. Logic Transparency: When a user points out a guideline violation, the agent must be required to provide a clear, technical explanation of why the violation occurred (e.g., "I failed to load the instruction from context," or "I prioritize task execution over logging") so that the underlying behavior can be corrected.

Client information

About Gemini CLI

CLI Version 0.41.2 Git Commit b0c7a1722 Model gemini-3.1-flash-lite-preview Sandbox no sandbox OS win32

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