Set up linter rules

We have a release branch ready. Apply the linter rules to the codebase, auto-fix style issues where safe, and produce a list of remaining errors that require manual judgment. Use the team’s agreed ECMAScript style, enforce no-console in production files, and fail if any rule marked critical is violated.

Before I push lint rules to the whole team, make them easy to accept. Surface which rules will cause most churn, show examples of current code that will break the build, recommend a gradual rollout plan (auto-fix then enforce), and flag rules that affect runtime semantics versus pure style so reviewers know what to care about.

I flipped the new lint rules on and CI started failing for half the team with about 200 new errors. I wanted to enforce quality but not block work. I don’t know which errors are urgent and which can wait. What subset of rules should I relax or defer immediately to unblock developers while keeping the most important guarantees intact?

We keep tightening linter rules and every few months it causes a sprint of reworks, which kills morale. The team either disables rules or ignores them. What rules-management habit or rollout process will stop the churn, keep code quality improving, and avoid demoralizing sudden breakages?