preview

Proplasma Protocol

Expose direction unknowns through divergent-discard instantiation before commitment. Type: (DirectionUnrecognizable, Hybrid, PREVIEW, DirectionProspect) → DirectionalContrast.

Definition

Proplasma (πρόπλασμα): the preliminary clay model a sculptor shapes before committing to marble. A dialogical act for the moment right before a direction commitment when the candidate directions cannot be recognized from their descriptions: the AI derives the axes on which the candidates genuinely diverge, the user settles those axes and the placeholder policy at a spec gate, the AI instantiates two to four cheap placeholder probes that commit different values on the settled axes, presents them probe-first with a per-axis contrast, and the user constitutes the direction decision on recognized futures. Probes are discard-committed instruments — never evidence, never promoted.

── FLOW ──
Proplasma(X) → detect(X, route) →
  [¬pre_commit(X) ∨ |direction_candidates(X)| < 2] requires_fail_relay → exit (not activated)
  [futures recognizable from text] no_deficit_relay → exit (not activated)
  [route ∈ {①, ②, ③}] route_away_relay(matched row) → exit (not activated)
  [a type guard fails (¬fake_data_sufficient ∨ ¬placeholder_fidelity) ∧ no routing row matches] unfit_relay → exit (not activated)
  derive_axes(X) → Axs → draft_policy → Qspec(Axs, policy, Tgt, tier) → S →
  [S = Adjust(revision)] revise → Qspec (re-present; still pre-generation)
  [at any Qspec circulation, either party: sharpened description makes the futures recognizable ∨ activation premise collapses]
    dissolution: [Λ.probes ≠ ∅ (refan re-entry) → cleanup_verify first] → dissolution_relay → exit (DissolutionExit)
  [S = Approve] instantiate(∥ probes over Tgt, temp-isolated, cleanup-registered) →
  contrast(P, Axs) → (CM, EU, CC) → present(probe-first: probes → contrast map → unknowns) →
  Qdir → D →
  [D = Select(direction)] harvest → cleanup_verify → assemble → DirectionalContrast
  [D = Synthesize(composition)] Qmicro → Gs →
    [Gs = Confirm] harvest(synthesized direction) → cleanup_verify → assemble → DirectionalContrast
    [Gs = Materialize] spec_gate_if_spec_revision → refan(composition) → contrast → present → Qdir
  [contrast_insufficient ∧ refan_budget > 0] spec_gate_if_spec_revision → refan(gap) → contrast → present → Qdir
  [contrast_insufficient ∧ refan_budget = 0 ∧ refan_kind = Materialization ∧ ¬insufficiency_relayed] insufficiency_after_materialization_relay → Qdir (re-present over the accumulated probes)
  [contrast_insufficient ∧ refan_budget = 0 ∧ refan_kind = Materialization ∧ insufficiency_relayed] insufficiency_standdown_relay → cleanup_verify → exit (EarlyExit via insufficiency_standdown)
  [contrast_insufficient ∧ refan_budget = 0 ∧ refan_kind = Gap] misdiagnosis_exit → cleanup_verify → route_away(MisdiagnosisRoute)
-- spec_gate_if_spec_revision: a refan whose implication carries a spec revision — a NEW divergence axis, a realization-tier
--   escalation, or a revised probe target set — routes through Qspec BEFORE generation

── MORPHISM ──
DirectionProspect
  → detect                  -- deficit predicate + 4-step routing (type guards: fake_data_sufficient, placeholder_fidelity)
  → derive_axes             -- divergence axis candidates (where the candidate directions must commit different values)
  → set_placeholder_policy  -- visible synthesis + non-evidence stamp + skeleton-faithful/data-fake split (draft)
  → gate_spec               -- Constitution spec gate: axes + policy + probe target set + realization tier settled BEFORE any generation
  → instantiate_probes      -- transform (∥ over the settled target set, temp-isolated, cleanup-registered)
  → contrast                -- per-axis juxtaposition → ContrastMap + ExposedUnknowns + CommonCommitments
  → present                 -- probe-first relay (probes one by one → contrast map → new unknowns)
  → constitute              -- direction gate: options point at probe-exposed futures (Select | Synthesize)
  → harvest                 -- direction + deciding contrast rows + routed unknowns recorded BEFORE discard (Λ.harvest)
  → cleanup_verify          -- per-probe discard verification → discard_trace
  → assemble                -- terminal record built from the harvest + the completed discard trace
  → DirectionalContrast
  -- primary-path codomain: the advertised result type is the primary path's. DissolutionExit — the convergent
  --   stand-down — emits the enriched axes with its cited basis INSTEAD of this record: the deficit dissolved,
  --   so no resolution object is owed (see CONVERGENCE)
requires: pre_commit(direction) ∧ |direction_candidates(X)| ≥ 2   -- runtime checkpoint (Phase 0)
deficit:  DirectionUnrecognizable                                  -- activation precondition (Layer 1/2)
preserves: commit_target_identity(X)   -- the pending commitment itself is unchanged; probes never mutate it
invariant: Contrast over Simulation    -- direction judgment rests on recognized materialized futures, not mental simulation

── TYPES ──
X   = DirectionProspect: a direction decision immediately before commitment (input; carries direction_candidates, |candidates| ≥ 2;
        source-agnostic: design direction, architecture fork, UX shape, plan branch — any pre-commit direction choice)
        -- Input type: morphism processes X uniformly; enumeration scopes the definition, not behavioral dispatch
DirectionAxis = a declared divergence axis — a direction unknown on which the probes must commit different values
Axs = Set(DirectionAxis) settled at the spec gate (AI derives candidates; user settles — no axis is AI-selected past the gate)
Tgt = List(direction) — the probe target set settled at the spec gate: which directions get probes on this fan
      -- contrast fan (initial, or gap refan): Tgt ⊆ X.direction_candidates with |Tgt| ∈ 2..4. When |candidates| > 4,
      --   Qspec settles WHICH candidates are probed (the cap is a presentation bound, not a silent truncation)
      -- materialization refan: Tgt = [composition] — the user's own synthesis, materialized so they can see it;
      --   |Tgt| ≥ 1 here: the composition is contrasted against the ACCUMULATED probes, which already carry the
      --   differentiated axis values
DetectGuards (type guards, both required for activation):
  fake_data_sufficient : the direction contrast holds with placeholder concreta alone — no real evidence required
  placeholder_fidelity : placeholder concretization carries the differential futures on the divergence axes without distortion
PlaceholderPolicy = { visible_synthesis: artifacts are overtly placeholder (never mistakable for real data),
                      non_evidence_stamp: probes are evidence for no claim (pierces harvest and session remnants),
                      skeleton_data_split: structure/skeleton is faithful to each direction; data values are fake
                        -- operating rule for placeholder_fidelity: divergence must live in the skeleton, fake data must not blur it }
RealizationTier ∈ {Vignette, Mockup}
  -- Vignette: text-vignette probes — concrete placeholder-filled scenario narration in session text; no file artifacts
  -- Mockup: real artifacts (files) in temp isolation, optionally instantiated by parallel agents
Probe = cleanup-bound instrument { direction: String, axes_realized: Map(DirectionAxis, Value),
                                   concretum: Concretum, artifact_ref: ArtifactRef, cleanup: CleanupAction }
Concretum = Narration(text)     -- Vignette tier: the instantiated narration itself, typed ON the probe — present
            --   re-presents this carrier (instantiate→present identity), never regenerates it at presentation
          | AtArtifact           -- Mockup tier: the concretum lives at artifact_ref; present walks the artifact through
ArtifactRef = None                      -- Vignette tier: session-text only, no file to destroy
            | Path(temp-isolated path)  -- Mockup tier: locatable file/dir under temp isolation; registered at creation
CleanupAction = the concrete destruction step for artifact_ref (no-op for None; file/dir removal for Path)
ContrastMap = per-axis juxtaposition: for each axis ∈ Axs, the futures each probe exposes on that axis
ExposedUnknown = a direction unknown newly exposed by the contrast (or recorded at an interrogation), tagged with its
                           DownstreamRoute at recording — the harvest inherits the tag, it does not attach it
DownstreamRoute = Gap      -- a pre-commit check, handed off once the settled direction MATERIALIZES INTO A COMMITTED
                           --   ACTION — not at the direction decision
                | Inquire  -- a factual unknown needing real evidence (placeholders can never ground it)
GroundTag = optional annotation ON THE CONSTITUTED DIRECTION (not an ExposedUnknown route): when the surviving
                           --   direction maps onto a familiar domain, it is tagged at harvest for /ground
                           --   structural-mapping validation; the tag rides Harvest.direction into
                           --   DirectionalContrast.direction
CommonCommitment = a design decision forced uniformly across ALL probes during instantiation (not on a divergence axis);
                   must be reported at present so the user does not mistake a shared premise for a divergence axis
S  = Spec gate answer ∈ {Approve, Adjust(revision)}       -- Adjust revises axes/policy/target set/tier and re-presents; pre-generation
       -- on a MATERIALIZATION re-entry, Adjust revises the new axis, policy, or tier only: Tgt = [composition] is fixed
       --   by the refan kind
D  = Direction gate answer ∈ {Select(direction), Synthesize(composition)}
       -- Select: settle one probe-exposed direction — CONSTRAINED constructor: direction ∈ directions(Λ.probes);
       --   a response naming an UNPROBED candidate is never parsed as Select — it enters the unprobed-candidate
       --   free-response pathway (probed first within budget, or stand-down)
       -- Synthesize: user composes/recombines the presented probes → opens micro-gate Gs
       -- interrogation is NOT a D constructor: it settles no direction, and surfaces as a free-response pathway (`Direction-gate response discipline`)
Gs = Synthesis micro-gate answer ∈ {Confirm} ∪ {Materialize | refan_budget > 0}
       -- Confirm: settle the synthesized direction as-is, now
       -- Materialize: re-fan the synthesis into new probes (consumes the shared re-fan budget)
UserDecision = the constituted direction: Select's direction, or the synthesis settled via Confirm (either way user-constituted)
Disposition ∈ {FileDestroyed, NoFileArtifact, DiscardFailed(reason)}
  -- FileDestroyed: Path artifact removed and verified absent (satisfying condition for Mockup tier)
  -- NoFileArtifact: Vignette tier — nothing to destroy; discard = non-promotion, remnant text stays under the non-evidence stamp
  -- DiscardFailed: destruction attempted (with one retry) and still present; declared, never silent
ProbeRef = minimal identity carrier { index: ℕ (ordinal in Λ.probes — uniqueness key), direction: String, artifact_ref: ArtifactRef }
            -- what was destroyed and where it lived; axis values, probe content, and cleanup actions stay
            --   session-local (`Harvest before discard`)
DiscardTrace = List<(ProbeRef, Disposition)>  -- one entry per instantiated probe (re-fanned probes included)
RefanKind ∈ {Gap, Materialization}   -- what the single shared budget was spent on; decides the still-insufficient branch
Harvest = { direction: UserDecision (⊕ optional GroundTag), deciding_rows: ContrastMap, unknowns: Set(ExposedUnknown) }
            -- recorded BEFORE discard; carries no discard_trace — cleanup produces it
DirectionalContrast = single record {                          -- terminal; single-record codomain (no bare plural)
                        contrast_map:     ContrastMap,         --   restricted to the DECIDING rows at harvest (`Harvest before discard`)
                        exposed_unknowns: Set(ExposedUnknown), --   each tagged with its DownstreamRoute
                        direction:        UserDecision (⊕ optional GroundTag),
                        discard_trace:    DiscardTrace }
            -- ASSEMBLED after cleanup_verify: assemble(Harvest, DiscardTrace) → DirectionalContrast
EarlyExit = user WITHDRAWAL at any gate — an explicit exit declared as a free response, a typed withdrawal the protocol
            acts on (side effects require explicit answer types): partial transformation trace
            over completed steps + cleanup_verify enforced + residual declared (direction NOT constituted)
DissolutionExit = deficit dissolved during the Phase 1 circulation: deriving or settling the axes sharpened the description
            until the candidate futures became recognizable without probes, or the circulation collapsed the activation
            premise itself (the fork proves false). Declared by either party. Payload: the sharpened axes as the cited
            basis, any recorded unknowns with their DownstreamRoutes, and — on a refan re-entry — the per-probe
            dispositions plus the pending re-fan target set (the user-authored composition on a materialization
            re-entry, the revised candidate set on a gap re-fan) relayed as live candidates for the regular gate.
            A success stand-down: no unresolved residual remains
MisdiagnosisRoute = Row(① | ② | ③)   -- a sibling deficit matches: hand off to the cited protocol
                  | NoRow             -- NO row matches (the candidates may simply not genuinely diverge): declare the
                                      --   misdiagnosis with no downstream protocol and return the decision to a regular
                                      --   gate, residual declared. The exit is defined even when nothing downstream fits
MisdiagnosisExit = refan_budget = 0 ∧ refan_kind = Gap ∧ contrast still insufficient: deficit misdiagnosis report
            + cleanup_verify enforced + route_away(MisdiagnosisRoute); no DirectionalContrast is emitted
contrast_insufficient = the presented contrast does not make the candidate futures recognizable on the settled axes
            -- declared by the user (free response at the direction gate — not a D constructor) or detected at contrast
            --   (an axis with no differentiated values across probes); either way surfaced, never silently self-repaired

── PHASE TRANSITIONS ──
Phase 0: X → detect(X) → route?                                -- deficit predicate + 4-step routing (silent analysis)
       [¬pre_commit(X) ∨ |direction_candidates(X)| < 2] requires_fail_relay → exit  -- the MORPHISM requires-checkpoint
       [futures recognizable from text] no_deficit_relay → exit  -- regular gate suffices; Proplasma not activated
       [route ∈ {①, ②, ③}] route_away_relay(matched row) → exit -- the matched routing row; not activated
       [a type guard fails ∧ no row matches] unfit_relay → exit  -- decision stays at a regular gate; not activated
Phase 1: derive_axes(X) → Axs_candidates → draft_policy → Qspec(axes + policy + probe target set + tier) → Stop → S  -- spec gate [Tool]
       [S = Adjust(revision)] revise(Λ) → re-present Qspec       -- pre-generation loop; no probe exists yet
       [S = Approve] settle(Λ.axes, Λ.policy, Λ.tgt, Λ.tier) → Phase 2
       [at any circulation, either party: futures recognizable from the sharpened description ∨ activation premise collapsed]
         [Λ.probes ≠ ∅ (refan re-entry) → cleanup_verify first] → dissolution_relay → DissolutionExit
       -- free-response pathways at this gate, declared in the pre-gate text — none is an S constructor: a question is
       --   answered and the gate re-presented; a premise contest feeds the dissolution arm; a withdrawal runs
       --   cleanup_verify (when probes exist) and terminates as EarlyExit
       -- |X.direction_candidates| > 4: Qspec settles WHICH candidates are probed (Λ.tgt); unprobed candidates are declared at present
       -- ENTERED FROM A REFAN carrying a SPEC REVISION (Phase 3 or Phase 4) — a new divergence axis, a realization-tier
       --   escalation, or a revised probe target set: Qspec is re-presented SCOPED TO THAT REVISION before any
       --   generation. A refan that revises nothing in the spec skips this and enters Phase 2 directly
       --   On a materialization re-entry Adjust cannot replace Λ.tgt: the target stays [composition] (fixed by Λ.refan_kind)
Phase 2: instantiate(∥ over Λ.tgt, temp-isolated, cleanup-registered) → P → Λ.probes := Λ.probes ++ P  -- transform [Tool]
       [Mockup tier, conditional] instantiate_delegate(∥ one probe per agent, temp-isolated) [Tool]
       -- contrast fan (initial | gap refan): |P| ∈ 2..4 — one probe per target direction
       -- materialization refan: |P| ≥ 1 — the composition itself; it is contrasted against Λ.probes (cumulative), which
       --   already carry the differentiated values on the PREVIOUSLY SETTLED axes. A NEW axis settled on this refan
       --   predates the prior probes: contrast re-derives their positions on it analytically where their artifacts
       --   carry them, and declares the cell undifferentiated where they do not — surfaced, never fabricated
       -- each probe records its concretum at instantiation (Vignette: the narration text; Mockup: AtArtifact)
       -- forced common design decisions recorded → Λ.common_commitments
Phase 3: contrast(Λ.probes, Λ.axes) → (CM, EU, CC) → Λ.contrast_map := CM; Λ.exposed_unknowns ∪= EU;
         Λ.common_commitments := CC → present                       -- probe-first order: probes one by one → contrast map
         -- CC is RECOMPUTED over ALL accumulated probes at every contrast and REPLACES the set (:=, never ∪=):
         --   a re-fan can break an earlier fan's shared premise
                                                                  --   (with CommonCommitments declared) → new unknowns [Tool]
       [contrast_insufficient ∧ Λ.refan_budget > 0] refan(gap) → Λ.refan_kind := Gap → decrement budget
         → [spec revision: new axis ∨ tier escalation ∨ revised target set] Phase 1 (Qspec scoped to the revision —
             insufficiency rooted in realization fidelity escalates the tier here, never silently; a revised target
             set is likewise user-settled before generation) | [no spec revision] Phase 2
       [contrast_insufficient ∧ Λ.refan_budget = 0 ∧ Λ.refan_kind = Materialization ∧ ¬Λ.insufficiency_relayed]
         insufficiency_after_materialization_relay → Λ.insufficiency_relayed := True → Phase 4 (re-present Qdir over Λ.probes; one-shot)
       [contrast_insufficient ∧ Λ.refan_budget = 0 ∧ Λ.refan_kind = Materialization ∧ Λ.insufficiency_relayed]
         insufficiency_standdown_relay → Phase 5 (EarlyExit arm via insufficiency_standdown — a withdrawal by consequence)
       [contrast_insufficient ∧ Λ.refan_budget = 0 ∧ Λ.refan_kind = Gap] → Phase 5 (MisdiagnosisExit arm)
Phase 4: Qdir(probe-exposed futures) → Stop → D                   -- direction gate [Tool]
       -- pre-gate text declares the free-response pathways: interrogate a probe, declare the contrast insufficient, or withdraw
       [D = Select(direction) ∧ direction ∈ directions(Λ.probes)] Λ.direction := direction → Phase 5
         -- a named UNPROBED candidate never parses as Select: it enters the unprobed-candidate free response below
       [D = Synthesize(composition)] Qmicro(composition) → Stop → Gs  -- synthesis micro-gate [Tool]
         [Gs = Confirm] Λ.direction := composition → Phase 5
         [Gs = Materialize] refan(composition) → Λ.refan_kind := Materialization → Λ.tgt := [composition] → decrement budget
           → [spec revision: new axis ∨ tier escalation — a target-set revision cannot arise here: Tgt is fixed to
               [composition] by the refan kind] Phase 1 (Qspec scoped to the revision) | [no spec revision] Phase 2
       [free response: interrogation]                              -- not a D constructor; the gate is re-presented unchanged
         [design-intent] answer within placeholder discipline → re-present Qdir
         [factual unknown] record as ExposedUnknown (route: Inquire) → re-present Qdir
       [free response: contrast_insufficient] → Phase 3 insufficiency arms (same guards)
       [free response: unprobed candidate named (whenever ∃ c ∈ X.direction_candidates: c ∉ directions(Λ.probes) —
         judged on ACCUMULATED probe coverage, not on Λ.tgt, which a materialization overwrites)]
         [Λ.refan_budget > 0] refan(gap over the named candidate) → Λ.refan_kind := Gap → decrement budget
           → Phase 1 (Qspec scoped to the revised target set) — the named candidate is probed before it is settled
         [Λ.refan_budget = 0] stand_down_relay → cleanup_verify → unprobed_standdown → EarlyExit
           (a withdrawal by consequence: the choice moved outside the materialized set)
Phase 5: three entry arms; cleanup_verify runs on all of them, harvest only where a direction was constituted [Tool]
       [from Phase 4 — direction constituted] harvest → cleanup_verify → assemble → DirectionalContrast  -- harvest BEFORE discard
         harvest = (direction, deciding contrast rows, inherited unknowns with DownstreamRoutes) → Λ.harvest
         assemble(Λ.harvest, Λ.discard_trace) → the terminal record -- built after the trace exists; harvest carries no trace
       [from Phase 3 misdiagnosis arm — no direction constituted; Harvest is NOT attempted]
         misdiagnosis report (+ any exposed unknowns with their routes) → cleanup_verify → MisdiagnosisExit(route_away(MisdiagnosisRoute))
         [no row matches] route = NoRow → declare the misdiagnosis with no downstream protocol; the decision returns to a
           regular gate with the residual declared -- the exit is defined even when nothing downstream fits
       [user withdrawal at any gate, or a withdrawal by consequence (unprobed_standdown / insufficiency_standdown) —
         no direction constituted; Harvest is NOT attempted]
         partial transformation trace → cleanup_verify → EarlyExit (residual declared)
       cleanup_verify (all arms): per probe, execute cleanup → verify absence → Disposition → Λ.discard_trace
         [DiscardFailed] retry once → still present → declare DiscardFailed(reason) in discard_trace (visible, never silent)

── LOOP ──
Probe target set 2–4 for a contrast fan (settled at the spec gate; when candidates exceed 4, the gate settles which are probed).
Re-fan bound: at most 1 re-fan per activation — contrast-insufficiency re-fan and synthesis materialization SHARE this
  single budget (no separate budgets), and what it was spent on decides the still-insufficient branch (`One shared re-fan`).
Interrogation, contrast-insufficiency declaration, and Adjust do not consume the re-fan budget (they generate no probes).
User can withdraw at any gate (an explicit exit, free response): EarlyExit — cleanup_verify runs; partial trace
  presented; residual declared.
Continue until: DirectionalContrast (direction constituted + harvest recorded + discard declared) OR EarlyExit OR MisdiagnosisExit
  OR DissolutionExit (deficit dissolved in the spec-gate circulation — the cheapest success).
Convergence evidence: at terminal, present the transformation trace over the steps actually completed — at
  DirectionalContrast, each settled axis mapped to the contrast rows that made its futures recognizable, the constituted
  direction, each exposed unknown with its downstream route, and the per-probe discard disposition; each other terminal
  presents its own relay payload (TOOL GROUNDING). Demonstrated, not asserted.

── CONVERGENCE ──
converged(Λ) = (Λ.direction ≠ None ∧ Λ.harvest ≠ None ∧ discard_declared(Λ))  -- primary success: DirectionalContrast
                                                                   --   (harvest recorded before discard — assemble needs it)
             ∨ (Λ.phase = 1 ∧ (futures_recognizable(sharpened description) ∨ premise_collapsed) ∧ discard_declared(Λ))
                                                                   -- success stand-down: DissolutionExit is convergent;
                                                                   --   EarlyExit / MisdiagnosisExit are not
discard_declared(Λ) = ∀ p ∈ Λ.probes: ∃ d: (ref(p), d) ∈ Λ.discard_trace   -- every probe has a declared Disposition,
                                                                   --   keyed by ref(p) = {index(p), p.direction,
                                                                   --   p.artifact_ref}
                                                                   --   (DiscardFailed is declared, not converged-silently)
result equations:
  DirectionalContrast ⇔ Λ.direction ≠ None ∧ Λ.harvest ≠ None ∧ discard_declared(Λ)
  EarlyExit           ⇔ (user_withdraw ∨ unprobed_standdown ∨ insufficiency_standdown) ∧ discard_declared(Λ)
                        -- non-convergent exit; unprobed_standdown (budget-spent naming of an unprobed candidate) and
                        --   insufficiency_standdown (repeated insufficiency at the re-presented gate with the budget spent
                        --   on Materialization) are withdrawals by consequence — the user exits the materialized decision space
  MisdiagnosisExit    ⇔ Λ.refan_budget = 0 ∧ Λ.refan_kind = Gap ∧ contrast_insufficient ∧ discard_declared(Λ)
                        -- non-convergent exit
  DissolutionExit     ⇔ Λ.phase = 1 ∧ (futures_recognizable(sharpened description) ∨ premise_collapsed) ∧ discard_declared(Λ)
                        -- convergent success stand-down (see converged)
framing readout: the surfaced state names the work in play (axes being settled, probes under contrast, direction being
  constituted, discard being verified) — never a completion tally.

── TOOL GROUNDING ──
-- Realization: Constitution → TextPresent+Stop; Extension → TextPresent+Proceed
Phase 0 detect (sense)             → Internal analysis (deficit predicate + 4-step routing; no external tool)
Phase 0 no_deficit_relay (extension) → TextPresent+Proceed (futures recognizable from text: present the finding with reasoning; regular gate suffices; not activated)
Phase 0 route_away_relay (extension) → TextPresent+Proceed (routing rows ①–③: present the matched row with its basis; hand off to the cited protocol; not activated)
Phase 0 unfit_relay (extension)    → TextPresent+Proceed (a type guard fails and no routing row matches: state the failed guard and why; the decision stays at a regular gate; not activated)
Phase 0 requires_fail_relay (extension) → TextPresent+Proceed (no imminent commitment, or fewer than two candidates: state the failed requirement; one or zero candidates is handed to row ③'s targets — /ideate primary for the thin field, /frame · /elicit for their own narrower cases (frame absent; substrate-implicit coordinates); not activated)
Phase 1 derive_axes (sense)        → Internal analysis (divergence axis candidates from the candidate directions)
Phase 1 draft_policy (sense)       → Internal analysis (placeholder policy draft: visible synthesis, non-evidence stamp, skeleton-data split)
Phase 1 Qspec (constitution)       → present (mandatory spec gate: divergence axes + placeholder policy + probe target set + realization tier; fires BEFORE any probe generation — no divergence axis is AI-selected past this gate; Adjust re-presents without generation; RE-ENTERED from a refan carrying a spec revision — a new axis, a tier escalation, or a revised target set — scoped to that revision, before that refan generates anything; pre-gate text declares the free-response pathways — question an axis, contest the activation premise, withdraw)
Phase 1 dissolution_relay (extension) → TextPresent+Proceed (either party, at any circulation: the sharpened description made the futures recognizable without probes, or the activation premise collapsed; state the basis — the sharpened axes themselves — and hand to the regular gate the enriched axes together with any exposed unknowns already recorded (each with its route) and, on a refan re-entry, the per-probe dispositions from the preceding cleanup_verify plus the pending re-fan target set — the user-authored composition on a materialization re-entry, the revised candidate set on a gap re-fan — relayed as live candidates (a user-constituted candidate never dies with the stand-down); stand down as DissolutionExit — a success, not an abandonment)
Phase 1 revise (track)             → Internal state update (Adjust branch: Λ axes/policy/target-set/tier revision before re-presenting Qspec; on a materialization re-entry the target set is fixed to the composition and is not adjustable)
Phase 1 settle (track)             → Internal state update (Approve branch: the user-approved axes, policy, probe target set, and tier are committed to Λ before generation — the spec every downstream transform is bound to)
Phase 2 instantiate (transform)    → artifact write, environment run (temp-isolated placeholder artifacts, cleanup-registered at creation; existing project files never modified; Vignette tier emits session text only — no file artifact; each probe's concretum is recorded on the Probe at instantiation — Vignette: the narration text, Mockup: at its artifact_ref)
Phase 2 instantiate_delegate (dispatch) → delegate (conditional, Mockup tier; parallel topology: one probe per agent, each temp-isolated with cleanup registration; delegation subordinate to the active runtime/tool policy)
Phase 3 contrast (sense)           → Internal analysis (per-axis juxtaposition; CommonCommitment extraction)
Phase 3 present (extension)        → TextPresent+Proceed (probe-first order: probes one by one, each from its typed concretum — the Vignette narration re-presented as instantiated, the Mockup artifact walked through, never regenerated at presentation → per-axis contrast map with common commitments declared → newly exposed unknowns; table-first re-abstracts and reproduces the deficit)
Phase 4 Qdir (constitution)        → present (mandatory direction gate: each option points at the probe-exposed future it settles — recognition, not label simulation; presented as one concrete Select per probe-exposed direction (type-preserving materialization of the Select constructor) plus Synthesize. The free-response pathways — interrogate a probe, declare the contrast insufficient, withdraw — are declared in the pre-gate text, never as peer options: they commit no downstream action on the decision axis)
Phase 4 Qmicro (constitution)      → present (conditional: fires on Synthesize; Confirm settles the synthesis now, Materialize re-fans it into new probes consuming the shared budget; only the user can judge whether the synthesis is already recognized. Presents the option set currently defined by Gs — with the budget spent that set is {Confirm})
Phase 4 interrogate_answer (extension) → TextPresent+Proceed (free-response pathway, not a gate option: design-intent answers within placeholder discipline; factual unknowns recorded as ExposedUnknowns with the Inquire route; the gate is re-presented unchanged)
Phase 4 materialize_unavailable_relay (extension) → TextPresent+Proceed (Materialize requested with the shared re-fan budget spent: state the exhaustion with its basis; Qmicro presents {Confirm})
Phase 3 insufficiency_after_materialization_relay (extension) → TextPresent+Proceed (budget spent on the user's own materialization and the contrast is still insufficient: state it with its basis and re-present the direction gate over the accumulated probes — the standing synthesis is Selectable there, since its probe now exists among the accumulated probes (type-preserving materialization of Select), and the original directions stay Selectable; one-shot, marked by Λ.insufficiency_relayed)
Phase 3 insufficiency_standdown_relay (extension) → TextPresent+Proceed (repeated insufficiency at the re-presented gate with the budget spent on Materialization: state that the accumulated contrast cannot make the futures recognizable and no re-fan remains; relay the contrast harvest as context to the regular gate; cleanup_verify enforced; terminate as EarlyExit via insufficiency_standdown)
Phase 5 harvest (track)            → Internal state update (direction, deciding contrast rows, routed unknowns recorded before discard; the discard trace does not exist yet)
Phase 5 cleanup (transform)        → environment run (the DESTRUCTION step inside cleanup_verify's typed sequence — per-probe artifact destruction, retry once on failure; every transition that names cleanup_verify runs this step first)
Phase 5 cleanup_verify (observe)   → environment run, artifact read (the VERIFICATION step closing the same sequence: verify absence of each Path artifact after its destruction step; Disposition recorded per probe)
Phase 5 assemble (track)           → Internal state update (terminal record built from the harvest and the completed discard trace — after cleanup, never before)
converge (extension)               → TextPresent+Proceed (transformation trace: axes → deciding contrast rows → direction; unknowns with routes; per-probe discard disposition)
withdraw (extension)               → TextPresent+Proceed (explicit free-response exit: partial transformation trace + residual declaration; cleanup_verify enforced; terminate as EarlyExit. A hard esc — tool-level escape — yields no turn, so cleanup cannot run: temp isolation's bounded scratch lifecycle is the backstop)
Phase 4 stand_down_relay (extension) → TextPresent+Proceed (budget-spent naming of an unprobed candidate: state that its future was never materialized and the remaining decision belongs to a regular gate; relay the contrast harvest as context; cleanup_verify enforced; terminate as EarlyExit via unprobed_standdown — a withdrawal by consequence)
misdiagnosis (extension)           → TextPresent+Proceed (deficit misdiagnosis report + route_away handoff per routing table; when no row matches, declare the misdiagnosis with no downstream protocol and return the decision to a regular gate with the residual declared; cleanup_verify enforced; terminate as MisdiagnosisExit)
seam (extension)                    → TextPresent+Proceed (fires at deactivation: a user-declared chain naming the next protocol, or the composition edge this SKILL.md declares — a harvested GroundTag to `/ground`, a post-convergence annotation on the constituted direction — settles the next move; proceed directly to it, citing that settling source. The routing-precedence table's ①–③ rows are MisdiagnosisRoute handoffs — a non-convergent out-of-scope exit, not this post-terminal seam. Every Constitution gate inside this protocol and inside the next protocol fires unchanged)

── MODE STATE ──
Λ = { phase: Phase, X: DirectionProspect,
      axes: Set(DirectionAxis),                -- settled at Qspec; extended only via inherited spec-gate duty on refan
      policy: PlaceholderPolicy, tier: RealizationTier,
      tgt: List(direction),                    -- probe target set settled at Qspec; := [composition] on a materialization refan
      probes: List(Probe),                     -- cumulative across refan (discarded probes remain listed for the trace)
      contrast_map: Option(ContrastMap),
      exposed_unknowns: Set(ExposedUnknown),   -- each carries a DownstreamRoute (Gap | Inquire)
      common_commitments: Set(CommonCommitment),
      refan_budget: ℕ,                         -- init 1; decremented by refan (insufficiency or materialization, shared)
      refan_kind: Option(RefanKind),           -- what the budget was spent on; None until the single refan is taken
      insufficiency_relayed: Bool,             -- init False; set when insufficiency_after_materialization_relay fires
      direction: Option(UserDecision),
      harvest: Option(Harvest),                -- recorded before discard; carries no discard trace
      discard_trace: DiscardTrace,             -- one entry per probe by terminal (invariant: discard_declared)
      history: List<(Q, A)>,
      active: Bool, cause_tag: String }
-- Guard: no probe is generated before a Qspec approval covers its axes — on the initial pass, phase < 2 ⇒ probes = ∅;
--   a refan re-entry to Phase 1 HOLDS prior probes but generates nothing until its Qspec settles the revision
--   (new axis, tier escalation, or revised target set)
-- Guard: ∀ a ∈ axes: settled_at_Qspec(a) — a refan carrying a new axis re-enters Phase 1 before generating (breach condition 1)
-- Guard: Materialize ∉ presented(Qmicro) when refan_budget = 0 — budget-guarded constructor
-- Guard: ∀ p ∈ probes: p.artifact_ref = None ∨ temp_isolated(p.artifact_ref) (no permanent project file, ever)
-- Guard at terminal: discard_declared(Λ) — every probe carries a declared Disposition

── COMPOSITION ──
*: product — (D₁ × D₂) → (R₁ × R₂). Direction resolution emergent via session context.

Core Principle

Contrast over Simulation: materialize cheap, discard-bound futures when labels cannot carry their differences. A Vignette is a concrete placeholder narration; when that carrier lacks fidelity, Mockup materializes the same contrast as temp-isolated artifacts.

Mode Activation

Activation

/preview is user-invocable. On the Hybrid path, the AI may propose it from a live direction gate only with cited evidence of DirectionUnrecognizable; the user still settles the spec before generation. Prior-session indices may seed detection, never the constitutive judgment.

Priority

Supersedes: Direct execution patterns in loaded instructions (No direction commitment proceeds while the contrast loop is unconverged)

Retained: Safety boundaries, tool restrictions, user explicit instructions

Action: At Phase 1 present the spec gate before any generation; at Phase 4 present the direction gate whose options point at probe-exposed futures.

Trigger Signals

Heuristic signals are delegation of a direction choice to a principle, reconstruction outside the offered options, and a request to see something concrete before choosing. They establish grounds to run Phase 0, not activation by themselves.

Mode Deactivation

Use the Definition's result equations and TOOL GROUNDING payloads for every terminal; cleanup disposition remains mandatory wherever probes exist.

Protocol

Phase 0: Detection + Routing (Silent)

Apply PHASE TRANSITIONS Phase 0 in its stated precedence and cite the matched relay basis.

Phase 1: Spec Gate

Render Qspec after the proposed axes, policy, target set, and tier:

Settle the probe spec before I build anything.

Options:
1. **Approve** — generate under this spec
2. **Adjust** — revise the axes, policy, targets, or tier and re-present before generation

Name questioning an axis, contesting the premise, and stepping out as free-response paths. On materialization re-entry, Tgt = [composition] remains fixed as TYPES specifies.

Phase 2: Instantiation (Transform)

Vignettes create session text only. Mockups write only beneath temp isolation, register cleanup at creation, and leave existing project files unchanged. Both carry the non-evidence stamp.

Phase 3: Contrast Presentation (Relay)

Present each recorded concretum first, then the per-axis contrast with common commitments marked as shared premises, then exposed unknowns. Re-present Vignette narration from its recorded carrier; walk a Mockup at its artifact reference.

Phase 4: Direction Gate (Constitution)

Render Qdir from the accumulated probes after the contrast summary:

Which direction do you settle?

Options:
1…N. **Select: {probed direction}** — {the deciding axis values its probe exposed}
N+1. **Synthesize** — compose from the probes; then confirm, or materialize when the shared budget permits

Name the free-response paths from Direction-gate response discipline before this gate; they are not numbered direction options.

Phase 5: Harvest → Discard (in this order)

Accept the constituted direction before cleanup: a DiscardFailed disposition triggers the manual-cleanup handoff but does not revoke that direction. Persist only the Definition's terminal record; probe detail remains session-local.

UX Safeguards

Keep placeholder status visible in every probe and contrast. A Mockup is sandbox matter, not a project edit; cleanup disposition reports artifact survival, not whether the user's direction was accepted.

Rules

• Direction-gate response discipline: Select accepts only an accumulated probe direction; an unprobed candidate follows the typed free-response branch. Name probe questions, insufficiency, withdrawal, and unprobed candidates before Qdir, not as peer options. Answer design-intent questions within placeholder discipline, record factual unknowns for /inquire, and state which axis an analogy weights. Route a pre-commit check to /gap when the direction becomes committed; attach /ground as a tag on a familiar-domain direction.
• One shared re-fan: gap repair and synthesis materialization consume the same budget. Its recorded RefanKind determines the exhausted-budget ending exactly as LOOP and PHASE TRANSITIONS specify; a materialized synthesis remains among the accumulated selectable probes.
• Harvest before discard: retain only the constituted direction, deciding contrast rows, and routed unknowns before cleanup. Cleanup produces the discard trace; assemble the durable record afterward, leaving probe detail session-local.
• Round composition: use everyday language, put evidence and differential implications before the gate, and leave the gate to the question and options. Read references/round-composition.md before composing when wording must persist across rounds or phase placement is material.
• Form feedback: choose each round's density from the current request; carry an explicit form preference until countermanded. Change the open aspects of form directly, preserve content, order, cadence, and turn boundaries fixed elsewhere, and state both the adjustment and any overlapping constraint that remains.