disciplined-vibe-coding v0.2.0A

Immutable. This exact content never changes and is served at /api/v1/blob/f2acce4243412b55.

---
name: disciplined-vibe-coding
description: Run any coding task through Intake, Define, Economy gate, Plan, Teardown, Build, Verify, Commit — with Wayfinder tracking riding along. Use at the start of any build, fix, or multi-session project.
phase: Any
version: 0.2.0
---

# Disciplined vibe-coding pipeline — end to end

> Narrative framing adapted from Google's Elephant-Goldfish Model (Apache 2.0) —
> <https://github.com/google/elephant-goldfish-model>.
> Role names (elephant / goldfish), teardown, drift, and the five review-round
> names travel from EGM; all prose here is original. Pipeline mechanics
> (Define/Plan/Build/Verify, gates, friction contract) remain our own.

One loop per small task, or per milestone of a larger project.
Same stages, same words, every time.

```text
Intake --> Define --> Economy gate --> Plan --> Teardown --> Build --> Verify --> Commit
Wayfinder rides along all stages (one-line status plus gate result at each stage exit).
```

## Cast: elephant, goldfish, you

- **Elephant** holds full context — your project, requirements, earlier
  decisions — and drafts the spec. That is you plus the builder agent
  working from the whole conversation.
- **Goldfish** sees only the spec plus the sources it links to, with no
  memory of the earlier chat. That fresh-eyes read is what catches
  unstated assumptions. Simulate it by re-reading the spec cold, or hand
  the spec alone to a second session.
- **You** resolve trade-offs and approve the spec before any code exists.

Design with the elephant. Review with the goldfish. You decide.

## Friction contract (hard rule)

Every gate below fires as a **fast check plus one-line reason**.
No multi-step friction. No blocking prompts for routine moves.
A gate that slows the builder gets bypassed; a gate that rides along gets
followed. Small work gets less ceremony, never more.

## Stage map (pipeline stage → skill that owns it)

| Stage | Skill | Artifact |
|---|---|---|
| 0. Intake (brainstorming capture) | `intake` | intake block atop the to-spec, or a one-liner in chat |
| 1. Define (grill-with-docs → to-spec) | `intake`, `brainstorm`, `research` | `.pipeline/to-spec.md` (workdir; vault note only if durable) |
| 2. Economy gate (scope rung) | this file, `references/economy-ladder.md` | one declared sentence in the to-spec |
| 3. Plan (writing-plans format) | `plan` | `.pipeline/plans/NN-<milestone>.md`, or 3 bullets at micro-spec |
| 3.5. Teardown (goldfish pre-build review) | this file §3.5 | round notes in plan/to-spec + wayfinder pass/fail |
| 4. Build (working-tree-only, test-first) | `execute`, `test-first`, `debug` | code + failing-then-passing tests |
| 5. Verify (local proof + drift) | `verify` | fresh evidence, compact report, plan-file table |
| 6. Commit (one feature, one build, one commit) | `version` | narrative commit; changelog at full-spec+, tag at project |
| Rides along: Wayfinder | this file, `templates/wayfinder.md` | `.pipeline/wayfinder.md`, one line plus gate result per stage exit |

## 0. Intake — 5-minute structured capture

Record problem, desired outcome, constraints, non-goals. Raw, no judging.
Trivial asks skip it: a one-liner in chat *is* the intake.
Then hand to `intake` for direction confirmation and stakes tier
(TOY / WORKFLOW / MONEY).

## 1. Define — grill-with-docs, then to-spec

Interrogate the request against the relevant docs and skill references
*first*, then write the spec before any code. The grill is doc-grounded,
not open-ended questioning: check indexed sources, surface contradictions
and missing decisions, record them in the spec.

Cap: docs check plus at most 3 clarifying questions, then proceed with
stated assumptions. Routine moves (obvious fix, single-file change) get a
3-line micro-spec, not the full artifact.
Template: `templates/to-spec.md`.

The elephant drafts here. The goldfish has not entered yet.

## 2. Economy gate — declare the rung, in one sentence

Read `references/economy-ladder.md`. Declare one sentence, for example:
"rung: micro-spec, reversible single-file change."
The rung sets the ceremony for every later stage. This gate removes
friction by downgrading ceremony for small work.

The rung also sets teardown depth (see §3.5): micro-spec gets the
two-pass teardown; full-spec and above get all five rounds.

## 3. Plan — fixed shape, rung-scaled

Full format at full-spec rung and above (`templates/writing-plan.md`):
steps, files touched, test strategy, verify criteria, commit message draft.
At micro-spec rung it collapses to 3 bullets. Never freeform
"I'll figure it out as I go."

## 3.5. Teardown — goldfish review before code counts

Teardown happens here, between Plan and Build: it reviews the spec and plan
before any code is written. Reviewing the spec after the build would only
find problems already cemented in code. Post-build checking belongs to
Verify (local proof) and drift, not to teardown.

Run the teardown with goldfish eyes: spec plus linked sources only,
earlier conversation ignored. Similar is not same. Rung-scaled:

- **Micro-spec and below (two passes):** consequence pass asks what
  happens if we build exactly this and where it breaks; alternatives pass
  asks what else solves it and whether this is the strongest option.
- **Full-spec and above (five rounds):** run all five, in order —
  1. initial zoom-out (does the whole shape hang together),
  2. comprehension (could a stranger follow it cold),
  3. design critique (trade-offs, edge cases, weakest points),
  4. intermediate zoom-out (does it still fit the codebase after the critique),
  5. implementation readiness (is the plan concrete enough to build from).

One line per round in the plan file (full-spec and above) or the to-spec
(micro-spec); one-liners record pass/fail in chat. Fix the spec, not the
code — no code exists yet — when a round fails, then re-run only the
failed round (max one re-run per round at micro-spec; full-spec may re-run
the full five once). Wayfinder records pass/fail plus the one-line reason
that fired the gate.

## 4. Build — working-tree-only, test-first

Unchanged builder invariants: all edits in the working tree, tests written
before or with the code (`test-first`), local proof before claiming done.
These are builder habits, not gates. Nothing fires, nothing blocks. Build
starts only after Teardown passes (§3.5) — no code exists before review.

## 5. Verify — local proof, then drift

Two jobs, in this order: prove the code works locally, then check you built
what was spec'd. Teardown already ran pre-build (§3.5); Verify trusts the
reviewed spec and checks the code against it.

### 5a. Local proof

Run the real thing locally. Proof is the job, not overhead.

### 5b. Drift — check after the build

After proof, compare the approved spec against what actually shipped and
record divergences only: missing pieces, shortcuts, or a different shape
than planned. If nothing diverged, write "no drift." File it with the
verify report so a later session can spot spec-code drift without
re-reading the whole build.

## 6. Commit — one feature, one build, one commit

Commit convention `type: concise subject`. The to-spec acceptance criteria
are the commit's proof statement. One feature, one build, one commit —
with rung-scaled ceremony: one-liner and micro-spec ship as a single
commit with no changelog or tag; full-spec adds a changelog entry
(`write-docs`); only project-rung releases earn a tag. Routine work gets
no release dance because routine work is not a release.

## Wayfinder — one line plus gate result per stage exit

At each stage exit, update `.pipeline/wayfinder.md`: stage, decisions,
next step, and the gate result — pass/fail plus the one-line reason that
fired the gate (`templates/wayfinder.md`). The result line is what makes
each gate checkable after the fact: a later session can see not just where
the run stopped but why each prior gate let it through. Read-on-resume
only. No prompts, no forms. Any session or profile resumes mid-pipeline
with zero re-brief.

## Verify artifacts — where the proof lives

- Evidence table: appended to the plan file (`verify`), chat-only at
  one-liner rung (no plan file exists there).
- Teardown round notes: plan file (full-spec+) or to-spec (micro-spec).
- Gate results: one result line per stage exit in `.pipeline/wayfinder.md`.
- Research trail: `.pipeline/read.log` entries (`research`).

## v0.2.0 resolutions

- Teardown runs pre-build (§3.5), between Plan and Build — never post-build.
- Commit ceremony is rung-scaled: changelog at full-spec+, tags for
  project-rung releases only; routine work ships as one commit, no release.
- Gates are checkable: Wayfinder records a pass/fail result per stage exit;
  Verify artifacts have named homes (see Verify artifacts above).

## v0.1.0 resolutions (adopted from the proposal)

- Rung thresholds: reversibility plus file count plus blast radius
  (see `references/economy-ladder.md`).
- To-spec home: workdir file during build; vault note only if durable.
- Wayfinder store: tiny human-readable file in workdir.
- 1.0 bar: three real builds through the full pipeline, zero bypasses.