spike · diff

v1.0.0 to v1.0.0

18 added, 38 removed. Audit A to A.

---

name: spike

description: "Bounded spike: web research plus local study to a verdict."

version: 1.0.0

triggers:

- /spike

- spike <mechanism>

- prove this works

- derisk the mechanism

argument-hint: "<mechanism-or-question>"

---

# /spike — Mechanism-Derisking Investigation

Prove — or disprove — that a specific mechanism is viable before a plan commits to it. Binary,

same shape as `/dogfood`: converges to a viable/not-viable verdict, or switches gears — no

open-ended "keep researching" path (that's `coordinator:research`).

spike is the research door's verdict class (`coordinator/commands/research.md`).

- Distinct from siblings: `coordinator:research` is broad, non-binary, and runs no code on this

- machine. `coordinator:systematic-debugging` is backward-looking (why did one known thing break).

+ Siblings: `coordinator:research` is broad, non-binary, and runs no code on this machine.

+ `coordinator:systematic-debugging` is backward-looking (why did one known thing break).

`coordinator:dogfood` is fix-through on a thing already built. `coordinator:shape` is

problem-shaping (what to build), not mechanism-proving (can we build it this way).

**Announce at start:** "Running `/spike <mechanism>` — bounded derisking investigation. Binary

outcome: viable or not-viable."

## Invoke Gating — Structural, Not Self-Classified

One invocation surface, two entry paths — the gate is a structural signal, never a runtime

self-classification:

- **Research-door entry (default).** The PM says 'spike', or the EM sizes

`research.value_class: spike`. The EM's sizing is the authority

(`A-RESEARCH-RUNS-ON-THE-EMS-SIZING-NEVER-A-PM-GATE`). A bare `/spike <mechanism>` with no structural

- signal present is ALWAYS this variant, full stop.

+ signal present is ALWAYS this variant.

- **Plan-trampoline.** EM-reachable, no PM round-trip — only when `coordinator:plan` Branch B

substrate verification carries an explicit `trampoline: true`-style signal on an unproven

mechanism gate (`coordinator/skills/plan/SKILL.md`, the eighth verification dimension). Absence

of that signal is dispositive — never infer the trampoline path from context.

## Both Halves Required

1. **External web research** — how others solve this, what official docs say, known pitfalls.

Scoped to this mechanism.

2. **Local empirical study** — install the dependency, run the probe, measure. The half

`coordinator:research` structurally cannot do.

A web-only investigation is `/research` wearing a spike costume — dispatch research instead, or

finish the empirical half before declaring a verdict.

## Probes Are Throwaway

- Probe scripts are derisking scaffolding, not durable test artifacts — discarded once the

- measurement is taken and the verdict recorded. Never commit them to the persistent test suite;

- that confuses throwaway scaffolding with a regression guard, which is the plan's own tests' job

- once drafted around a proven mechanism.

+ Probe scripts are derisking scaffolding — discarded once the measurement is taken and the verdict

+ recorded. Never commit them to the persistent test suite; that is the plan's own tests' job once

+ drafted around a proven mechanism.

## Durable Output — the Verdict Record

Write to `docs/research/spike-verdicts/YYYY-MM-DD-<mechanism-slug>.md`, validated against

`spike-result.schema.json`. No `state/handoffs/` lifecycle fields (no `status`,

- `deployment_state`, `pickup_ready`) — a verdict record is evidence, not a baton; evidence is read

- and cited, never picked up.

+ `deployment_state`, `pickup_ready`) — a verdict record is evidence, not a baton.

Carries: research findings, empirical measurements, binary verdict (`viable`/`not-viable`),

`gated_route` (the downstream plan/chunk/decision this verdict gates, when reached via the

trampoline), `discharged_by` (required and non-null whenever `gated_route` is a non-empty

string).

**No live routing intent may leave the session unlanded.** If `gated_route` names a downstream

target, write that intent onto the real target before the session ends — the plan the spike

gates, an existing baton already carrying the work, or a PM-facing surface for a

`coordinator:shape`-reached verdict — and name it in `discharged_by`. The schema rejects a

- non-empty `gated_route` paired with a null `discharged_by`; there is no such thing as a record

- that exits promising to be picked up later. Rationale and the corpus evidence behind this

- discipline: wiki.

+ non-empty `gated_route` paired with a null `discharged_by`.

**A spike carried as plan rows owes no verdict record.** Tripwire: `A-SPIKE-CARRIED-AS-PLAN-ROWS-OWES-NO-VERDICT-RECORD`.

## Exit Routing — the Verdict Routes It

| Verdict | Route |

|---|---|

| **viable** | → `coordinator:plan` (fresh, authored around the now-proven mechanism), OR resume the trampolined plan — Branch B re-enters with the eighth dimension GREEN off the verdict record, not a full seven-dimension re-run |

| **not-viable** | → `coordinator:shape` / PM — picking a different mechanism is a problem-shaping question, not a spike question |

Not an EM judgment call once the verdict lands — the verdict is the router. This wiring is the

**plan⇄spike back-edge**: `coordinator:plan` Branch B trampolines into a spike on an unproven

- mechanism gate, and this skill's viable-verdict exit resumes that trampolined plan.

+ mechanism gate, and this skill's viable-verdict exit resumes that trampolined plan. Both verdict

+ rows and the `plan⇄spike back-edge` phrase must stay grep-assertable from this file and

+ `plan/SKILL.md`.

## `coordinator:spike` vs. `scope_mode: spike`

Complementary, not colliding. `scope_mode: spike` is a plan-header enum describing a *plan's own*

- discovery mode ("throwaway code allowed, findings + recommendation"). `coordinator:spike` is a

- distinct upstream *invocation* that runs before a plan exists and produces a verdict record

- gating whether/how one gets drafted. A `/spike` verdict typically precedes a plan carrying

- `scope_mode: feature`/`architecture`, since the spike already de-risked the mechanism;

- occasionally the follow-on plan still carries `scope_mode: spike` if it remains exploratory on a

- different axis than the one this spike resolved.

+ discovery mode. `coordinator:spike` is a distinct upstream *invocation* that runs before a plan

+ exists and produces a verdict record gating whether/how one gets drafted.

## Destructive-Action Prohibition

`/spike` writes files (probes, the verdict record) and can run multi-pass autonomously. No

exceptions, not proposed, not authorization-requested mid-run: `rm -rf`, `git reset --hard`,

`git push --force`, `git rebase`, deleting outside the spike's own scratch/probe directory, `gh

pr merge`, `--no-verify`/`--no-gpg-sign`, hibernate/shutdown/power-off, killing other processes.

## Out of Scope

- Retrofitting historical spikes (pre-dating this skill) into verdict records — they stay as-was,

- folded into wiki reference material, not retroactively migrated. Editing the `/research` or

- `/dogfood` skill bodies — this skill defines its boundary against them by citation, not by

- editing theirs. A generic pipeline-graph engine — the shape→spike→plan edges are wired

- point-to-point in the affected skills, not abstracted into a routing framework. A central

- gating-registry file — the research-door entry is documented here and cross-referenced

- from discovery surfaces. A new `deployment_state` enum value for the trampoline path — that's a

- handoff body directive, not a new enum value. A new primary manifest docType beyond the

- verdict-record schema itself.

- ## Discovery-Surface Integration and Test Surface

- Registering `/spike` on `/workstream-start`, a gating registry, and pipeline-graph

- cross-refs is a separate concern from this authoring surface. No runtime test exists for this

- skill body — a skill body is prose-doctrine, and this repo has no invocation harness that runs a

- skill end-to-end as a unit test, same as `/dogfood`/`/shape`/`/plan`. Frontmatter validates via

- `yaml.safe_load` the same way sibling skills' does. The exit-routing table above (both verdict

- rows, and the `plan⇄spike back-edge` phrase) must stay grep-assertable from both this file and

- `plan/SKILL.md` — that cross-file assertion is the test surface for this section.

+ Retrofitting historical spikes into verdict records. Editing the `/research` or `/dogfood` skill

+ bodies. A generic pipeline-graph engine — the shape→spike→plan edges are wired point-to-point. A

+ central gating-registry file. A new `deployment_state` enum value for the trampoline path. A new

+ primary manifest docType beyond the verdict-record schema. Discovery-surface registration

+ (`/workstream-start`, pipeline-graph cross-refs) is a separate concern.