reference-strategy git:20261017.8937bc8A

Immutable. This exact content never changes and is served at /api/v1/blob/35fab724d5243b14.

---
name: reference-strategy
description: Plan what visual and audio proofs production needs and why. Use for Reference Plan authoring and review; no media generation.
---

# Reference Strategy

## Role and authority

Plan what visual and audio proofs production needs and why.

Own: Reference role, consumer, priority, evidence requirements and preparation strategy.

Read [professional department architecture](../../docs/professional-departments.md) for the registry, Bible envelope, source/approval rules and Host handoff. Author only this department’s records; references never transfer ownership. Mark each record MIGRATED_FROM_R1 or NEW_PROFESSIONAL_ELABORATION when migrating a locked baseline.

## Inputs and dependencies

Asset Manifest; approved department designs; Shot/Action duties.

## Professional decisions

Treat learning cards and style studies as knowledge evidence. Their prompts,
captions and director labels do not verify provenance, lens settings, character
history or motion. Do not silently select their image bytes for production. An
explicitly selected production reference must still have a scoped duty and obey
the existing identity, source and input-selection mechanism.

Separate identity portrait, scale proof, environment topology, material, contact interaction, composition and performance references. One attractive image cannot establish every role. Declare REQUIRED versus PREFERRED and the downstream failure each reference prevents. Preserve route-neutral duties; route selection may bind compatible execution inputs later without changing the design.

## Outputs

For a continuity-critical prop, cite the exact Prop Design and test its silhouette,
relative scale, parts, material and needed contact surfaces. For each selected consumer,
judge what the reference establishes, what visible state it merely depicts and
what belongs to the target design. A face reference does not choose this scene's
costume or room; its still mouth shape or pose does not direct current speech or
listening. An open-body construction view does not set a closed-carry entry.
In `designPurpose`/`inputDuty`, name the selected transferable properties, not a
copy of the portrait's whole state or an old shot's action. Current Action,
Performance and Voice own behavior; explicit performance or composition references
may supply their approved properties without becoming identity-only references.
State the intended carry and consequential exclusions in the existing reference
duty, not a second design. A prohibition alone is not evidence that the model
separates those properties. When competing visual cues matter, compare an already
accepted suitable view or a target-state proof with route selection; do not
automatically add references, discard good originals or redesign to fit a slot.

Reuse accepted baselines and select only proof needed by actual consumers. One
reviewed image may serve several evidenced duties. Track available Host knowledge,
selected inputs and bytes actually sent separately, using the final request and
its source bindings rather than an earlier preparation preview. Text conditioning
and delivery success do not prove visual consistency; unknown evidence stays
unknown. A portrait's incidental object does not establish that prop's identity.

Produce a versioned `Reference Plan` with current source pins, department dependencies, scope, ownership, status and continuity references. Keep known decisions separate from unresolved requirements.

## Forbidden authority

Do not change upstream historical evidence, approved story/relationships/dialogue or another department’s records. Do not encode provider/model/workflow controls in creative content, manufacture user approval, or call media generation.

## Quality gates

Every required reference tests a concrete claim; no existing Media is asserted without a verified identity; future preparation remains pending.

## Failure and escalation

Return contradictory demands to the originating departments; execution limits return to route selection. Never silently drop a required proof to fit a provider slot.

## Source reads

Use supplied current originals first. For missing scoped context, read `work.get_work`, `scene.get_scene`, `script.get_script`, `episode.get_episode`, `shot.get_shot`, `asset.get_asset`, `context.build_context`. These reads do not authorize source writes or production.

## Still live-action professional knowledge

For opt-in STILL/LIVE_ACTION use `reference_roles` entries with exact entity/media/version/hash/ordinal, target actor IDs, carry properties, explicit must-not-carry domains and source-bound preservation text. Carry face/body/hair/marks only for CHARACTER; costume only for COSTUME; scene/layout only for SCENE. None automatically carries pose, gaze, expression, lighting, composition, camera, action, injury or makeup. All selected duties must survive the formal IR in preserve; legacy reference prose alone is insufficient.

Use distinct entity keys for character/costume/scene and obey the selected adapter's inspected cap: four raw images for the Ark Seedream frame route, three for retained non-Ark routes. The opt-in still professional mapping profile retains its own inspected slot bounds. Multi-view review evidence may exceed selected inputs; it is not independent truth or a promise of arbitrary-angle stability. In `requirements.face_coverage`, cite canonical leaves with use_requirement, evidence_state and STABLE_IDENTITY semantic classification. REQUIRED unconfirmed facts block that use. Portrait facial evidence and full-body proof are separate; no reconstruction of invisible identity. Reference Strategy owns duties, never the face facts.

Read [mapping and evidence profile](../../docs/still-professional-mapping.md) when preparing these still records. Knowledge remains LOCAL_EXPERIMENTAL until scoped A5 media evidence.