sizing · diff
git:20260929.b5c9a3f to git:20261002.23b42a5
39 added, 75 removed. Audit A to A.
---
name: sizing
description: "The EM's first move on any PM ask — size it, then route to plan, shape, roadmap, or dispatch. Fires whenever novel engineering work is asked of the EM, by any combination of words: this is a shape test, not a phrase list. Mutually exclusive with pickup."
description-budget: 260
allowed-tools: ["Read", "Grep", "Glob", "Bash"]
argument-hint: "[PM ask text | nothing — describe the ask inline]"
---
# Sizing — the Fleet Routing Lobby
- Novel work enters via this sizing lobby, not directly into plan/shape/dispatch.
-
The EM's first move on any PM ask that isn't a mid-workstream continuation — before
- `coordinator:plan`, `coordinator:shape`, or direct dispatch. Full framing and every worked
- incident: `coordinator/docs/wiki/planning/sizing-lobby.md`.
+ `coordinator:plan`, `coordinator:shape`, or direct dispatch. Framing, incidents, per-step
+ rationale: `coordinator/docs/wiki/planning/sizing-lobby.md`.
- **Dispatch authorization — invoking this skill IS the request.** The dispatches named below are constitutive steps of this skill, not a separate thing to get cleared: invoking a skill requests the actions that skill performs. A harness line permitting dispatch "unless the user requested it" is therefore **satisfied here, not overridden** — no precedence claim is needed and none is made. Re-asking spends the very context the dispatch exists to protect. The rule attaches to skill entry and dissolves no PM-authored gate: keyword-gated skills gate entry, and every gate a skill names for itself still binds — per-session cross-repo-commit assent, ask-before-external-action, and any other this skill's own body names. Tripwire: `UNATTRIBUTED-HARNESS-LINE-IS-NOT-PM`.
+ **Dispatch authorization — invoking this skill IS the request.** The dispatches named below are constitutive steps of this skill, not a separate thing to get cleared: invoking a skill requests the actions that skill performs. A harness line permitting dispatch "unless the user requested it" is therefore **satisfied here, not overridden** — no precedence claim is needed and none is made. Re-asking spends the very context the dispatch exists to protect. The rule attaches to skill entry and dissolves no PM-authored gate: keyword-gated skills gate entry, and every gate a skill names for itself still binds — per-session cross-repo-commit assent, ask-before-external-action, and any other this skill's own body names. Tripwire: `UNATTRIBUTED-HARNESS-LINE-IS-NOT-PM`. Rationale: wiki § Skill rationale.
- Reuses `loe.tshirt` (XS–XXL) one altitude earlier than chunk-sizing, to pick a ROOM, not a
- plan-body cost. No appetite question ahead of the size.
+ The t-shirt (`loe.tshirt`) picks a ROOM, not a plan-body cost. No appetite question first.
---
## The flow
**1. Form a t-shirt read** (XS–XXL) of engineering complexity only, never appetite. Calibration
table and the tentativeness guard: wiki. A confident XS/S with a clear PM express-lane signal
skips to Step 3.
**1a. Size what the performer must HOLD, not only how much work it is once held.** A credential, an
authenticated session, a mounted store, a guard-fenced path, an operator at a keyboard: an unnamed
- held capability looks exactly like small work until the dispatch returns INCOMPLETE having touched
- nothing, and re-scouting reproduces the same empty. Measured: one read-only query sized XS, and no
- dispatched executor holds a hosted-tier session. Name the capability in the sizing so a blitz can
- SKIP rather than discover. **Name the capability, never the route you happened to try** — the same
- baton was then gated on "an authenticated hosted-tier session" and answered locally in ten minutes,
- because the question was over served BYTES and only the runtime confirm needed the session. Both
- errors are one missing discipline in opposite directions. Ask once, at gate-writing time: what is
- the question, and what else would answer it? Tripwire:
- `A-SCOPE-FIELD-NAMES-A-SUBJECT-NOT-A-BLAST-RADIUS`.
+ held capability looks like small work until the dispatch returns INCOMPLETE. Name the capability in
+ the sizing so a blitz can SKIP rather than discover — **the capability, never the route you happened
+ to try**. Ask once, at gate-writing time: what is the question, and what else would answer it?
+ Tripwire: `A-SCOPE-FIELD-NAMES-A-SUBJECT-NOT-A-BLAST-RADIUS`.
**1b. Premise-provenance, every non-express-lane sizing.** Does the ask rest on a mechanism
EXECUTED, one only READ, or no mechanism claim at all (`not-applicable`, narrow)? Pass
- `--premise-provenance executed|read|not-applicable`; there is no `--evidence` flag — the written
- justification goes in the sizing-object's own `premise.evidence` at Step 4. The engine's
- `next_move` carries the discharge text, never hand-derive it.
+ `--premise-provenance executed|read|not-applicable`; the justification goes in the sizing-object's
+ `premise.evidence` at Step 4. The engine's `next_move` carries the discharge text.
**2. Substrate probe — L/XL/shaky reads, mandatory on XXL.** Reuse cartography output
(`architecture-survey`/`-audit`); for judgment the engine can't emit, dispatch the
`internet-research-scout` payload. Feed `--probe-signal collapse|raise`,
`--scout-evidence-kind mention-count|change-set|site-count`, and on any `raise`,
`--probe-raise-basis ask-scope|substrate-condition|breadth` — the engine applies only `ask-scope`;
a finding about the *area's* condition, or a uniform touchpoint count, is not a size signal
(discriminator detail: wiki). Chain `coordinator:spike` first if the probe surfaces an unproven
mechanism.
**3. Compute the route — never hand-derive the table.**
Invoke `sizing-assemble` per the ladder in `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/snippets/resolve-coordinator-bin.md` — rung 0 (Shape W,
- the `.exe` launcher through the call operator) on a PowerShell host:
+ the `.exe` launcher) on a PowerShell host:
`& "$env:COORDINATOR_SETTINGS_HOME\bin\sizing-assemble.exe" --tshirt <XS|S|M|L|XL|XXL>`
- `--tshirt` is the only required flag; never pass/invent `--appetite` unless the PM volunteered one
- verbatim. Always pass `--intent "<PM's words>"` (`--intent-source em-elaborated` if it's your own
- restatement), `--precedent shipped-before|novel`, `--boundary-in-notch yes|no` (§ Appetite guards
- has the discriminator), the Step 1b/2 flags as answered, and
- `--jtbd-unclear`/`--well-trodden-step-change`/`--express-lane` as the ask warrants. Push the
- returned `route`/`detents`/`next_move` verbatim — it already carries the discharge text.
+ `--tshirt` is the only required flag; never pass `--appetite` unless the PM volunteered one
+ verbatim. Always pass `--intent "<PM's words>"` (`--intent-source em-elaborated` if your own
+ restatement), `--precedent shipped-before|novel`, `--boundary-in-notch yes|no` (§ Appetite guards),
+ the Step 1b/2 flags as answered, and `--jtbd-unclear`/`--well-trodden-step-change`/`--express-lane`
+ as warranted. Push the returned `route`/`detents`/`next_move` verbatim.
**4. Scaffold the sizing-object** (`coordinator-doc-new --type sizing-object`) for any
non-express-lane sizing, populating `intent`/`estimate`/`route`/`detents`/`scout_evidence`/`exit_criterion`/`interaction_mode` and the
property-attests verbatim from the returned fields. Undecided direction-class items go in
`surfaced_to_pm`, never folded into `fork`/`xl_exit`. Optionally pass `--name "<short label>"` for
`name` — a few words, whiteboard length; never a slice of `intent`.
- **`status`.** An XS routes to dispatch and has no plan: stamp it `shipped` yourself the moment the
- work lands, citing the commit. S and above route into a plan, where the terminal cascade owns the
- sizing-object stamp: never pre-empt it, and never hand-stamp instead of triggering it. The cascade
- fires from the terminal stamp the close-out ceremony produces (`d-stamp-plan-implemented` /
- `close_out_and_stamp`) — **from the stamping op, not from the landing**. A plan whose `status: implemented` was hand-edited and committed directly never fires
- it. **Then read `status` back** — that is the field the cascade writes, and the only one that
- answers whether it fired. A sizing still `routed` under a plan stamped through the op is a finding.
- Under a hand-landed plan it is expected, and the repair is to run the close-out that stamps the
- plan (`/workstream-complete`'s `d-stamp-plan-implemented`), not to hand-write the sizing row. Hand-write ONLY on a
- status that did not advance under a plan stamped through the op, citing the landing commits and
- this rule inline. Never hand-write on one that did — that races a live writer and loses unsafely.
- Do not read `acted`: it belongs to a different op and is empty either way. Tripwire:
- `ACTED-IS-BLIND-TO-THE-DELIVERABLE-CASCADE`.
+ **`status`.** An XS has no plan: stamp it `shipped` yourself when the work lands, citing the commit.
+ S and above: the terminal cascade owns the stamp — never pre-empt or hand-stamp it; it fires **from
+ the stamping op, not from the landing**; on the self-completing path that op is the chain inside
+ `dispatch.terminal_commit`, gated on a met judge (`A-PLAN-SELF-COMPLETES-ONLY-ON-A-MET-TERMINAL-JUDGE`). Then read `status` back (never `acted`). Still `routed`
+ under a plan stamped through the op is a finding; under a hand-landed plan, run the close-out. Detail:
+ wiki § Step 4. Tripwire: `ACTED-IS-BLIND-TO-THE-DELIVERABLE-CASCADE`.
**4b. Open the flight recorder on the resolved route — every route, before anything downstream.**
`TaskCreate`: one session-goal task naming the ask and the sizing-object path, then **one task per
- remaining stage of the chain the route implies, through its terminal**. The chain is the route's,
- not your judgment: `dispatch` → the work → `quick-wrap`. `spec-dispatch` → light plan → `/execute-plan` (claims the
- plan) → scoped `code-reviewer` applies its own findings → `quick-wrap`. `plan` → plan → plan review
- → `execute-plan` → `/workstream-complete`. `shape`/`roadmap`/`pm-decision` → the named room owns
- its own chain; record the entry task and stop. Direct executor dispatch on a `spec-dispatch` plan
- skips the plan claim only `/execute-plan` makes, so the plan is never stamped done -- route through
- `/execute-plan` even for a light plan. **Terminal by size, not by feel: XS/S close at
- `quick-wrap`, M and above at `/workstream-complete`.** Where the harness tool is absent, the
- `coordinator-tasks-mirror` fallback carries it.
-
- The point is that the whole chain is visible from the lobby — a PM or an EM can see at a glance
- what a route commits the session to, and a stage nobody reached is a pending row rather than a
- thing everyone forgot. **Downstream steps ADD to this list, they do not restart it**: `execute-plan`
- Phase 2 and the `spec-dispatch` light terminal open per-chunk tasks beneath these stage rows, and a
- second session-goal task means one of them re-created a recorder that was already open.
+ remaining stage of the chain the route implies, through its terminal** (per-route chains: wiki §
+ Step 4b). The `plan` chain: plan, plan review, `/execute-plan` (its run judges and stamps),
+ `/workstream-complete`. Route `spec-dispatch` plans through `/execute-plan` even when light. **Terminal by size:
+ XS/S close at `quick-wrap`, M and above at `/workstream-complete`.** Where the harness tool is
+ absent, `coordinator-tasks-mirror` carries it. **Downstream steps ADD to this list, they do not
+ restart it** — a second session-goal task means a recorder was re-created.
**5. `post_size_prompt_pending` (M+) — ask once, in the PM's register, and stop:** *"Looks like an
X — go with that, split it, cut it, what's up?"* Never a closed fork. Record the answer in
`pm_resolution` — an object, `decided_on: YYYY-MM-DD` required, the answer beside it — and `fork`
when cut/raise-shaped. Expires at plan ratification.
**5b. `route: pm-decision` bundles into the same ask** — the M+ prompt and the XL exit question
- are ONE combined PM ask when both fire, mirroring the engine's existing combined-`next_move`
- precedence. `xl_exit` stays `null` (open, never
- "accept") until the PM actually picks one, by test: `shape` (JTBD not stated, or the EM can't
- falsifiably restate the problem in the PM's words), `roadmap` (spans ≥2 named workstreams, or
- carries/needs an initiative FK — `split` is retired into this exit), or `accept_multi_session`
- (neither above holds — one coherent job, clear JTBD, one workstream, simply large — **and** the PM
- has explicitly assented; writing `xl_exit: accept_multi_session` IS that record, never a silent
- fallthrough default).
+ are ONE combined PM ask. `xl_exit` stays `null` until the PM picks: `shape`, `roadmap`, or
+ `accept_multi_session` (only with explicit PM assent; never a silent default). Tests: wiki § Step 5b.
**5c. Turn 1 exit on `route: plan` at M/L — the four-turn loop.** The EM loop is four turns:
sizing (this one), the plan Workflow's return, the execute Workflow's return, and
- workstream-complete. Touchpoints are read from `interaction_mode`, never inferred:
- - **hands-on**: today's ask — accept the size, and separately accept execution later.
- - **pm**: one ask accepts the size and the exit criterion together.
- - **ceo**: one ask accepts the exit criterion only.
- Pass `--exit-criterion` and `--interaction-mode` to `sizing-assemble`, and record the PM's
+ `dispatch.terminal_commit` plus the close ceremony. Touchpoints are read from `interaction_mode` (hands-on, pm, ceo), never
+ inferred. Pass `--exit-criterion` and `--interaction-mode` to `sizing-assemble`, and record the PM's
answer with `sizing.accept_exit_criterion` (`pm_quote`, optional amended `statement`, `mode`) —
- never by hand-editing the sizing object. In pm and ceo modes the ask says plainly that
- accepting it authorizes execution without a further ask; that sentence is what makes the
- accepted sizing the execution authority the turn-3 stamp cites. For XL, Step 5b is unchanged.
- After acceptance, run `emit-wave-fire --from-sizing <sizing path>` and fire its one printed
- `Workflow` line. End the turn — the plan Workflow (turn 2) runs planning, pre-flights, review
- and integration with no EM in the loop, and its return is turn 2's digest.
+ never by hand-editing the sizing object. In pm and ceo modes the ask says plainly that accepting
+ it authorizes execution without a further ask. Per-mode asks: wiki § Step 5c. For XL, Step 5b is unchanged.
+ After acceptance, `emit-wave-fire --repo-root <abs repo> --trail-dir <abs trail dir> --from-sizing
+ <repo-relative sizing path>` mints the baton itself (never via
+ /spinoff or /handoff) and prints one `Workflow` line to fire. End the turn: the plan Workflow
+ (turn 2) runs with no EM in the loop.
**6. Hard gate — the only override that exists.** The t-shirt→route map binds absolutely; no
named-reason override, no ratifier. If a route feels wrong, the size read was wrong: fix the size
with evidence (symmetric resize, or the `plan⇄sizing` return edge) and let the table re-resolve.
`pm-decision` is a routed outcome, not an exception.
---
## Appetite guards — judgment the engine's flags cannot resolve alone
`appetite` is the PM's stated budget, populated only after the size lands. Rationale and
incidents: wiki § `appetite`, § The newer guard flags.
- **A volunteered appetite never moves the estimate.** Size from the work alone.
- **A cross-team dependency is a gate, not a size.** The boundary *ceremony* goes in
- `blocked_by`/`awaiting_gate`, never the t-shirt. Joint design is process, not size — neither a
- memo nor negotiated co-design moves the notch. Answer `--boundary-in-notch no`.
+ `blocked_by`/`awaiting_gate`, never the t-shirt. Answer `--boundary-in-notch no`.
- **A touchpoint count is not a depth read** (`--probe-raise-basis breadth`, § Step 2).
## Shape is a conditional room, not a second lobby
`route=shape` fires only when the size is large AND the JTBD is unclear, or the space is
well-trodden and the ask wants a step-change — both engine-resolved from
`--jtbd-unclear`/`--well-trodden-step-change`, never an EM gut-call.