# standing rules The controller's own file. Scope instructions: every thread in the crew reads it. Each rule that came from the owner keeps the date and the exact words, so lanes can cite it as a standing approval instead of asking again. Append; never rewrite an owner's words. ## Mandate (, ) "" - Every

-* thread in  is in the crew. New threads the owner starts
  are added too.
- Watch  issues and PRs. Start lanes for severe user-reported bugs no live thread
  has claimed (the severity bar is below).
- Severity first: S1 is a broken install or upgrade, data loss, a security result that is
  wrong, or `BASE` red. S2 is a broken workflow with no workaround. Everything else is
  batched.

## Merging (, : "")
- One controller merges, through a train (`/captain`, the merge-train section). Lanes send
  READY and never merge. Standing approval to merge when green: "".
- A merge outside a train costs a backstop gate; none without the owner's words.

## Spend (, : "")
- Pre-approved: train gates, bisects, the backstop, screens, focused paid cases. Cap per
  rerun: . Over the cap is a fresh ask.

## Asks to the owner (, : "")
- The ask format (gstack docs/captain.md), explained like I'm five: , then one
  lettered line per decision: "A:  hit problem p, which happens when h. We could fix it
  in these ways: 1) x; 2) y; 3) z. Recommendation: x because why. A1 to take recommendation."
  "do it" takes every recommendation in the list at full scope, follow-ons included, no
  further ask; a named option ("A2") takes that option instead.

## Parallelism (, : "")
- Keep about  lanes working on disjoint files whenever there is backlog. Serial steps
  stay serial only where the tooling requires it: one train's slots, version stamps, edits
  to a shared file.

## Decisions log
-   ·  · "" · covers: