spec-prototype

Prototype

Build the smallest runnable artifact that can honestly answer the named question, then hand the decision to the person who will use it.

Do not fake the dimension being tested. Modality, fidelity, and medium follow from that rule. A behavior question is settled by driving the artifact; a visual question is settled by seeing the rendered result. For visual questions, read references/craft-floor.md; a behavior question does not load that floor.

This is a throwaway exploration, never the production implementation. The web is the default substrate regardless of the product stack. Do not start when there is no human available to experience the result, when the question is undefined, or in unattended/pipeline mode; return blocked-human-experience-required. A direction-exploration request ("explore directions", "what should we build next") is product discovery, not an undefined prototype question: name spec-ideate or spec-brainstorm as the destination and route out instead of interviewing for a testable question.

Run-Local Phases

These labels describe the current invocation and its allowed exit; they are not a persisted workflow state machine.

Phase	Allowed action and user-visible output	Exit condition
entry	Resolve the named question and current owner.	Question is bounded enough to scope, otherwise unresolved.
scoping	Choose behavior/visual modality, throwaway root, options and limitations.	Present the exact prototype question and requested side effects.
awaiting-go-ahead	Ask before creating files or starting a server.	Explicit go-ahead, or abandoned.
building	Create only the throwaway artifact; do not write production source.	Runnable focused artifact exists, or unresolved.
preview-running	Serve only on explicit loopback and return the local URL.	Human can inspect it, then stop or move to decision.
awaiting-human-decision	Report options and observed limitations without inferring a winner.	Human selects a direction, leaves it unresolved, or abandons it.
decided	Write decisions.md and hand the decision to spec-brainstorm or spec-plan.	Decision artifact is written from the human choice.
unresolved	Preserve the question, artifact path and limitation; do not write decisions.md.	Return to the current product owner.
abandoned	Stop owned preview resources and report that no decision was recorded.	End without production write-back.

Boundaries

• Use an isolated directory under .context/compound-engineering/ce-prototype/<date>-<slug>/ only when git check-ignore and ownership/symlink checks pass; otherwise use a private OS temporary root. Never delete a kept prototype.
• Ask for a go-ahead before creating or serving the artifact. Keep credentials out of files, arguments, logs, and handoff artifacts.
• Preview may bind only to 127.0.0.1 or ::1. CSP blocks external loads/connects; a stop request signals a process only after its PID, root, script and instance identity all match, otherwise it returns a blocked reason.
• After the user experiences the artifact, write decisions.md only when a choice is actually made. Include the question, prototype path, winner, rejected options, adjustments, and open questions.
• On apply, hand off to the existing spec-brainstorm or spec-plan owner. Do not create spec-proof, upload an external document, or write production code.

Output

Return the artifact path, the human decision state, the next owner, and limitations. A passing local check is not a user decision or a production outcome.