Playbook 07: the prepare step reads what exists today before any code #498

2026-11-02T15:14:30Z

mesh-tools commented

2026-11-02 15:14:30 +00:00

The operator, 2026-11-02: "if i ask to implement feature A, you'd better first check what exists today with regards to feature A". Research, decisions, the survey and the review each checked the layer before them; none read the running code, so jobs of the controller nobody had named, a moved module's wiring and a changed failure label's readers surfaced only after the delivery.

Playbook 07, step 0 item 3a (new): each repository's context file opens with What exists today, answering in writing: (1) what exists today for the feature, read from the code (file:line) and the live mesh through the mesh MCP server's tools, never from memory or a record alone; (2) everything the change touches, replaces or removes, and what relies on each — for a removal or a move, every effect enumerated mechanically from its code (bus writes, files, credentials and grants, plans and records, processes, verbs/tools/requests answered, timers) and every reader of each, with the search written as run; (3) for each, its fate after the change and the test that proves it. Code starts only when that answer is complete.
Step 2 item 6b (new): the reviewer refuses a repository without the section (the prepare step undone, not a round), reruns the recorded searches on the reviewed tree, and an omitted effect or reader, or a fate the diff does not carry out, makes the change wrong.
The shape table's prepare row, a new entry under "The failures it prevents", and a line under "How it is checked" (the section exists, is older than the first commit, the review says it reran the searches).
Playbook 08 step 1: a small fix reads what exists in its area briefly, as a What exists today note on the issue; its review reruns the search; a matching check line.
playbooks.html: step 0's list, the lead's lane box, and the 07 and 08 step lists.

Checks: go test ./... at the root passes.

Reviewed-by: review-1126@shanks at 2b9e6b256b

https://claude.ai/code/session_01NcbgfJ9Gum47zkFKWRaovL

The operator, 2026-11-02: "if i ask to implement feature A, you'd better first check what exists today with regards to feature A". Research, decisions, the survey and the review each checked the layer before them; none read the running code, so jobs of the controller nobody had named, a moved module's wiring and a changed failure label's readers surfaced only after the delivery. - **Playbook 07, step 0 item 3a (new):** each repository's context file opens with `What exists today`, answering in writing: (1) what exists today for the feature, read from the code (file:line) and the live mesh through the mesh MCP server's tools, never from memory or a record alone; (2) everything the change touches, replaces or removes, and what relies on each — for a removal or a move, every effect enumerated mechanically from its code (bus writes, files, credentials and grants, plans and records, processes, verbs/tools/requests answered, timers) and every reader of each, with the search written as run; (3) for each, its fate after the change and the test that proves it. Code starts only when that answer is complete. - **Step 2 item 6b (new):** the reviewer refuses a repository without the section (the prepare step undone, not a round), reruns the recorded searches on the reviewed tree, and an omitted effect or reader, or a fate the diff does not carry out, makes the change wrong. - The shape table's prepare row, a new entry under "The failures it prevents", and a line under "How it is checked" (the section exists, is older than the first commit, the review says it reran the searches). - **Playbook 08 step 1:** a small fix reads what exists in its area briefly, as a `What exists today` note on the issue; its review reruns the search; a matching check line. - **playbooks.html:** step 0's list, the lead's lane box, and the 07 and 08 step lists. Checks: `go test ./...` at the root passes. Reviewed-by: review-1126@shanks at 2b9e6b256b4beaae4f3c611fe6f1ed76efcc3cd1 https://claude.ai/code/session_01NcbgfJ9Gum47zkFKWRaovL

mesh-tools added 1 commit 2026-11-02 15:14:30 +00:00

Read what exists before writing code, in the prepare step

mesh/delivery merged: source.main moved to novox/hq@f312e7cd0ea6

Details

mesh/check pass 2b9e6b256b4b on f312e7cd0ea6 | carried from 1747485cb351 | unit 39 run, 0 kept, 1 skipped | integration 39 run, 0 kept, 1 skipped | co…

2b9e6b256b

Each layer (research, decisions, survey, review) checked the layer before
it and none read the running code, so effects of the controller's removed
jobs surfaced only after delivery. Playbook 07's prepare step now writes,
per context file, what exists today, every effect and reader of what is
removed or moved, and each one's fate with its test; the review refuses
work without it. Playbook 08 reads its area the same way, briefly.

Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NcbgfJ9Gum47zkFKWRaovL

mesh-tools commented

2026-11-02 15:14:32 +00:00

Delivery novox/hq@2b9e6b256b4b — merged since 2026-11-02T15:16:24Z

Source — source.main moved to novox/hq@f312e7cd0e. Whether it reached the machines is mesh-delivery-view's, derived from source.main, the wants and the haves.

Transitions

2026-11-02 15:14 (new) → proposed (announced): novox/hq#498's head announced
2026-11-02 15:14 proposed → ready (accepted): a verdict names this commit and the trunk's head as its trunk commit, the gate passed or warned, and the repository's own check did not fail; or the check gates no merge (check-gates-merge false)
2026-11-02 15:16 ready → merged (merged): on the trunk its modules follow: merged there

The commit's note under refs/notes/mesh-plan keeps every transition of this change up to its merge: git log --notes=mesh-plan.

**Delivery** `novox/hq@2b9e6b256b4b` — **merged** since 2026-11-02T15:16:24Z **Source** — source.main moved to novox/hq@f312e7cd0ea6. Whether it reached the machines is `mesh-delivery-view`'s, derived from `source.main`, the wants and the haves. **Transitions** - 2026-11-02 15:14 (new) → proposed (announced): novox/hq#498's head announced - 2026-11-02 15:14 proposed → ready (accepted): a verdict names this commit and the trunk's head as its trunk commit, the gate passed or warned, and the repository's own check did not fail; or the check gates no merge (check-gates-merge false) - 2026-11-02 15:16 ready → merged (merged): on the trunk its modules follow: merged there The commit's note under `refs/notes/mesh-plan` keeps every transition of this change up to its merge: `git log --notes=mesh-plan`.

mesh-tools merged commit f312e7cd0e into main

2026-11-02 15:16:22 +00:00

mesh-tools deleted branch docs/pb07-what-exists

2026-11-02 15:16:22 +00:00

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Reference: novox/hq#498