The brief library

Job: plan one small feature of [your product]. Done looks like: a numbered plan, each step naming what it touches and ending with a definition of done a stranger could verify by behavior, without reading code; an out-of-scope line; no code written. Fences: interrogate the idea first, one question at a time, until the vague parts are gone; propose the laziest version that fully solves the problem; build nothing until the plan is approved. Context: [who the feature is for, and what they were doing the moment before they needed it]. Escalate if two approaches genuinely trade off, or if any step's done can't be checked by behavior.

Job: welcome flow, drafts only. Done looks like: a three-email welcome sequence built in the email tool and saved as drafts, nothing scheduled, nothing sent; each email under 150 words, in the voice file's register. Fences: touch nothing but the new flow; no sends, no list edits, no discounts. Context: read the voice file first; the first email says why the brand exists, the second helps with [the product's first use], the third asks for nothing. Escalate before anything would send, or if the voice file doesn't cover a claim you want to make.

Job: map the attached agreement. Done looks like: a one-page map: the term and its renewal notice window, every trigger that changes the money, what leaving costs and what happens to our data on the way out, what we're on the hook for when things go wrong, and anything unusual for an agreement of its kind; a clause or page reference on every finding. Fences: read only the attached document; no advice, no recommendation to sign or walk. Context: we're deciding whether the terms are livable, and a licensed hour may follow where the map points. Escalate if clauses contradict each other or a referenced schedule is missing.

Job: stock watch, recommendations only. Done looks like: a standing job that reads shelf counts and sales pace, computes weeks of cover against refill time, and files a reorder recommendation with reasoning attached (what's running down, how fast, what the refill takes, what to order, which assumptions it leaned on) when the two numbers converge; plus a note whenever a variant stops moving entirely. Fences: no orders placed, no money committed, ever; recommendations wait for a signature. Context: refill time is production plus transit; use the last refill as the estimate. Escalate loudly if the data source goes quiet, instead of guessing.

Job: start the policy file. Done looks like: the attached five customer questions answered as written rules a stranger could apply without me in the room, plus one sample reply per rule in the company's voice, all in one file. Fences: answer only from the attached materials; where no ruling exists, write "no ruling yet" and log the question instead of improvising an answer. Context: this file becomes the desk's only source; rules beat warmth, and honesty beats both. Escalate with the list of questions that still need a ruling from the owner.

Job: build a golden set for [one judgment task]. Done looks like: ten past cases, each saved as the input plus the answer the owner still stands behind, in one folder; then an exam run: re-answer all ten under current instructions and report every miss side by side with the kept answer. Fences: never edit the kept answers; if one looks wrong, flag it and leave it. Context: misses are gaps in the instructions, not in the cases. Escalate if fewer than ten clean past cases exist, naming what's missing, rather than inventing lookalikes.

Job: one watcher, one lane. Done looks like: a standing job that recomputes [one number] whenever a piece of work finishes, appends it dated to one file, and stays silent while the number sits near its recent range; when it leaves the range, a short finding with receipts: what moved, where the change concentrated, best guess why. Fences: watch only; never touch the work that produces the number, and never treat the lane as a target. Context: the lane describes history; it is not a goal. Escalate by filing a finding about yourself if a patrol can't run.