vault-express-mode

name	vault-express-mode
description	Fast-prototyping lane that defers (never skips) the heavy lifecycle phases, preserving the safety rails, with a gated graduation path back to full rigor.
triggers	["express","prototype","spike","promote","feature-express"]

Vault Express Mode (Base)

Express mode is a deferred-rigor fast lane for the Toolbox Designer. It drops the expensive ceremony of the 8-phase lifecycle (formal design doc, ALU plan, test-first TDD, automated review) so an idea can be validated quickly — but every deferred phase is recorded as debt and MUST be backfilled before the code is finalized. Express is deferred rigor, not skipped rigor.

1. Hard Rails (NEVER sacrificed in express mode)

These are cheap and high-value, so they always apply:

1. Production Protection — modifying Vault operations stay blocked in Production with the standard tooltip.
2. Mandatory logging — raw-dump console.log on every new integration (powers manual verification).
3. Platform-native styling — Chakra UI / VeevaTheme tokens.
4. Evidence-First — any new VQL/endpoint is verified via vault-developer-mcp (and CLI if connected) before code. Counterintuitively this speeds up prototyping by preventing rework on wrong syntax/field names. (See the vault-vql-builder skill for the VQL dynamic verification protocol). Unverified claims are tagged @express-assumption and re-checked at graduation.

2. The Express Lane — :feature-express <name>

A 3-step fast path (replaces phases 1–6 of the standard lifecycle):

1. Intent & Comprehensive Alignment — One-line statement of what you're spiking. Create .agents/features/<name>/ if absent. Before writing any code, you MUST engage in an exhaustive up-front brainstorming phase. Ask as many questions as needed about anything (visual format, UX, data-tracing scope, layout, workflows, expected inputs/outputs, edge cases, etc.) to align perfectly on the feature direction. Do not limit the questions. We save time in Express Mode by deferring code/build ceremonies (formal documents, test-first TDD, etc.), NOT by rushing the alignment or skipping design clarity.
2. Build — implement directly, with the Hard Rails above. Drop @express-* breadcrumb tags and it.todo() / describe.skip() test stubs inline as you go (see references/breadcrumb-spec.md).
3. Manual verify — run it live in the extension. Observed behavior is the verification gate that temporarily replaces TDD.

3. Graduation — :promote <name> (interview-driven)

Re-enters the full lifecycle, backfilling every deferred phase from the breadcrumbs:

1. Collect — run node .agents/scripts/express_guard.js .agents/features/<name> (or the feature's source dir) to auto-assemble the debt ledger from @express-* tags + stubs.
2. Interrogate assumptions — for each @express-assumption, run the live MCP/CLI check now; confirm or correct (the Evidence gate finally applied).
3. Kill fakes — replace each @express-fake with the real implementation.
4. Red-Green — convert each it.todo / describe.skip into a real failing→passing test (proper Phase 5).
5. Interview → Doc — ask the developer targeted questions per @express-intent breadcrumb and write the design doc from their answers (proper Phase 2). Built forward from intent, never reverse-engineered from code.
6. Review + sync — automated code review (Phase 6) + finalization (Phase 8): strip raw-dump logs, run the merge guard, regenerate the graph.

4. Comment Disposition at Graduation

• Durable comments (the why / rationale) → promote to permanent docstrings (drop the @express- prefix).
• Scaffold comments (@express-* tags, raw-dump logs) → MUST be cleared (Phase 8 "remove logs" mandate) or the merge guard fails.

5. Merge Guard (HARD BLOCK)

A feature CANNOT be marked finalized while any @express-* tag or it.todo / describe.skip stub remains. This is enforced by express_guard.js, which exits non-zero when debt remains. Because express code is not physically isolated, this self-policing gate is the safeguard that keeps untested code from shipping. See vault-knowledge-sync (Finalization Guard) and vault-code-reviewer.

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Reference Materials

• references/breadcrumb-spec.md: the @express-* tag convention + examples.