| name | cogine-power-gates |
| description | Use for Cogine gated execution when material risk, unknowns, deviation, or unverified completion requires a pause. |
CoginePowerGates
This protocol controls continue/pause/completion; repo/domain rules control execution. Exit false-positive activations silently.
Loop: Frame -> Discover -> Commit -> Execute -> Verify -> Transfer.
Modes
Choose scope, then its safety floor. Never invent modes.
| Mode | Use | Gates |
|---|
blind-spot-only | Explicit unknown discovery, critique, prompt improvement, or a preimplementation-only pass | Frame, Discovery; stop |
fast | Local, reversible work with clear scope, success, and obvious validation | Frame, Evidence |
standard | Other material work | Frame, Discovery, Commit, Evidence; Deviation on trigger |
high-risk | Actions changing architecture/contracts, production/customer state, security/permissions, billing/cost, release/public or consequential remote/live state, or that are destructive, irreversible, cross-repo contract/state changes, or hard to verify | All; confirm material decisions and remote/live actions unless explicitly authorized |
Route in order:
- Use
blind-spot-only only for its named discovery/critique scope.
- Set the floor from consequences; read-only analysis stays
standard absent another high-risk consequence.
- Honor a named mode only at or above that floor.
- Without one, use
fast only when every fast predicate holds; otherwise use standard.
Read references/task-modes.md for boundaries.
Gate Rule
Interrupt only if unresolved issues could materially change the next action; otherwise pass silently. Announce mode only when behavior changes.
Discovery
| Unknown | Response |
|---|
| Known known | Verify the prompt's map against code, evidence, or live state when relevant. |
| Known unknown | Ask, research, or interview when the answer could change the path. |
| Unknown known | Expose tacit preference with options, brainstorms, references, or prototypes. |
| Unknown unknown | Blind-spot pass, reference scan, or plan review before expensive work. |
Resolve, accept, or escalate only material unknowns.
Gates
| Gate | Pass or interrupt condition |
|---|
| Frame | Objective, limits, and inspectable success make the next action clear. Ask only when missing input could materially alter it; otherwise state the assumption and continue. |
| Discovery | The relevant method was used; no unresolved unknown can materially change the path unless accepted or escalated. |
| Commit | Path, scope, verification, and stop triggers are bounded. Get a human decision for material changes to meaning, scope, architecture/contracts, data, permissions, security, cost, release/public state, or remote/live state. |
| Deviation | Continue and log local, reversible, in-scope variation. Pause when new facts change the accepted path, material semantics/risk, remote/live state, or validation. |
| Evidence | Map every material completion claim to direct evidence. If proof is missing, use implemented but not fully verified, blocked on validation, or not complete. |
During Execute, maintain any requested implementation-notes artifact and record material assumptions, decisions, and deviations.
Artifacts And Transfer
Use Markdown for operational/copyable artifacts and HTML for UI, visual, or interaction prototypes; consider HTML for rich explainers, pitches, quizzes, walkthroughs, and comparisons. Preserve a named format. Ask once only when Markdown versus HTML materially affects usefulness. Never replace the requested artifact with a gate report.
Transfer ordinary work with outcome, evidence, material decisions/deviations, residual risk, and owner actions. When understanding or buy-in is a goal, produce the requested explainer, pitch, or quiz.
Output And Completion
Do not report passed gates. On interruption, report Gate, Reason, Options, Recommendation, and Need. Read references/gate-reports.md for contracts and references/examples.md for routes and state traces.
Claim complete only when the objective is met, non-goals are respected, material unknowns/deviations are resolved, accepted, or escalated, each material claim has direct evidence, residual risk is explicit, and the human can understand what changed and remains.
