prototype

name	prototype
description	Build a disposable experiment to answer one design, UI, state, or data-model question. Use with /prototype when a cheap experiment beats guessing.

Prototype

Use /prototype when a cheap experiment beats guessing.

When to use

• You're unsure about a design choice and need to try it
• A UI layout, state shape, or API contract is unclear
• "Let me try it" is faster than "let me think about it"

Steps

1. State the question — what are you trying to learn? (e.g. "Does a tree or flat list work better for this state?")
2. Build the smallest throwaway version — prefer:
   • Isolated routes or pages
   • Hardcoded fixtures instead of real data
   • Terminal demos for backend logic
   • Standalone scripts for API experiments
3. Mark as disposable — prefix files with prototype- or put in a prototype/ directory
4. Run it — actually test the prototype, don't just write it
5. Decide — keep (graduate to real code), revise (iterate), or discard (delete)

Rules

• Prototypes are not production code — speed over polish
• Delete prototypes that aren't kept — don't let them linger
• One question per prototype — don't scope-creep

Output

• Question — what was being tested
• Prototype — what was built and where
• What we learned — concrete findings
• Decision — keep, revise, or discard