state-the-reason-for-a-run

# State the reason for a run ## What it does Writes down why the company would work with another company at all, before any candidate is named, and tests whether building it or buying it would answer that reason better. A run that cannot state its reason does not start. ## Where it happens The agent does this in two activities across one reference process. Each one names the activity as that process words it. - **State the Strategic Reason** - `ref/prt/explore-an-alliance`, activity 1 - [Explore an Alliance](../../../../processes/partners/explore-an-alliance.md) - **Test Build, Buy or Ally** - `ref/prt/explore-an-alliance`, activity 2 - [Explore an Alliance](../../../../processes/partners/explore-an-alliance.md) ## What to record The strategic reason as written before any company was named, dated. The build, buy or ally comparison and what it concluded. The candidate list with the source of each name. Per candidate: what they sell and to whom, the fit score, the criteria it was scored on, and the inputs behind it. The shortlist with the order of approach and who was to make it. Per candidate approached: the date, the person who made contact, and the mutual confidentiality agreement signed before anything beyond public material was shown. The numbers each side traded and the agreement they were traded under. The joint thesis at a version. The exploration record, kept either way, readable by the next run that names the same candidate. That contract covers every activity this abstract agent takes on, and it is repeated in `com.agentcatalog.agent/RECORDS.md`. What the abstract agent does not do is in `com.agentcatalog.agent/NOT.md`.