discovery

name	discovery
description	Integrate continuous discovery/framing (design thinking) into the rtmx delivery loop. Use this whenever deciding WHAT to build next, before authoring requirements, when reviewing parked work or metrics to reframe, or any time you are tempted to let the loop invent its own work. Pairs with decomposition (the split mechanics) — this owns the framing discipline.

discovery

The loop is convergent: decompose to an atomic decision, close it with a test, terminate in functional value. That guarantees efficient delivery — never that you are building the right thing. Discovery/framing is the divergent front that decides what is worth building. It is human-led; the machine assists. The two run as a coupled double loop, never one autonomous pipeline.

flowchart LR
    subgraph DISCOVERY["DISCOVERY — human-led, divergent"]
      frame["frame problem / outcome / user<br/>→ coarse requirement + spec doc"]
    end
    subgraph DELIVERY["DELIVERY — loop-led, convergent"]
      drain["drain atomic, test-linked reqs<br/>one decision → functional value"]
    end
    frame -- "aegis propose" --> drain
    drain -- "evidence: parked reqs, ACR/MTC, audit" --> frame

The discipline

• The spec doc is the define gate. No requirement enters the backlog without a docs/requirements/<thread>.md stating problem → outcome → acceptance, linked from the requirement_file column. Design thinking's define stage, made an admission gate. aegis frame flags anything unframed.
• Frame in vertical slices. The unit of framing is a FEAT-* slice that delivers user-observable value end to end — never a horizontal "build the parser" layer. Every workstream terminates in functional value, so frame the next thinnest valuable slice, not the next component.
• Delivery evidence is the discovery backlog. Parked (blocked) requirements mean the spec was ambiguous or wrong — they are reframe inputs, not failures. ACR/MTC/TCVR trends and the audit log are the empathize/define signals for the next cycle. Run aegis frame to surface them; see metrics-eval.
• The machine proposes; the human frames and approves — always. aegis propose decomposes a framed outcome into atomic children and can draft acceptance tests, but a human owns intent and admits work. Closure stays verify-driven; no command marks a requirement done. This is the guardrail that keeps discovery from becoming the closed self-validating loop the architecture exists to prevent (see decomposition).

The ritual (continuous, not a phase gate)

Interleave with delivery; the loop never blocks on it. Periodically: (1) run aegis frame and read the reframe + unframed lists; (2) reframe parked work and trace unframed work to an outcome; (3) aegis propose the next atomic slices for human approval. The loop drains what is approved while framing runs alongside.

Example

Overnight, the loop parks REQ-RUN-009 (verify kept failing) and ACR dips. Morning aegis frame surfaces it in the reframe backlog. You realize the acceptance test encoded the wrong outcome — a framing error, not a model failure. You rewrite the spec slice, aegis propose two tighter atomic children, approve them, and the loop delivers them that afternoon. Discovery closed the loop; the human kept the say.