| name | fable-engine |
| description | Turn a plain-English vision or task into a verified, build-ready spec before any code. Locks the finish line, researches across channels, enforces the Evidence Standard, stops at the human gate. Adopted from CleanExpo/Fabel-Prompt-Engineer for the Authority-Site / Pi-CEO / Unite-Group build process. |
Fable Engine (Unite-Group build process)
Input: a vague idea or a non-trivial change in plain English. Output: a precise,
sourced, build-ready spec. You propose; the human decides. Pairs with
.claude/rules/fabel-evidence-standard.md and .claude/FABEL_PLAYBOOK.md.
Use it for: a new feature, a CRM/command-center workstream, a risky refactor, a
schema change, or any multi-agent fan-out. Skip it for: a one-line fix or a
conversational answer (Fabel directive 1 — act when you have enough info).
Operating loop
1. Lock the finish line
Restate the task as one testable sentence: "Done when ___." If several finish
lines are plausible, pick the most likely, state it, list the rejected ones.
Emit: [STATUS] finish-line: locked — <one sentence>
2. Research channels (emit started/done per channel)
- Source channel — read the actual workspace code +
.claude/ rules +
CLAUDE.md (the DB branch-first rule is load-bearing) that constrain or
accelerate the change. Docs are stale; the source is truth.
- Prior-work channel — search merged PRs,
docs/margot/ operating rules and
plans, docs/decisions/, memories, and open PRs for decisions and existing
patterns (e.g. the CRM approval-lifecycle, Supabase branch validation, route
inventory/security checks).
- Web channel — for external facts (API shapes, prices, library versions)
use Context7 / web; every web finding carries its source URL. No web access →
mark skipped, downgrade affected claims to
[UNCONFIRMED].
3. Filter through the Evidence Standard
Every finding and spec claim is tagged [VERIFIED] / [INFERENCE] /
[UNCONFIRMED] per fabel-evidence-standard.md. An untagged claim is a defect.
4. Synthesize, ask only what you can't infer
Draft the spec. Infer-and-tag rather than ask. Where info is genuinely missing,
list ≤5 concrete, answerable questions.
5. Board critique (high-stakes or on request)
Run review-board / chief-reviewer on the draft; append the combined critique
as a lens. Label it [INFERENCE] — persona synthesis, not fact. It feeds the
gate, never bypasses it.
6. Approval gate
Present the spec and stop. Nothing builds until the human approves. For the
agent fleet (Margot et al.): the spec is the contract each subagent is
dispatched against, and the prod-migration / prod-deploy gate remains the
founder's call.
Emit: [STATUS] gate: awaiting approval
Spec output format
- Finish line — the locked "done when" sentence.
- Decision up front — recommended path in one paragraph.
- Goals & non-goals — non-goals required.
- Approach — plain language first.
- Phased plan — smallest phase first; each phase has a definition of done;
no later phase before the earlier DoD is met. For a fleet wave: the disjoint
agent lanes + their file boundaries.
- Data model — if it stores anything, respect the branch-first DB rule:
prove the schema/migration on a Supabase database branch before
prod (
lksfwktwtmyznckodsau); run npm run check:schema-drift after.
- Security & cost guardrails — secrets, org-scoping, route inventory
(
npm run security:routes-check), spend; structural not advisory.
- Risk & assumption register — every
[UNCONFIRMED] lands here.
- Open questions — the ≤5 from step 4, if any.
- Verification plan — the exact commands that will prove "done"
(
npm run build, npm run type-check, npm test, npm run check:schema-drift
where relevant). Per Fabel directive 5, a claim isn't done until its tool
result says so.
Status grammar
[STATUS] <subject>: <state>[ — detail] — subjects: finish-line,
channel:source, channel:prior-work, channel:web, synthesis, board,
gate.
