source-of-truth

name	source-of-truth
description	Use before caching, quoting, or acting on ANY product, imagery, or brand fact — resolve it from the canonical source registered in SOT.md, never from memory or a filename. Prevents second-copy drift and wrong-fact defects.
origin	SkyyRose

Source of Truth

Every product, imagery, and brand fact has exactly one canonical home, registered in SOT.md at the repo root and surfaced as root symlinks (skyyrose-catalog.csv, sot-images.json, cerebrum.md, anatomy.md, …). Memory rots; the canonical file does not. Resolving a fact from recollection, a filename, or a second copy is how wrong facts reach the site — it is what produced the lh-005 fanny-pack (a product resolved from a non-canonical store). This skill makes "read the SOT first" the reflex before any product-touching work.

Boot first: read SOT.md before caching any product / imagery / brand fact — it names the one canonical source for each. Never fork or introduce a second copy of a SOT.

When to Use

• Before quoting a SKU, price, name, collection, or material — any product fact.
• Before resolving a product image — the manifest is identity, the filename is not.
• Before stating a brand fact (tagline, collection canon, founder voice).
• Before caching any of the above into memory, a render prompt, or page content.

The canonical map

Fact	Canonical source	Resolve via
Product (SKU, price, name, collection, material)	skyyrose-catalog.csv + per-SKU dossier	catalog loader — the CSV, then the dossier
Product imagery	data/sot-images.json (generated; make sot-manifest)	skyyrose.core.sot_images — front-first
Brand canon	brand canon / from-interview.md / brand.yaml	read it; do not paraphrase from memory
Prior work / "did we solve this?"	.wolf/buglog.json + claude-mem	see [[memory-system]]

Reference products by name, not SKU — SKU-first lookups caused br-001 conflations.

Loop until the fact traces to the SOT

Bounded, like [[drive-to-green]] — ≤5, stop on repeat:

1. Need a product/imagery/brand fact.
2. Resolve it through the SOT-registered source (CSV / manifest / canon), never memory.
3. Quote the canonical value (row, dossier line, manifest entry).
4. If the source disagrees with what you assumed → the SOURCE wins; correct and re-check.

Verify from an authoritative source

• Quote the canonical file, not your memory. A product fact cites the catalog CSV row or dossier; an image cites its sot-images.json entry; a brand fact cites the canon.
• Prove single-source. Before trusting a fact, confirm there is no second copy feeding it — grep for duplicate stores; a fork of the catalog/manifest is garbage, and using it is a fail-open (see [[fail-closed-audit]], [[dependency-hygiene]]'s single-source rule).
• Pixels over filenames for imagery — the manifest resolves identity, then [[product-image-fidelity-gate]] eyes-on confirms the garment. A filename never proves it.

Adversarial pass

• [[adversarial-verification]] — assume the remembered value / filename is WRONG until the canonical source confirms it. For anything touching a render or the live site, default to "unverified" and resolve through the SOT before proceeding.

Guardrails · Handoff · Log

• Canonical-sources-only is LOCKED — other stores are garbage; never introduce a second SOT.
• Regenerate generated SOTs the sanctioned way (make sot-manifest) — never hand-edit them.
• Product-image work → hand to skyyrose-design with [[product-image-fidelity-gate]]; catalog drift → skyyrose-core; log corrections via [[self-learning]] per CROSS-PLUGIN.md.