| name | refine |
| description | Autonomously correct a LCD work-item's plan when reality drifts from it — a STEP/task that's now wrong, a task that needs splitting, a MAP zone/invariant that no longer matches the code, or stale knowledge. Updates the artifact AND logs the change without waiting to be asked. Use mid-work when you notice the recorded plan no longer matches what the work actually needs. |
| user-invocable | true |
LCD Refine
Keeps the durable artifacts honest when plans drift, without waiting for the user to ask — a
stale JOURNAL/MAP that lies is worse than none (it poisons the next resume).
When it fires (autonomously)
Invoke this whenever, mid-work, you notice any of:
- A JOURNAL STEP or a Deep-lane task is wrong, out of order, or needs splitting/merging.
- The EDIT BOUNDARY needs a path the plan didn't anticipate (this is also a plan File-structure
change — make both).
- The MAP no longer matches reality (a new zone, a moved responsibility, a retired/added
invariant, a newly-exposed surface).
- A recorded decision is now wrong or superseded, or knowledge captured earlier is stale.
The protocol (bounded by refinement-protocol)
Per the global refinement-protocol rule — even though no one asked, hold yourself to it:
- Restate the specific change: "STEP S3 splits into S3a (write resolver test) + S3b (impl)
because …".
- List what stays unchanged — the surrounding STEPS/tasks/zones you are NOT touching.
- Make the edit to the artifact (JOURNAL STEPS, tasks.md, plan.md File-structure + EDIT
BOUNDARY, or MAP.md), then:
- Log it. Append a dated one-line entry to the JOURNAL LOG ("refined: S3 split — plan target
moved to src/foo"). If the change is durable (affects the project beyond this work-item — a
MAP invariant, a superseded decision), also add/supersede an entry in
<root>/DECISIONS.md.
Autonomy boundary — when to STOP and ask instead
Refine quietly for in-scope mechanical drift (the plan was right in spirit, the details moved).
Escalate to the user when the drift implies a change of intent:
- The spec's acceptance criteria would change (that's a
/lcd:specify edit, a real scope change).
- A decision reversal that the user explicitly made.
- The work no longer matches its stated Goal.
In those cases, surface the discrepancy and ask — don't silently rewrite intent.
Keep it light
Refine is a small correction + a log line, not a re-plan. If you're rewriting half the JOURNAL, the
work changed enough that triage should re-run (it may belong in a different lane) — say so rather
than forcing the old artifact to fit.
