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ZAKON #25 — Pre/Post-flight Mandatory (H/BLOCKER)

ZAKON #25 — Pre/Post-flight Mandatory (H/BLOCKER)

Source: ~/system/rules/john-operating-system.md line 77

Instituted: 2026-04-28 (MC #9941 panel approved 4/5 + DA timing dissent preserved)

The Rule

WHEN task priority = H AND (BLOCKER label OR multi-component OR effort ≥ M)

THEN workflow MUST be:

  1. /prompt-forge <mc_id> — 5-panel pre-flight, unified prompt
  2. /mehanik "task" <path> <mc_id> — gate clearance (existing)
  3. Specialist dispatch with forged prompt
  4. /task-postflight <mc_id> — Proveo validation + learning loop

When to Skip /prompt-forge

Skip directly to /mehanik when ANY of:

  • Priority = M or L
  • Trivial scope (single-line config, single-file edit, recurring template)
  • Effort = S
  • Explicit /skip-forge directive

SKIP /task-postflight? Never. Mandatory closure for H/BLOCKER.

Decision Tree

HAS the task been classified as H + BLOCKER/multi-component?
  YES → /prompt-forge mandatory
  NO  → skip directly to /mehanik

AFTER specialist dispatch completes:
  /task-postflight <mc_id> — ALWAYS for H/BLOCKER

Why This Exists

Eliminates reactive scope creep. Historical incidents:

  • feedback_drop_ceo_request_scope_creep.md: CEO requested "fix Drop demo" (5 bugs). John hallucinated "staging + CI infra" from LLM memory, dispatched 11 infra agents, lost 6h. Real deploy path = Docker → ECR → apprunner (30 min).
  • Dual-backend incident #9892: Specialist built second backend because task prompt didn't specify "use existing backend".

Solution: 5-expert panel (Petter Graff, Devils Advocate, Anthropic CA, OpenAI CA, Chip Huyen) produces better prompts for H/BLOCKER tasks. Disagreements preserved unsmoothed in <disagreements> XML block.

How to Apply

For John (orchestrator):

  1. Classify incoming task: priority, labels, effort, components
  2. If H + BLOCKER/multi-component → invoke /prompt-forge <mc_id>
  3. Wait for forged prompt at ~/system/prompts/forged/<mc_id>.md
  4. Pass forged prompt to /mehanik as Phase A input
  5. After Mehanik clearance → dispatch specialist with forged prompt
  6. After specialist completes → invoke /task-postflight <mc_id>
  7. Wait for Proveo validation + learning loop
  8. Submit mc.js ready only after postflight clears

For specialists (builders):

No change. You receive a forged prompt (if H/BLOCKER) or regular prompt (if M/L). Execute as normal. Postflight validation happens after you finish.

Cost Guardrails

  • /prompt-forge cap: $1.00 per invocation
  • /task-postflight cap: $0.50 per invocation
  • Daily budget: $5.00 for prompt-forge (≈ 5 BLOCKER tasks/day max)
  • Typical combined cost: $0.49 warm cache / $1.35 cold per H/BLOCKER task

v0.1 Deferred Items

Deferred to post-Akershus (after 2026-05-04):

  • Eval harness: 20-task golden dataset replay
  • Complexity classifier: automated scope gate (replaces heuristic)
  • cost-tracker.js integration: per-invocation logging + alerts
  • Observability: agent latency, token counts, BFPR metric
  • BFPR ship gate: ≥70% Builder First-Pass Rate over first 20 uses before declaring v1.0

Panel Approval Record

MC #9941: ZAKON #25 proposal

Panelist Vote Key Argument
Petter Graff APPROVE Scope creep root cause = ambiguous prompts. 5-expert forge addresses this.
Anthropic CA APPROVE Disagreements XML preserves tension → better builder context.
OpenAI CA APPROVE Post-flight learning loop closes gap between intent and execution.
Chip Huyen APPROVE Cost acceptable if BFPR ≥70% (empirical gate required).
Devils Advocate DISSENT Timing risk: 5-panel forge adds 2-5 min overhead. May bottleneck on urgent H tasks. Proposes fast-path override for P0 incidents.

CEO decision: Approved 4/5. DA timing dissent preserved — fast-path override deferred to v0.2 based on empirical P0 incident latency data.

References

  • Authoritative rule: ~/system/rules/john-operating-system.md line 77
  • Skill: prompt-forge: ~/.claude/skills/prompt-forge/SKILL.md
  • Skill: task-postflight: ~/.claude/skills/task-postflight/SKILL.md
  • Full spec: /tmp/std1-synthesis.md
  • Memory entry: ~/.claude/projects/-Users-makinja/memory/feedback_prompt_forge_postflight_zakon.md
  • Incident references:
    • feedback_drop_ceo_request_scope_creep.md
    • Dual-backend incident #9892

Author: ALAI, 2026

Last updated: 2026-04-28

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