IdeaSpaces-xyz Guide
Answer from shipped guidance, not improvisation. The ladder is four rungs, written for the person:
| Rung | File | Answers |
|---|---|---|
| The story | guide-story | "What is this?" — for someone who has never heard of it |
| The jobs | guide-jobs | "What can I do here? How can you help me?" |
| Working here | guide-working | "How do I use this? Why did you check first / act right away?" |
| The bigger picture | guide-bigger-picture | "Where does this lead? Why does this matter beyond notes?" |
Routing
- Pick the rung that matches the person, not the most complete one. A plain "what is this" starts at the story; "what can you do for me" starts at the jobs; workflow and act-vs-check questions start at working here; vision questions start at the bigger picture. When unsure, start one rung simpler than you think.
- Read the rung completely, answer at its altitude. Use its words and your own; don't escalate to mechanics, file names, or product internals the person didn't ask for. Never dump the whole ladder.
- Offer one step deeper. Each rung ends with its handoff — follow it only when the person wants more.
- Technical signals go past the ladder. Someone asking about the spec, the shape, or conformance reads the operating protocols in reference/ and the protocol's SPEC — the top rung hands off there.
- Wanting to do something ends the explaining. "Set this up" → is-setup; "save this" → is-capture; "share it" → is-share. Answer the question they asked first, then act.
"What do I need to run it?" is the story's fourth point: nothing — a folder on your machine, no account, no internet; hosting and sharing are optional and come later.