machenjie non-goal-boundary-definition
Registry Trigger
Use when
- separate in-scope work from non-goals exclusions and deferred decisions
Do not use when
- no task-local non goal boundary definition decision is required
Skill Role
Define exclusions, deferred decisions, unchanged behavior, version and environment limits, assumptions, reopen conditions, and observable exclusion evidence. Exclude positive scope and implementation planning.
High-Value Rules
- Define exclusions as observable boundaries. Name the behavior, consumer, data, environment, version, artifact, or operational effect excluded so reviewers can detect accidental inclusion.
- State reason and authority. Tie each material non-goal to current request, contract, risk decision, dependency, ownership boundary, or delivery constraint instead of treating convenience as settled scope.
- Distinguish non-goal, unchanged behavior, deferral, and unknown. Record which item is intentionally excluded, preserved, postponed with an owner, or unresolved because evidence is missing.
- Check dependency pressure. Identify whether in-scope work requires an excluded contract, migration, consumer, security control, cleanup, or operational change; reopen the boundary when exclusion would make the accepted outcome unsafe or incomplete.
- Attach an exclusion oracle. Select a review, contract, schema, data, UI, deployment, or behavior check capable of showing the non-goal remained absent, proportional to its consequence.
- Bound assumptions and versions. Name supported environments, clients, data states, compatibility windows, and source evidence whose change would invalidate the exclusion.
- Carry deferred ownership forward. Record accountable owner, dependency, risk, and reopen signal without turning every possible future enhancement into present scope.
Anti-Patterns
- Use vague labels such as later, unrelated, unchanged, or out of scope without an observable boundary and reason.
- Exclude required validation, migration, security, rollback, or consumer work while still claiming the positive outcome complete.
- Treat a missing fact as an accepted non-goal or let a deferred item lose ownership and reopen criteria.
Stop Conditions
Escalate when an exclusion conflicts with accepted behavior, contract, safety, compatibility, or ownership; required dependencies cross the boundary; an assumption lacks authority; or consequential excluded behavior cannot be checked.
Output Contract
- non-goal boundary with observable exclusions, reasons and authority, unchanged and deferred items, dependencies, assumptions and version limits, exclusion oracles, reopen conditions, and owners
Targeted References
| Path | Type | Load when | Do not load when | Required by | Required output |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| benchmarks and patterns | benchmark-pattern | scope exclusions conflict with version compatibility or required controls | approved scope and commitments determine every exclusion | analysis-agent | option-comparison, selected-approach |
| checklist | decision-checklist | slice needs explicit forbidden surfaces placeholders or deferred decisions | acceptance names testable included and excluded artifacts | analysis-agent | checklist-result, residual-risk |
| evidence patterns | evidence-pattern | out-of-scope not-present or deferred claims need fresh scans | current routes schemas jobs UI and tests prove exclusions | analysis-agent | evidence-record, proof-limit, residual-risk |