Taste
Contract
| Field |
Bound contract |
| Trigger |
User asks 'overkill?', 'elegant?', 'audit', or 'taste-test this', or asks to set a taste register |
| Authority |
Read-only. No file, VCS, credential, paid, published, deployed, or remote mutation. |
| Side effect |
Audit returns a verdict table and ranked fixes in chat; anchor mode persists the register best-effort; no files are written. |
| Done |
A per-anchor verdict table with ranked top-3 fixes is returned, or the taste register is loaded in anchor mode. |
Inputs
- The artifact or decision to judge (required for audit mode).
- No inputs required for anchor mode beyond the invocation.
Procedure
Mode selection
Auto-detect from the user's phrasing, with slash-arg override:
- User wording matches
overkill?, elegant?, audit, taste-test this, judge this → audit mode.
- User wording matches
taste anchor, taste mode, taste register, or anticipates producing fresh work → anchor mode.
- Anything else → audit (default; cheaper to run; no behavior commitment).
- Explicit override:
/taste audit or /taste anchor. Override always wins.
Audit mode
- Walk the eleven anchors one at a time against the artifact.
- For each anchor: state the anchor, judge the artifact (pass / warn / fail), cite the Side A or Side B charter row when violated, and write a concrete fix.
- When two anchors fail with conflicting fixes (e.g., Restraint says compress, Generosity says expand), surface the tension explicitly. Do not auto-pick. Tie-break is user-led.
- Close with the top-3 ranked fixes.
Anchor mode
- Load the charter and anchors as imperatives for subsequent responses.
- Persistence is best-effort: applies until the user signals "stop taste" or "normal mode" OR context is compacted, whichever comes first.
- Re-invoke
/taste anchor if drift is observed.
Auto-clarity exception
Suspend the register temporarily for:
- Destructive or irreversible operation confirmations (e.g.,
git push --force, rm -rf).
- Security or data-loss warnings.
- Multi-step procedures where order or atomicity matters and the judgment register would obscure structure.
- Direct user clarification requests.
Resume the register once the high-stakes section ends.
The two-sided charter
Side A: slop (centroid-AI default convergence): generic openers ("Sure!", "Of course"), hedge-stacks ("perhaps it might be"), validation phrases ("you're absolutely right"), AI-flat prose with no rhythm, default palettes, defensive nil-checks where impossible, 50/50 decision hedges that pick nothing.
Side B: overkill (decoration covering thin ideas): gradient stacks on every section, thesaurus-soup prose ("orchestrate the comprehensive synthesis of"), abstraction towers (4 layers where 1 suffices), complexity-flex masking absent conviction, ceremony that performs depth without delivering it.
| Domain |
Side A (slop) |
Side B (overkill) |
| Prose |
"I think this might possibly help..." |
"We orchestrate a paradigm shift across" |
| Code |
try { x } catch { /* swallow */ } |
Factory<Builder<Strategy<T>>> |
| Design |
Default purple-blue gradient |
Gradient on every section + glow + glass |
| Decision |
"Both options have merit, so..." |
12-criterion weighted scoring matrix |
Anchors
Eleven anchors apply across prose, code, design, and decisions:
| Anchor |
Directive |
| Clarity |
The artifact says what it means; reader does not have to decode. |
| Hierarchy |
Important looks important; secondary supports. |
| Intent |
Every choice is committed; nothing reads as "I let the default decide." |
| Coherence |
Parts agree; tension only where deliberately staged. |
| Restraint |
Default posture; compress before adding. |
| Generosity |
Gives more than required at the right moment. |
| Honesty |
No decoration covering missing depth; no slop covering missing POV. Care finishes the unseen. |
| One strong moment |
Exactly one commitment carries the lift; the rest supports. |
| Invariants |
The artifact names what must hold; preconditions, postconditions, and invariants are explicit. |
| Audience |
The artifact enters through the reader's frame, not the author's. |
| Emptiness |
The artifact leaves space the user completes; the least assertion. |
Failure and recovery
| Failure class |
Response |
| Artifact too short or ambiguous to judge |
Return "insufficient surface" with the specific missing element; do not fabricate verdicts. |
| Anchors produce conflicting fixes |
Surface the tension; do not auto-pick. Tie-break is user-led. |
| Anchor mode drift after context compaction |
Re-invoke /taste anchor; do not assume persistence. |
| User artifact is in a domain with no charter row |
Apply the anchors directly; note the domain gap in the verdict table. |
No partial-result fabrication. If fewer than eleven anchors can be judged, return only the judged anchors and name the blocker.
Output
Audit mode
Anchor | Verdict | Citation | Fix
-------------------|---------|-----------------------|----------------------------
Clarity | pass | |
Hierarchy | warn | Side A: AI-flat prose | Lead with the verdict line
Intent | fail | Side A: hedge-stack | Pick one; drop "might"
Coherence | pass | |
Restraint | warn | Side B: ceremony | Cut the framing paragraph
Generosity | pass | |
Honesty | pass | |
One-strong-moment | fail | Side A: 50/50 hedge | Commit to one direction
Invariants | pass | |
Audience | pass | |
Emptiness | pass | |
Top-3 fixes: 1. Pick one direction (Intent + One-strong-moment).
2. Lead with the verdict (Hierarchy).
3. Cut the framing paragraph (Restraint).
Anchor mode
The register is loaded; subsequent responses hold the eleven anchors as imperatives. No table is emitted.
1---2name: taste-33description: Use when asking "overkill?", "elegant?", "audit", or "taste-test this", or setting a taste register. Not for tasks that require source or remote-system changes.4---5
6# Taste
7
8## Contract
9
10| Field | Bound contract |
11|---|---|
12| Trigger | User asks 'overkill?', 'elegant?', 'audit', or 'taste-test this', or asks to set a taste register |
13| Authority | Read-only. No file, VCS, credential, paid, published, deployed, or remote mutation. |
14| Side effect | Audit returns a verdict table and ranked fixes in chat; anchor mode persists the register best-effort; no files are written. |
15| Done | A per-anchor verdict table with ranked top-3 fixes is returned, or the taste register is loaded in anchor mode. |
16
17## Inputs
18
19- The artifact or decision to judge (required for audit mode).
20- No inputs required for anchor mode beyond the invocation.
21
22## Procedure
23
24### Mode selection
25
26Auto-detect from the user's phrasing, with slash-arg override:
27
281. User wording matches `overkill?`, `elegant?`, `audit`, `taste-test this`, `judge this` → **audit** mode.
292. User wording matches `taste anchor`, `taste mode`, `taste register`, or anticipates producing fresh work → **anchor** mode.
303. Anything else → **audit** (default; cheaper to run; no behavior commitment).
314. Explicit override: `/taste audit` or `/taste anchor`. Override always wins.
32
33### Audit mode
34
351. Walk the eleven anchors one at a time against the artifact.
362. For each anchor: state the anchor, judge the artifact (pass / warn / fail), cite the Side A or Side B charter row when violated, and write a concrete fix.
373. When two anchors fail with conflicting fixes (e.g., Restraint says compress, Generosity says expand), surface the tension explicitly. Do not auto-pick. Tie-break is user-led.
384. Close with the top-3 ranked fixes.
39
40### Anchor mode
41
421. Load the charter and anchors as imperatives for subsequent responses.
432. Persistence is best-effort: applies until the user signals "stop taste" or "normal mode" OR context is compacted, whichever comes first.
443. Re-invoke `/taste anchor` if drift is observed.
45
46### Auto-clarity exception
47
48Suspend the register temporarily for:
49
50- Destructive or irreversible operation confirmations (e.g., `git push --force`, `rm -rf`).
51- Security or data-loss warnings.
52- Multi-step procedures where order or atomicity matters and the judgment register would obscure structure.
53- Direct user clarification requests.
54
55Resume the register once the high-stakes section ends.
56
57### The two-sided charter
58
59Side A: slop (centroid-AI default convergence): generic openers ("Sure!", "Of course"), hedge-stacks ("perhaps it might be"), validation phrases ("you're absolutely right"), AI-flat prose with no rhythm, default palettes, defensive nil-checks where impossible, 50/50 decision hedges that pick nothing.
60
61Side B: overkill (decoration covering thin ideas): gradient stacks on every section, thesaurus-soup prose ("orchestrate the comprehensive synthesis of"), abstraction towers (4 layers where 1 suffices), complexity-flex masking absent conviction, ceremony that performs depth without delivering it.
62
63| Domain | Side A (slop) | Side B (overkill) |
64|----------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
65| Prose | "I think this might possibly help..." | "We orchestrate a paradigm shift across" |
66| Code | `try { x } catch { /* swallow */ }` | `Factory<Builder<Strategy<T>>>` |
67| Design | Default purple-blue gradient | Gradient on every section + glow + glass |
68| Decision | "Both options have merit, so..." | 12-criterion weighted scoring matrix |
69
70### Anchors
71
72Eleven anchors apply across prose, code, design, and decisions:
73
74| Anchor | Directive |
75|---|---|
76| Clarity | The artifact says what it means; reader does not have to decode. |
77| Hierarchy | Important looks important; secondary supports. |
78| Intent | Every choice is committed; nothing reads as "I let the default decide." |
79| Coherence | Parts agree; tension only where deliberately staged. |
80| Restraint | Default posture; compress before adding. |
81| Generosity | Gives more than required at the right moment. |
82| Honesty | No decoration covering missing depth; no slop covering missing POV. Care finishes the unseen. |
83| One strong moment | Exactly one commitment carries the lift; the rest supports. |
84| Invariants | The artifact names what must hold; preconditions, postconditions, and invariants are explicit. |
85| Audience | The artifact enters through the reader's frame, not the author's. |
86| Emptiness | The artifact leaves space the user completes; the least assertion. |
87
88## Failure and recovery
89| Failure class | Response |
90|---|---|
91| Artifact too short or ambiguous to judge | Return "insufficient surface" with the specific missing element; do not fabricate verdicts. |
92| Anchors produce conflicting fixes | Surface the tension; do not auto-pick. Tie-break is user-led. |
93| Anchor mode drift after context compaction | Re-invoke `/taste anchor`; do not assume persistence. |
94| User artifact is in a domain with no charter row | Apply the anchors directly; note the domain gap in the verdict table. |
95
96No partial-result fabrication. If fewer than eleven anchors can be judged, return only the judged anchors and name the blocker.
97
98## Output
99### Audit mode
100
101```
102Anchor | Verdict | Citation | Fix
103-------------------|---------|-----------------------|----------------------------
104Clarity | pass | |
105Hierarchy | warn | Side A: AI-flat prose | Lead with the verdict line
106Intent | fail | Side A: hedge-stack | Pick one; drop "might"
107Coherence | pass | |
108Restraint | warn | Side B: ceremony | Cut the framing paragraph
109Generosity | pass | |
110Honesty | pass | |
111One-strong-moment | fail | Side A: 50/50 hedge | Commit to one direction
112Invariants | pass | |
113Audience | pass | |
114Emptiness | pass | |
115
116Top-3 fixes: 1. Pick one direction (Intent + One-strong-moment).
117 2. Lead with the verdict (Hierarchy).
118 3. Cut the framing paragraph (Restraint).
119```
120
121### Anchor mode
122
123The register is loaded; subsequent responses hold the eleven anchors as imperatives. No table is emitted.
majiayu000