OutlineDriven Backlog
Contract
| Field | Bound contract |
|---|---|
| Trigger | User wants to park an undecided idea without representing it as decided or active work. |
| Authority | Reversible local: writes only one backlog entry file; rollback is deleting or reverting that file. No remote mutation. No VCS commit or credential use. |
| Side effect | One backlog entry as a reversible local state change with recorded evidence. |
| Done | The idea is parked in the backlog and ready to be promoted when it meets the readiness threshold. |
Inputs
- Idea statement (required): one or two sentences naming the idea and the problem it would address.
- Undecided reason (required): the specific missing input that blocks a decision now: an unverified assumption, absent evidence, an open question, or a competing alternative.
- Readiness threshold (required): the concrete, falsifiable condition that, when met, would make the idea promotable (a measurement, a resolved question, or a confirmed constraint that yields a yes/no).
- Existing evidence (optional): links, measurements, or notes already in hand that bear on the idea.
- Backlog location (optional): path to the backlog file or directory; default is a
backlog.mdfile in the current workspace.
Procedure
- Validate the inputs: confirm the idea statement is a single coherent proposal, the undecided reason names a concrete missing input, and the readiness threshold is falsifiable. A human or tool must be able to test it and get a yes/no result. Done when: all three required inputs are validated as coherent, concrete, and falsifiable.
- Bound scope: this skill only parks the idea. Do not evaluate, rank, or promote it. Do not create tasks, requirements, or tickets. Done when: scope is bounded to parking only with no evaluation, ranking, or promotion.
- Locate or create the backlog store. If a backlog file exists, append to it; otherwise create one with a header marking it as undecided-parking only. Done when: the backlog store is located or created.
- Write one entry with the idea statement, undecided reason, readiness threshold, any supplied evidence, timestamp, and a stable identifier. Derive the identifier from the idea statement as a kebab-case slug (lowercase words joined by hyphens, with non-alphanumerics dropped); on collision with an existing identifier, append
-2,-3, and so on. Mark the entry statusparked. Done when: the entry is written with all fields and markedparked. - Record the entry as a reversible local state change: the file write is the only mutation. No commit, push, or remote call occurs. Done when: the entry is recorded as the only mutation with no commit, push, or remote call.
- Confirm the done predicate: the entry exists, is marked
parked, and carries its readiness threshold so a later promotion step can test it. Done when: the entry is confirmed present, parked, and threshold-carrying.
Failure and recovery
- Non-falsifiable threshold: if the readiness threshold cannot be checked with a yes/no outcome, stop and ask the user to restate it as a testable condition. Do not park an entry whose promotion trigger is subjective.
- Idea already decided or active: if the idea is already represented as a task, requirement, or in-progress work, stop. The backlog is for undecided ideas only; parking a decided item duplicates state.
- Write failure: if the backlog file cannot be written, do not mutate any other file. Report the write error and the intended entry content so the user can retry or relocate.
- Partial result: no partial state is valid. Either the full entry is written or nothing is written. A failed write leaves the backlog unchanged.
Output
One backlog entry in the local backlog store, marked parked, carrying its idea statement, undecided reason, readiness threshold, evidence, and timestamp, ready to be promoted by a later decision step that tests the threshold.