Reference Decode

Reference Decode

Use When

• A benchmark video, contact sheet, frame set, rough idea, or source material needs to become promptable structure.
• You need the hook essence, viewer question, visual grammar, and forbidden drift before storyboard or request writing.
• A no-reference brief still needs a proxy structure before prompt work.

Do Not Use When

• Do not create the final storyboard grid or execution request here.
• Do not copy faces, exact wardrobe, creator identity, exact location, or exact overlays from benchmark material.

Core Rule

Do not summarize references as "good vibe", "nice pacing", or "strong chemistry". Extract four objects:

• hookEssence
• viewerQuestion
• mustCopyVisualGrammar
• forbiddenDrift

Default Workflow

1. Use the smallest sufficient source set: hook-first clip, first 0-5 seconds, hook-first contact sheet, supporting note, or full style board only if needed.
2. Decode the opening mechanism: first clear promise, viewer question, and the exact visual structure that makes the promise legible.
3. Separate structure from identity. Keep camera grammar, shot order, object logic, timing, and relationship logic; do not keep exact identity details.
4. Create a compact decode artifact when it is useful.
5. Print or return the decode block before storyboard or request writing.

No-Reference Mode

When no usable reference exists, operate in proxy mode:

• start from the chosen segment pattern
• infer the likely viewer question
• express must-copy grammar as scene anchors, not imitation notes
• express forbidden drift as anti-generic safeguards
• state that the output is brief-derived, not observed from footage

Output Shape

The artifact contains hookEssence, viewerQuestion, mustCopyVisualGrammar, and forbiddenDrift.

Stop Conditions

• Stop when required user intent, source evidence, or owned input artifacts are missing and guessing would change the result.
• If an owned CLI or script command fails, report the exact error and stop. Do not bypass the failure with metadata-only answers, readiness probing, local payload rewrites, alternate execution paths, or unpublished tools.

Handoff

• Grid or panel plan -> storyboard-grid-writer.
• Image generation -> image-batch-runner.
• Video generation -> video-batch-runner; pass the useful decoded grammar as context, not as a second contract file.

Public Command Boundary

• Choose the smallest matching command or workflow from the user input and run it directly.
• If an owned CLI or script command fails, report the exact error and stop. Do not bypass the failure with metadata-only answers, readiness probing, local payload rewrites, alternate execution paths, or unpublished tools.
• This public skill is instruction-driven. Produce the artifact described by the workflow directly from the available evidence.
• Do not use unpublished execution paths or local tools.
• If the CLI returns a quote-confirmation challenge, run postplus quote confirm --json --challenge-file <challenge.json> and retry with the returned token.