sunnypatneedi 4N1D Roadmap Triage
End-of-session review that keeps the 4N1D roadmap honest. Read all five files, scan the conversation, recommend changes.
What is 4N1D?
A lightweight roadmap framework built around five files that each answer one question:
| File | Question it answers |
|---|---|
NOW.md |
What are we actively working on? (≤4 items) |
NEXT.md |
What's queued with a written trigger for promotion? |
NOT-YET.md |
What ideas are parked until conditions change? |
NEVER.md |
What have we structurally killed and why? |
DONE.md |
What did we ship, and what did we learn? |
The framework forces every idea to live in exactly one file and forces every promotion to be justified by a written trigger — not vibes.
Process
1. Read current state
Read all files in docs/roadmap/ in parallel:
NOW.md— current prioritiesNEXT.md— triggered queueNOT-YET.md— parked ideasNEVER.md— structural killsDONE.md— shipped archiveREADME.md— framework rules (only if unfamiliar with 4N1D)
2. Scan conversation for signals
Review the current session for:
| Signal | Maps to |
|---|---|
| Completed work (merged PRs, shipped features, closed bugs) | → DONE.md entries |
| Killed ideas (adversarial review, infeasible, philosophy violation) | → NEVER.md (if structural) or NOT-YET.md (if timing) |
| New ideas discussed but not built | → NOT-YET.md (default) or NOW.md (if metric-justified) |
| Evidence that a NEXT trigger fired | → Promote NEXT → NOW |
| Evidence that a NOT-YET trigger emerged | → Promote NOT-YET → NEXT |
| NOW items worked on but not finished | → Keep in NOW, note progress |
| NOW items not touched this session | → Flag for staleness check |
3. Run anti-pattern checks
Flag violations before recommending changes:
- NOW >4 items — recommend cuts
- NOW has no
[learn]items — flag "executing without validating" - NOW item >14 days old — flag for re-justification
- NOW item >30 days old — recommend break-up or demotion
- NEXT triggers >30 days old — flag for refresh
- NOT-YET items >90 days without activity — recommend NEVER or delete
- NEVER >10 items — check for timing-kills that belong in NOT-YET
- DONE.md missing entries for completed work — add them
4. Generate recommendations
Output a structured triage report:
## 4N1D Triage — [date]
### DONE.md (add)
- [type] Description (duration) → outcome
### NOW.md (no changes / add / remove)
- Swap: remove [X], add [Y] because [reason]
- Flag: [item] has been in NOW for [N] days
### NEXT.md (no changes / promote / add / refresh triggers)
- Promote: [item] → NOW (trigger fired: [evidence])
- Refresh: [item] trigger is 45 days old
### NOT-YET.md (no changes / add / promote / delete)
- Add: [new idea from session] with thesis + trigger + kill condition
- Promote: [item] → NEXT (trigger checklist can now be written)
### NEVER.md (no changes / add)
- Add: [idea] — structural kill because [reason]
### Anti-pattern flags
- [list any violations found]
5. Apply changes
After presenting the triage report, ask: "Apply these changes?" If confirmed:
- Edit each file directly (use Edit tool, not full rewrites)
- Add
<!-- reviewed: YYYY-MM-DD -->datestamp to each modified file - For DONE.md: append to the current week's section
- For NEXT.md: include
**Trigger written:** YYYY-MM-DDon new items - For NOW.md: include
**Added:** YYYY-MM-DDon new items
Work-type tags
Every item must have one: [build], [learn], [maintain], [decide], [hotfix].
Typed triggers (NEXT items)
Pick the type that matches the decision structure:
| Type | Format |
|---|---|
| Metric-gated | >N [metric] |
| Qualitative-gated | [signal] from [named verifiable source] |
| Time-gated | by YYYY-MM-DD because [external constraint] |
| Dependency-gated | when [item X] reaches DONE |
| Compound | metric AND qualitative (most common) |
NEVER rules
Only structural kills: legal, philosophical, architectural. If the reason is "wrong timing" or "not a priority," it goes in NOT-YET. Keep NEVER under 10 items.
DONE format
One-line entries grouped by ISO week. Include outcome for [learn] and [decide]:
- [build] Feature name (duration)
- [learn] Research topic → key finding
- [decide] Decision made → chosen option + rationale
- [hotfix] What broke — root cause
Bootstrap: if docs/roadmap/ doesn't exist
If the project has no docs/roadmap/ directory yet, offer to bootstrap one. Create five empty files with the section headers below and a short README.md explaining the framework.
docs/roadmap/
├── README.md # "4N1D — one file per question. See each file's header."
├── NOW.md # "# NOW\n\nActive work (≤4 items).\n"
├── NEXT.md # "# NEXT\n\nTriggered queue.\n"
├── NOT-YET.md # "# NOT-YET\n\nParked ideas.\n"
├── NEVER.md # "# NEVER\n\nStructural kills.\n"
└── DONE.md # "# DONE\n\n## Week of YYYY-MM-DD\n"