Generate Captured Workflow From References

Generate Captured Workflow from References

Synthesize a Stage 0 captured_workflow for $app from a structured reference set and constraints.

What this skill does

One sentence — synthesize the inputs that D2.4 step 6 ($generate-eou-candidates) needs, plus the per-app constitutional domain_values layer, from a user goal + 5-role reference set + constraints + explicit user contributions.

Inputs required

• $app (required) — the app or domain identifier; used in the output filename cw-{slug}.yml.
• user_goal (required) — outcome category in plain language ("I want to make X").
• reference_set (required) — mapping with all 5 role slots filled, each with {ref, why} entries:
  • aspirational — what the user wants to make
  • anti_reference — similar surface, wrong soul
  • boundary_case — edge of the field
  • mainstream_baseline — the median of the field
  • outlier — "I dislike this but it succeeds" (mandatory V1 defense against blind-spot encoding)
• constraints (required) — audience, scale, budget, time, risk_tolerance, desired_effect.
• negative_constraints (required) — what the user rejects explicitly.
• user_contributed_references (required) — ≥1 reference per role slot that the AI did not propose (V2 anti-abdication enforcement).
• starter_pack (optional) — engine/starter-packs/{domain}.yml if present and the user opts in.

Inputs forbidden

• Pre-existing workflow prose — that input belongs to $generate-eou-candidates, not this skill. If the user can already articulate a workflow, this skill returns the operational_value_test reject decision and recommends $generate-eou-candidates directly.

Required reading

1. schemas/captured-workflow.schema.yml
2. dev-docs/06-values-over-rules.md
3. dev-docs/08-stage-0-design.md
4. engine/meta-eous/generate-captured-workflow-from-references.yml

Stop conditions

Halt and report if any of the following hold:

• Any role slot is empty after best-effort elicitation.
• user_contributed_references is empty for any slot (V2 violation).
• Fewer than 3 surviving domain_values after inclusion-test filtering.
• More than 8 surviving domain_values (cap mirrors foundry V1–V8 sizing).
• Counterfactual swap audit reveals fewer than 3 flips out of 5 tests (the value layer is decoration).
• User can articulate a workflow unaided (skill is the wrong tool; use $generate-eou-candidates directly).
• The app is governance scaffolding only with no real craft domain.

Output path

foundry/captured-workflows/cw-{slug}.yml (one file per run; {slug} derived from $app).

Trace at foundry/runs/generate-captured-workflow-from-references/{run_id}.yml per ECP-0014 trace obligation.

Procedure

Step 1 — Validate inputs

Refuse early if any role slot is empty or user_contributed_references is empty per slot. These are V1 and V2 defenses; do not silently degrade.

Step 2 — Per-reference justification

Each reference entry must have a why. If missing, prompt the user (or propose then require user confirmation in LLM_assisted mode).

Step 3 — Counterfactual deconstruction → hidden_judgments

For each reference, ask: "What choices did the maker face? What judgments resolved them? What would have killed this work?" Surface the judgment predicates that explain the choices. Each judgment links to a candidate domain_value via governed_by_value.

Step 4 — Negative-space analysis → failure_modes

Across the reference set and especially across the anti-references, surface failure patterns. Each failure mode links to a domain_value it violates (or to the literal "multiple" for meta-failures that don't map cleanly).

Step 5 — Comparative analysis → decision_boundaries

Where references make consistently-different choices, name the decision boundary. Each boundary links to the domain_value that governs it (and optionally a secondary_value when multiple values are implicated).

Step 6 — Convergence → artifact_target

Use reference convergence plus constraints to define what the app will produce, at what scale, with what shape.

Step 7 — Synthesis → captured_workflow prose

Write the operating logic implied by Steps 3–6. Keep it tight; the prose is the human-readable summary, not the data layer.

Step 8 — Pattern detection → candidate domain_values

Across the reference set, detect trade-offs that were repeatedly resolved the same way. For each, propose a domain_value in contested form ("X over Y" where Y must be a real opposing value, not a strawman). For each, run the 6-test inclusion check (prevents_domain_failure, resolves_rule_conflict, exposes_hidden_judgment, resists_false_success, protects_invariant, removal_makes_practice_dangerous); ≥1 true required.

Step 9 — Priority ordering + canonical_or_personal

Surviving domain_values MUST be priority-ordered as a total order (exactly the integers {1, ..., N} for N values, no ties, no gaps). For each, mark canonical_or_personal (field_canonical, user_personal, user_diverges_from_canonical); when non-canonical, require justification_if_diverges.

Step 10 — Confidence calibration

For each section (artifact_target, hidden_judgments, failure_modes, decision_boundaries, domain_values), record confidence as low, medium, or high. Be honest — medium is the default for taste-extraction outputs; high requires strong evidence.

Step 11 — Bundle output + multi-gate approval

Write cw-{slug}.yml per the schema. Require user approval at four separate gates:

1. reference_set_approved_by
2. constraints_approved_by
3. domain_values_approved_by
4. bundle_approved_by

Same identity may fill multiple gates (e.g., a solo founder), but the gates are separately recorded so future governance can distinguish per-gate approval if needed.

What this skill REFUSES to do

1. Refuse to produce eou_candidate or candidate_set artifacts. That is $generate-eou-candidates' job (D5.1 separation of judgment kinds).
2. Refuse to write outside foundry/captured-workflows/ and the skill's own run-trace directory. Specifically refuse to touch foundry/eous/, foundry/meta-eous/, foundry/registry.yml, foundry/self-evolution/, schemas/, engine/.
3. Refuse to invent canonical practitioner claims without source citation. The skill never asserts "X is canonical in domain Y" — that is domain_authority_claim, listed in forbidden_outputs.
4. Refuse to mark captured_workflow at any lifecycle_stage other than candidate. The artifact stays at candidate permanently per the schema.
5. Refuse to produce a domain_value that contradicts a foundry V1–V8 invariant. Per D5.5, domain values can STRENGTHEN but cannot WEAKEN foundry values.

Mechanism, not content

This skill contains zero domain assertions. The procedure above works for cooking, code, cinema, music, writing, therapy, teaching, investing — any craft domain. All domain content lives in the produced captured_workflow artifact and in the user's reference choices. The skill prose stays mechanism-only; if a future edit smuggles a domain assumption (e.g., "extract craft choices" presupposes that all domains have "craft"), audit the prose and remove the assumption.

Constraints

• The output captured_workflow is lifecycle_stage: candidate permanently. It is never promoted higher.
• risk_level: medium (per ECP-0015 risk_level_decision) — errors propagate to every downstream EOU's success criteria via domain_values invocation; audit cadence is per major version.
• Single-output specialization of rule-95 generating-EOU pattern — the skill produces ONE captured_workflow per run (max_candidates: 1); the multi-element structure is INSIDE the artifact (5 role slots × ≤5 refs; 3–8 domain_values; etc.).
• Trace is mandatory per ECP-0014; record at foundry/runs/generate-captured-workflow-from-references/{run_id}.yml.

Scope Note

Upstream: top of the Stage 0 pipeline. Receives user goal, reference set, constraints from the user directly (or from a starter pack if opted in).

Downstream: produces foundry/captured-workflows/cw-{slug}.yml, consumed by $generate-eou-candidates (when present + approved, scoring consults domain_values per Rule 96), by $audit-candidate-eou-set (Set Value Coverage Test), and by $eou-audit (Value Operationalization Test on specs at pilot or higher).

Related: $generate-eou-candidates (downstream consumer); $audit-candidate-eou-set, $eou-audit (downstream auditors that enforce Rule 96).

Pipeline: user goal + references → generate-captured-workflow-from-references → captured_workflow → generate-eou-candidates → audit-candidate-eou-set → human review → eou-specify → eou-audit

Optionality: Stage 0 is OPTIONAL. Apps without a captured_workflow use $generate-eou-candidates directly with workflow prose, exactly as before.