136 lines
6.3 KiB
Markdown
136 lines
6.3 KiB
Markdown
---
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name: fieldtest
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description: Use at milestone close after audit, OR when an LLM-usability concern about a shipped feature is suspected. Picks 2-4 real-world programming tasks within the milestone's scope, implements each in the AIL Surface form (.ailx — not raw JSON), runs the resulting binaries, and writes a friction-and-bug spec to docs/specs/<date>-fieldtest-<milestone>.md. The spec feeds the next plan as a reference. Implementer simulates a downstream LLM that has only DESIGN.md plus the public examples — never the language's own implementation.
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---
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# fieldtest — LLM-usability field test for a shipped milestone
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> **Violating the letter of these rules is violating the spirit.**
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## Overview
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`audit` measures drift between DESIGN.md and what the codebase claims
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to do. `fieldtest` measures something audit cannot: whether the
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language, *as it now ships*, is usable by an LLM author who has only
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DESIGN.md and public examples to work from. The shipping LLM-author
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*is* the user of AILang. If a freshly shipped feature is awkward for
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that author to reach for, or if DESIGN.md leaves a corner ambiguous
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that real code immediately exercises, the milestone has shipped a
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latent debt — even when audit reports `clean`.
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The skill produces a friction-and-bug spec that the next iteration's
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`planner` consumes as a reference. The spec sits next to milestone-design
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specs at `docs/specs/<date>-fieldtest-<milestone>.md`.
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The substantive process — read DESIGN.md + JOURNAL + milestone spec,
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pick 2-4 real-world programming tasks per milestone axis, implement
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each in `.ailx` Surface form, run via `ail check`/`build`/`run`,
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classify findings, write the spec — lives in
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`agents/ailang-fieldtester.md`. That file also carries the spec
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template, the source-isolation discipline (no reading under
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`crates/`, `runtime/`, `bench/`), and the per-finding classification
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rules. This skill file only governs trigger, dispatch, and handoff.
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## When to Use / Skipping
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Triggers:
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- Boss-dispatched after audit closes cleanly, when the orchestrator
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believes the iteration is correct and wants a Praxistest. The
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pre-condition is a clean (or `ratify`-d) audit; the trigger is the
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Boss's judgment-call that the iteration is fertig.
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- A shipped feature is suspected of being LLM-hostile in some way the
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earlier brainstorm could not foresee.
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- A user-facing surface change (Decision 6, schema rev, new
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effect/typeclass mechanic) has just landed.
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Findings cluster around two shapes — simple bugs (route via `debug` →
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`implement` mini) or catastrophic architecture problems (route via next
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`brainstorm`). Friction and spec-gap items are also possible; the
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routing table below applies in all cases.
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**Skipping is permitted only** for:
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- Bug-fix iterations (use `debug`).
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- Tidy iterations whose scope is purely internal cleanup with zero
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surface impact.
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- Iterations whose entire scope is documentation in `docs/`.
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**Skipping is not permitted** for:
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- A milestone that introduced or changed surface syntax, schema,
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effects, types, modes, or any user-visible diagnostic.
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- A milestone whose JOURNAL entry claims "LLM author can now write
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X". `fieldtest` is the gate that empirically substantiates such
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claims; an unverified claim is drift.
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## The Iron Law
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```
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THE FIELDTESTER WORKS FROM DESIGN.MD AND PUBLIC EXAMPLES — NOT FROM THE COMPILER SOURCE.
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EVERY EXAMPLE IS WRITTEN IN .ailx (SURFACE) FIRST. RAW .ail.json IS NEVER HAND-AUTHORED.
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EVERY FRICTION POINT AND BUG IS RECORDED. NONE IS WORKED AROUND.
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```
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The first clause is load-bearing: the whole point of the field test is
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to simulate a downstream LLM author who has only the specification and
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the example corpus. The agent file enforces this with a hard path
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allowlist; the orchestrator must trust that contract and not feed the
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agent compiler-internal hints in the carrier.
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## Dispatch
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Dispatch `ailang-fieldtester` with the carrier from the Handoff
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Contract below. The agent picks 2-4 examples (one per axis the
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milestone touched), implements them in `.ailx`, runs them through the
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public `ail` CLI, classifies findings, writes the spec, and commits
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both fixtures and spec in one commit
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(`fieldtest: <milestone> — <N> examples, <K> findings`).
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Two to four examples is the right size. One is too few (no signal on
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variation); five is too many for one report to stay readable.
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## Handoff Contract
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`fieldtest` consumes (from orchestrator at milestone close):
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| Field | Content |
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|-------|---------|
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| `milestone_id` | e.g. `milestone-22` |
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| `milestone_scope` | 1-3 sentences naming what shipped |
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| `axis_hints` | bullet list, one per milestone axis the test should probe |
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| `commit_range` | `<prev-milestone-close>..HEAD` |
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`fieldtest` produces:
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| Field | Content |
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|-------|---------|
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| `spec_path` | `docs/specs/<date>-fieldtest-<milestone>.md` |
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| `examples_added` | list of `.ailx` paths committed |
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| `findings` | list, each with class (`bug` / `friction` / `spec_gap` / `working`) + recommendation |
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| `status` | `clean` / `friction_found` / `bugs_found` / `infra_blocked` |
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The orchestrator drives downstream:
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- `bug` → `debug` (RED-first; GREEN via `implement` mini-mode)
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- `friction` → next `brainstorm` or a tidy iteration via `planner`
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- `spec_gap` → ratify in JOURNAL + DESIGN.md, or tighten DESIGN.md
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- `working` → carry-on (worth recording, no follow-up)
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`fieldtest` does NOT self-resolve.
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## Cross-references
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- **Agent dispatched:** `skills/fieldtest/agents/ailang-fieldtester.md`
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— carries the five-phase process, the Iron Law in operational form,
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the spec template, the per-finding classification rules, the Common
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Rationalisations table, and the Red Flags list.
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- **Upstream gate:** `skills/audit/SKILL.md` runs first; fieldtest
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comes after a clean (or ratified) audit.
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- **Cadence ordering:** fieldtest runs *before* `skills/docwriter`;
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docwriter happens at a later, longer stability window.
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- **Downstream targets:**
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- `skills/debug/SKILL.md` — for each `bug` finding
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- `skills/brainstorm/SKILL.md` or `skills/planner/SKILL.md` — for
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`friction` and `spec_gap` findings worth a follow-up iteration
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- **Project source:** `docs/DESIGN.md` "Feature-acceptance criterion"
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— the field test is the empirical complement to brainstorm's
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prospective application of that criterion. Brainstorm asks "would
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an LLM author reach for this?"; fieldtest asks "did one?"
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