prototype

# prototype The **prototype-first path** to a feature (see `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/references/two-paths.md`). Build a **rough working thing fast** and **iterate it** — no feature list, no stories, just the concept and rounds — until it converges. No ACs, no plan, no tests, no gates, no gauntlet: there is nothing to grade against yet, because **the prototype is what everything else will be graded against.** Most prototypes are learning; the ones worth keeping **convert to spec** — reaching the *same* fully-specced, hardened feature as spec-first, by build-then-spec instead of spec-then-build. The **iteration loop is the point** — it is where the speed comes from. Expect several rounds; the "one thing it must demonstrate" sharpens as you go. Sits *before* `discuss`/`feature-init` in ceremony: `discuss` talks an idea through; `prototype` builds it to find out. `discuss` and `feature-init` offer this path as a first-class entry. ## When to use - `/engineer.prototype "<idea>"` — spike an idea into a runnable rough cut. - The core question is "what would this even look like / feel like / do?" and a paragraph of spec won't answer it but ten minutes of code will. **Not for:** the real build (that's the pipeline, post-promote); anything that must be correct, tested, or hardened; grading a prototype with the gauntlet (there is no bar yet — this *is* the bar). ## Workflow 1. **Resolve + load** — methodology root + manifest via `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/dae_resolve.py` (...