Skip to main content

S4U Methodology — Changelog

All normative changes to the canon are recorded here. The canon had no version identity before 3.0.0 (assessment 2026-06-11, finding PW-5); v2.x history below is reconstructed from downstream pointers.

3.0.0 (2026-06-12)​

  • Added machine-readable version header + this changelog (PW-5).

  • §2.8 Consolidation Review written as a mechanism (census script + retirement mandate); was a dangling "(planned)" reference; cadence set to monthly (AF-1).

  • Canon consistency check shipped (the "mechanical greps" §5.6/appendix-l promised): phantom skill names fixed (/designing, /planning, /worktree, /finish, /code-review → installed Superpowers names, incl. both mermaid diagrams); freezegun three-way contradiction resolved (§8 defers to §4.5 default); §5.2 model-naming self-contradiction removed; §2.7 case-study timeline de-inflated ("month three"/"for months" → days, matching its own facts); /writing-skills added to the §4.4 table (was listed as 14, contained 13).

  • §3.1: SIXTH Brainstorm-Gate trigger — changes to safety policy / guard / refusal behavior gate hardest and require a literal human sign-off line (assessment meta-pattern C: the jury dosing incident entered through an APPROVED policy relaxation no gate covered).

  • §4.5 rule 1: verbatim-copy mandate REPLACED by single-source-plus-pointers; per-project canon mirrors retired; drift checking is mechanical (CE-5, PW-5).

  • §3.1 lifecycle v3: spec+plan merged into ONE design artifact (templates/spec-template.md); Plan Walkthrough RETIRED (zero recorded completions in 3 months) in favor of a second-party scrutiny threshold (safety path / schema / public API / auth -> fresh-context or human review); §7 gains three wrong-oracle defenses: live contract smoke (I13), migrated- schema oracle (I35), and the name-the-oracle review line (meta-pattern A).

  • §14 rewritten: Core tier = the enforced gates with documented saves (required CI checks, CODEOWNERS safety review, safety-floor evals, R1-R3); Trust Relay specifics demoted to project-specific-with-ADR; permission mode reclassified preference -> security control; NEW §14.1 multi-dev operating model (org repo, deploy lock, generated STATE.md, incident roles) (TA-02/05/06).

  • §7 gate-admission meta-rule: every gate declares cost + enforcement mechanism + retirement condition; enforced via the canon PR template (assessment §6 standing meta-rule).

  • §6 + appendix-d: hub budget restated in BYTES (24,000 — the loader's unit); durable-first section ordering is policy under truncation; advisory memory-budget Stop hook shipped; MEMORY-template reordered (CE-2).

  • Operating card extracted (docs/operating-card.md, ~7.6KB / 42 rules of 119 inventoried in docs/rule-inventory.md) — the only always-loaded surface; methodology.md demoted to reference (CE-1/CE-4/PW-1).

  • Showcase split + appendix dispositions: §12 + appendix-f -> showcase.md; appendix-c merged into §5 (specialists now OPTIONAL — resolves the flagship-forbids-them conflict); appendix-i tables merged into §13; appendices b/k/n retired to skills; appendix-e rewritten — prompt-type blocking Stop hooks REMOVED at all sites (completion-loop failure mode), command-type diff-aware advisory is the standard; appendix-m's false zol-rag Next.js claim corrected (CE-5); a/d/g/l carry superseded-by notes.

  • STATE.md policy: generated from git/gh or absent, never hand-maintained; generator shipped at templates/scripts/generate-state-md.sh (CE-8, TA-05).

2.3 (2026-05-12) — reconstructed​

  • §2.7 Decision-Cost Rubric; §3.1 Brainstorm Gate (Pre-Mortem Block).

2.2 — reconstructed​

  • §2.6 Investigative Discipline; appendix-n Documentation Excellence Passes.

2.1 / 2.1.x — reconstructed​

  • §4.5 canonical tech stack; §5.5 /loop pattern; §5.6 product-scale planning; appendices k/l/m.