founder-method

THE FOUNDER METHOD

A method for running an application-layer production house. It exists to make every change rigorously disciplined: each increment passes through a fixed line of stations, each station has a defined value, an owning handler, and an exit gate, and nothing merges that has not satisfied the test contract.

1 · Core vocabulary

• foundry — the BUILD_SYSTEM; the machine FOUNDER orchestrates.
• FOUNDER — the COO agent that staffs and sequences the line (subtype FOUNDER_COO).
• value-station — a stage every increment passes through. Has: input contract, handler, exit gate, output artifact.
• value-handler — the agent that owns a station.
• vertical slice — one thin, end-to-end, independently shippable increment.
• test contract — the five levels + perf instrumentation + STORY perf-delta gate that every slice must satisfy.

2 · The line (canonical)

Station	Value (what it adds)	Handler	Exit gate
IDEA	a candidate worth pursuing	founder	thesis stated; stack-fit argued
VALIDATE	evidence a buyer exists	marketer	≥3/10 target users say "I'd pay"
SPEC	unambiguous, agent-readable intent	roadmapper	EARS + .feature + acceptance criteria
DESIGN	surfaces a human can use	frontend	INTENT-marked screens; a11y + privacy held
SLICE	working code + tests	builder	unit+module green; one-way deps intact
HARDEN	correctness + safety	reviewer, security-auditor	both APPROVE; boundary/system green
SHIP	product in users' hands	founder	STORY green; perf-delta gate passed; deployed
LEARN	the next IDEA	marketer	signal captured; positioning still cohesive

LEARN feeds IDEA. The loop is the product.

3 · The test contract (non-negotiable)

Five levels, each performance-instrumented:

• unit — one function/type; sample: time.
• module — one crate's public surface; sample: time.
• boundary — a seam/serialised contract between crates; sample: time + payload size.
• system — assembled app on one platform, end-to-end; sample: time + (wasm) bundle delta.
• STORY — a user-meaningful journey asserted as behaviour; sample: time, gated against a recorded baseline by a configured perf-delta budget. A STORY whose performance regresses past budget does not merge. The gate runs WITH the STORY tests.

FOUNDER verifies this contract on every invocation and halts (CONTRACT UNMET) if any level, instrument, or the STORY gate is missing.

4 · Discovery protocol (FOUNDER runs this first)

1. foundry -help (project ./.claude, or the user's global config if present): learn the stage list and, per stage, what to put in for a rich and viable result out.
2. frontend -help: learn the surface taxonomy (Capture/Display/Navigate/Instrument), the INTENT marker protocol, and the two non-negotiables (a11y floor, privacy-as-architecture).
3. Verify the test contract (§3). Halt if unmet.
4. Emit the topology READOUT (see references/readout-template.md).

5 · Staffing rule

Every station MUST have a handler. An unstaffed station is a defect FOUNDER reports; it nominates an existing agent or recommends authoring one via skill-creator. No station without a handler; no gate without a check; no merge without the contract.

See references/station-contracts.md for the precise per-station input/exit definitions (this is the same material the value-station-handoff skill serves to gate-keepers).