Gate 1 of 5 · The little door
A founder asks for “the best AI sales tool.” What happens before the first search?
Three doors offer three definitions of the job.
A Open the popular door. Search rankings now and define the job from whatever appears. B Cut a key. Freeze the decision, boundary, cutoff, sources, inclusion rules, effort ceiling, and stopping rule. C Ask the clock. Search until one project appears everywhere.
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Follow the mechanism trail → Show the principle Freeze the decision, boundary, cutoff, sources, inclusion rules, effort ceiling, and stopping rule. Freeze the decision, boundary, cutoff, sources, inclusion rules, effort ceiling, and stopping rule before searching.
Gate 2 of 5 · The mushroom map
How do you keep that broad label from hiding missing work?
A branching garden grows beneath a sign marked “sales agent.”
A Count the caps. Compare projects by feature totals. B Map the roots. Split the job into inputs, judgments, controls, outputs, and handoffs; leave empty cells visible. C Pick the tallest. Choose the project with the most polished demonstration.
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Open the catalogue → Show the principle Split the job into inputs, judgments, controls, outputs, and handoffs; leave empty cells visible. Split the job into inputs, judgments, controls, outputs, and handoffs; keep the empty cells visible.
Gate 3 of 5 · The card catalogue
Which card belongs in the evidence packet?
A cabinet deals three cards. Only one can support an inspectable claim.
A Popular. Twelve thousand stars and several enthusiastic posts. B Traceable. Stable identity, named version and date, exact locator, claim limit, and a disposition for every plausible lead. C Promising. A copied README paragraph with no version or contradiction check.
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Wind the workbench → Show the principle Stable identity, named version and date, exact locator, claim limit, and a disposition for every plausible lead. Anchor a claim to a stable identity, named version and date, exact locator, claim limit, and disposition for every plausible lead.
Gate 4 of 5 · The clockwork workbench
Three repositories each solve only part of the workflow. What is the defensible build decision?
Four brass trays are labeled Adopt, Adapt, Integrate, and Build.
A Take the largest project. Let its reputation stand in for the missing pieces. B Take useful code from all three. Settle boundaries and licenses later. C Extract the mechanisms. Choose narrowly among adopt, adapt, integrate, and build.
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Approach the garden gate → Show the principle Choose narrowly among adopt, adapt, integrate, and build. Extract the useful mechanisms, then place each behind the narrowest justified choice: adopt, adapt, integrate, or build.
Gate 5 of 5 · The garden gate
Useful same-class projects are still appearing when the frozen effort ceiling arrives. What is the honest next move?
The final gate has two keyholes: Stop Honestly and Independent Review.
A Declare “SOTA proven.” Crown a winner and publish. B Stop and label honestly. Call the map high-coverage, effort-bounded, not saturated; freeze it and request independent review. C Search forever. Anything less cannot be rigorous.
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Show the principle
See the evidence map → Show the principle Call the map high-coverage, effort-bounded, not saturated; freeze it and request independent review. Use an honest bounded-coverage label, freeze the exact bytes, and send them to a fresh different-vendor reviewer.