vibe-engineering

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• SKILL.md

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# Vibe Engineering — House Skill

V.I.B.E. means **Verify It Before Everything**.

This is the canonical router for the Vibe Engineering House system. Use this one skill when the user says `VIBE`, `HOUSE`, `LOCK`, asks to use Vibe Engineering, or asks to take a product from intent through production proof.

Do not create a parallel methodology. Route through the project-local ICM workspace and call smaller procedures only when the current stage requires them.

Public memory aid:

`Choose → See → Shape → Make → Prove → Challenge → Decide → Release → Learn`

Canonical artifact lifecycle:

`INTENT → SPEC → PLAN → BUILD → PROOF → COUNCIL → JUDGE → SHIP → OPERATE`

Compatible physical ICM stage route:

`00_intake → 01_vision → 02_blueprint → 03_build → 04_verify → 05_council → 06_judge → 07_ship → 08_improve`

## Canonical upstream

The canonical House method lives at:

```text
https://github.com/executiveusa/vibe-engineering
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/executiveusa/vibe-engineering/main/skills/vibe-engineering/SKILL.md
```

Each project runs on one pinned House version: `version` and `sourceCommit` in `.vibe/manifest.json`. Do not fetch upstream `main` mid-task and follow whatever it says today; that lets an unreviewed change to this file steer every agent in the fleet. Upgrading the House version is a normal reviewed change: re-run `vibe install`, read the diff, and merge it through the same gates as code. A local copy makes Vibe portable; it does not silently become a separate methodology.

If shell access is available in a target repository, install or refresh the portable contract with:

```bash
npx --yes --package=github:executiveusa/vibe-engineering vibe install .
```

Do not use `--force` unless existing owner-controlled project-law files have been inspected and an intentional merge plan exists.

If local Vibe law differs from upstream:

1. upstream owns the general House method;
2. the target repository owns project-specific facts, owner decisions, requirements, evidence, credentials boundaries, and deployment reality;
3. merge by intent, not blind replacement;
4. record intentional deviations explicitly.

## First action

1. Inspect the repository before changing it.
2. Confirm the pinned House version in `.vibe/manifest.json`. If upstream is newer, note it for a reviewed upgrade; keep working on the pinned version.
3. Read project-local `AGENTS.md`, `ICMR.yaml`, and `CONTEXT.md` when present.
4. Read only the current ICM stage contract and references that stage names.
5. If Vibe MCP is available, use `vibe_method` for the canonical method or `vibe_context` for task-scoped context instead of loading every artifact.

## Rigor by consequence

Gates cost time and money, so match them to the consequence level from `docs/governance/CONSEQUENCE_DOCTRINE.md` (when in doubt, HIGH):

| Level | Required before merge | Gauntlet budget |
|---|---|---|
| **LOW** | Tests and build green, one independent review, Judge receipt | none; the bar check is optional |
| **MEDIUM** | LOW + blast-radius note + Council Architect review | 3 rounds |
| **HIGH** | MEDIUM + full Council + Future-State Test + human approval | 5 rounds |

- The Judge is never the builder, and never the same model family as the builder.
- Every loop (builder iterations, gauntlet rounds, repair slices) has a budget: rounds, wall-clock minutes and spend. When a budget runs out, stop and return **HOLD** with the best candidate so far, its scores and the remaining gaps. Running out of budget is never a pass and never silent.
- Enforcement lives in the repository, not in this file: protected `main`, required checks, and a merge gate that reads the Judge receipt. See `docs/ENFORCEMENT.md`.

## House architecture contract

The layers have one job each:

1. **Vibe Engineering** — governance: what should be done, by whom, under what proof and ownership constraints.
2. **ICM** — interpretable context: where facts, contracts, artifacts, evidence, and state live.
3. **Artifact lifecycle** — motion: `INTENT → SPEC → PLAN → BUILD → PROOF → COUNCIL → JUDGE → SHIP → OPERATE`.
4. **Hermes / orchestrator** — execution routing: which worker acts next and whether the stage gate passed.
5. **Workers** — Claude, Codex, GPT, Gemini, Orca, humans, or other tools. Workers are replaceable and cannot redefine the House architecture.

The filesystem is the durable source of truth. Chat history, model memory, and vendor-specific prompts are adapters, not architecture.

## Stage meanings

- `INTENT` — mode, outcome, target, constraints, proof, commercial value, ownership, authority, and rollback.
- `SPEC` — exact behavior, design, interfaces, acceptance criteria, architecture boundaries, and named reference bars.
- `PLAN` — bounded slices, file/change order, risks, dependencies, tests, proof, and rollback.
- `BUILD` — one independently verifiable slice at a time.
- `PROOF` — deterministic checks plus relevant runtime/browser/security/accessibility/integration evidence.
- `COUNCIL` — independent review of value, architecture, failure, security/privacy, taste/accessibility, sovereignty, maintainability, and proof.
- `JUDGE` — release verdict only: `SHIP` or `HOLD`. Judge does not rewrite the work it judges.
- `SHIP` — exact proven revision, authorized release, live-environment verification, and tested rollback.
- `OPERATE` — monitor outcomes/incidents and create a new intent when change is needed.

## Decision contract

Before substantial work, establish and persist:

```text
MODE
OUTCOME
TARGET
CONSTRAINTS
PROOF
COMMERCIAL VALUE
OWNER / AUTHORITY
ROLLBACK
```

For every material decision record:

1. **Intent** — What are we trying to change, for whom, and why?
2. **Standard** — What does good look like before the builder becomes attached to the answer?
3. **Evidence** — What observable result would make the claim true?

Separate verified facts from assumptions. Confidence, effort, model agreement, and formatting are not behavioral evidence.

## Working rules

- Inspect before change.
- Reuse before inventing.

From executiveusa/vibe-engineering, MIT.

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