Articulate

Contract

Field	Bound contract
Trigger	The user has an intended thought but cannot yet express it completely or clearly.
Authority	Read-only. No file, VCS, credential, paid, published, deployed, or remote mutation. Uses only supplied material and confirmed conversation context.
Side effect	Chat output by default. Replace a supplied draft only when the user explicitly asks for an edit.
Done	The statement is audience-ready, every sentence is supported, the user's scope and identity are unchanged, and unresolved forks remain visible.

Inputs

• The thought, fragment, notes, or draft to express.
• The intended audience and medium when already known.
• Confirmed context from the current conversation.

Procedure

1. State the thought's invariant core in one sentence. Done when: the invariant core is one sentence.
2. Collect only context already confirmed by the user. Do not research merely to fill a blank. Done when: only confirmed context is collected.
3. Mark unsupported choices as a blank, a short alternative set, or the minimum clarifying question needed to continue. Done when: every unsupported choice is marked as a blank, alternative set, or clarifying question.
4. Write the smallest complete audience-ready form that preserves the original scope, identity, confidence, and intent. Done when: the form preserves original scope, identity, confidence, and intent.
5. Compare every sentence with the supplied material. Remove invented goals, requirements, rationale, facts, or certainty. Done when: no invented goals, rationale, facts, or certainty remains.

Failure and recovery

• No invariant core can be stated: the thought is too fragmentary to articulate. Ask the user for one more sentence of context; do not invent the core.
• Invented goal or fact detected: remove it and mark the gap as a blank. Do not substitute a plausible-sounding rationale.
• Scope drifted during expression: restate the original scope, discard the drift, and recheck every sentence against the supplied material.
• Unsupported choice hidden as certainty: downgrade to an explicit blank or alternative set. Do not present an unsupported choice as settled.

Output

Return the completed statement, followed only when needed by Unresolved: and the remaining explicit blanks or alternatives.

Routing boundaries

• Requirements or intent must be discovered: use the planning owner.
• Several possible ideas are wanted: use brainstorm (mode ideate).
• A reusable rule must be inferred from examples or material: use generalize.
• An external concept must be taught: use paced-explanation.
• Meaning is already complete and only voice or polish changes: use unslop.