maestro-explore

Answer an open question with evidence, without touching production code. Read-only toward production paths; exploration never authorizes implementation. Any tier may use it.

Three modes; pick whichever settles the question:

• research - documented or external facts: read source, docs, or the web; record findings with links so claims stay traceable. Procedure: references/research.md.
• prototype - an environment-specific behavior question that reading cannot settle: build the smallest throwaway that answers it, outside production paths. Prototypes are disposable; only a decision-encoding fragment (a schema, a reducer, a type shape) may be inlined into a locked decision or the bundle's SPEC.md. Fixing the prototype's own bugs is still this mode - a fix routes to maestro-work only when the target is production code; iterate directly, no re-routing pass per request. When the user approves porting, the port is production work: route it by tier (maestro-bundle tier rule); the prototype never merges as-is. "Ship it as-is" waives the rewrite, not the route. A prototype that is deployed or relied on in real work is no longer throwaway: say so, and route its next change by tier. Procedure: references/prototype.md.
• baseline - current repository behavior that must be preserved or changed: capture it as runnable commands with observed output, so maestro-verify can compare later. Phrase each behavior the work must preserve as a guard, "the system SHALL CONTINUE TO ", so preserved behavior is a checkable claim, not an assumption.

Where findings land

• A fact that settles a fork becomes a decision: maestro decision draft "<choice>" --rationale "<why, with source link>" --work <id>, then maestro decision lock <id>.
• Working evidence for an open work item: maestro work note <id> "<finding + link>"; in a bundle, also the NOTES.md Current State.
• A baseline the work must preserve: a VERIFY.md scenario in the bundle, or the work item's acceptance when there is no bundle.
• No work item and no bundle: deliver the findings in the conversation. Open a work item only if the question feeds work that will actually happen; a finding alone never opens a bundle.

maestro search "<topic>" before any research: a past decision or note may already hold the answer.