spec-kitty-spdd-reasons

Drive REASONS Canvas authoring and review for missions that opted in to Structured-Prompt-Driven Development (SPDD) via charter selection. The canvas is a thin, agent-curated reasoning layer that sits next to the spec, plan, and tasks; it is not a duplicate system mirror.

This skill is documentation for the agent. It assumes the SPDD/REASONS doctrine pack (paradigm, tactics, styleguide, directive, template) has already been shipped under src/doctrine/ and that activation can be detected via the helper described below.

What this skill does

• Detects whether the SPDD/REASONS pack is active for the current project.
• Loads mission context: spec.md, plan.md, tasks.md, per-WP prompts,

charter context, glossary, research notes, contracts, and relevant code.

• Generates or updates kitty-specs/<mission>/reasons-canvas.md from the

seven-section template fragment.

• Compiles per-WP REASONS summaries when an implementer or reviewer asks

for one (a focused slice of the canvas scoped to a single work package).

• Runs comparison-mode review: traces a diff against the canvas and

classifies divergences using the drift taxonomy.

What this skill does NOT do

• It does NOT mirror the code as prose. The canvas references source

artifacts; it does not duplicate them. Code remains the source of truth for current behavior.

• It does NOT overwrite user-authored mission artifacts. When a canvas

section already contains user content, the skill merges by appending or refining, never by silent rewrite.

• It does NOT silently enforce SPDD on projects that did not opt in via

charter. If the user demands enforcement and the charter is not configured, escalate to the charter workflow.

Activation rules

Three branches:

1. Active — charter selected the SPDD/REASONS pack (paradigm

structured-prompt-driven-development, tactic reasons-canvas-fill, tactic reasons-canvas-review, or directive DIRECTIVE_038). Proceed with canvas authoring or review using the seven-section template at src/doctrine/templates/fragments/reasons-canvas-template.md.

1. Inactive + ad-hoc request — user asked to "use REASONS" once,

without charter opt-in. Proceed, but stamp the canvas header with a "not formally opted in via charter" note so reviewers know the canvas is advisory only.

1. Inactive + enforcement demand — user wants REASONS enforced as a

gate but the charter has not selected the pack. Do NOT enforce. Escalate to the charter workflow: suggest running the charter interview to add the paradigm or directive, then return to this skill.

How to detect activation

Programmatic (preferred):

python
from doctrine.spdd_reasons.activation import is_spdd_reasons_active

active = is_spdd_reasons_active(repo_root)

The helper inspects .kittify/charter/governance.yaml and .kittify/charter/directives.yaml and returns True iff any of the four selectors is present:

• paradigm structured-prompt-driven-development
• tactic reasons-canvas-fill
• tactic reasons-canvas-review
• directive DIRECTIVE_038

Manual fallback: read .kittify/charter/governance.yaml directly and look for the same selectors under doctrine.selected_paradigms, doctrine.selected_tactics, or doctrine.selected_directives.

How to author the canvas

1. Read mission artifacts: kitty-specs/<mission>/spec.md, plan.md,

tasks.md, per-WP prompts, research/*, contracts/*, the project glossary, and any source files the spec or plan calls out.

1. Map content to the seven sections using the template at

src/doctrine/templates/fragments/reasons-canvas-template.md:

• Requirements — problem statement, acceptance criteria, DoD.
• Entities — domain concepts, relationships, canonical glossary

terms.

• Approach — selected strategy and tradeoffs considered.
• Structure — code surfaces affected, components, dependencies,

ownership boundaries.

• Operations — ordered implementation steps, test strategy.
• Norms — coding/style conventions, observability and team rules.
• Safeguards — hard constraints, security rules, performance limits,

things not to break.

1. Link, don't duplicate: prefer [see spec.md §X](../spec.md#x) over

inlining spec content. The canvas is a reasoning layer, not a copy.

1. Preserve user content: if the canvas already exists, read it before

writing. Merge new content into existing sections; never blow away user-authored prose.

1. Append-only Deviations: the ## Deviations section is append-only.

New entries go at the bottom in the form - <date> — <wp> — <description> — <rationale>. Never rewrite or re-order existing entries.

Output path: kitty-specs/<mission>/reasons-canvas.md.

How to review with the canvas

Comparison-mode review pairs an implementation diff against the canvas:

1. Trace every changed file in the diff to a Requirement and an

Operation step in the canvas. Unmapped changes are signal.

1. Detect uninvented entities — files, functions, modules, or domain

terms that appear in the diff but not in the canvas, the spec, the plan, or the glossary.

1. Verify the diff respects the canvas Norms and Safeguards

(style/observability/security/performance/invariants).

1. Classify every divergence using the drift taxonomy from

data-model.md §Drift classification:

• approved — diff matches canvas exactly.
• approved_with_deviation — small, documented divergence; record in

the canvas Deviations section.

• canvas_update_needed — implementation is correct, canvas is stale.
• glossary_update_needed — new canonical term surfaced; escalate to

glossary skill.

• charter_follow_up — divergence touches charter policy; escalate.
• follow_up_mission — divergence is real but out of scope for this

mission; file a follow-up.

• scope_drift_block — diff exceeds mission scope; block.
• safeguard_violation_block — diff violates a Safeguard; block hard.

Surface the classification in the review output. Two of the eight classifications (scope_drift_block, safeguard_violation_block) block landing; the rest are advisory or escalate.

Charter precedence

The charter is the governance source of truth. If a directive, tactic, or norm declared in the charter conflicts with content in the canvas, the charter wins. The canvas must update; the charter does not. Treat any canvas claim that contradicts the charter as canvas_update_needed.

Glossary discipline

When canvas authoring or review surfaces a term that is missing, ambiguous, or in conflict with the project glossary, do NOT redefine the term inline. Escalate to the glossary skill (spec-kitty-glossary-context) so the canonical entry is updated once and propagated everywhere.

Reference paths

• Template fragment:

src/doctrine/templates/fragments/reasons-canvas-template.md

• Activation helper:

src/doctrine/spdd_reasons/activation.py (is_spdd_reasons_active)

• Charter governance config:

.kittify/charter/governance.yaml

• Drift taxonomy:

kitty-specs/<mission>/data-model.md §Drift classification