wursor/docs/decisions/0002-phase-zero-spikes-gate.md

2. Phase 0 spikes gate the scaffold

• Status: Accepted
• Date: 2026-08-15

Context

IMPLEMENTATION.md says "Do not start the web-app scaffold until the four boxes have a written result." The four spikes were golden-task harness, builder detection, pairing threat model, and large-site mirror timing — plus a plugin catalog.

Decision

Treat the spikes as a hard gate. Product code (web/ chat, playbooks, deploy) does not start until each spike has a written, verifiable result in the repo. Fixtures and throwaway scripts are allowed during the gate.

Options considered

• Honor the gate.
• Spike in parallel with Sprint 1.
• Skip spikes and start the scaffold.

Rejected

• Parallel — spike results change the architecture (e.g. mirror slice, pairing direction); building Sprint 1 against unverified assumptions means rework.
• Skip — the spikes exist precisely because an unvalidated assumption can kill the 5-minute exit or the live-site safety guarantee.

Consequences

• Phase 0 exit is reviewable: five written spike notes, three with executable proofs.
• The scaffold exists only as empty packages (ADR 8), not product code.
• The remaining gate item is a live Grok score (see spikes/golden-task.md).