Playbook

Session rituals, glossary, and how we work.

Session rituals

Phrase	Mode	Who	Meaning
sup	Boot	Architect	Read pretext + build queue + handoff → state track + top priority. Wait for Scott — no implementation yet
full-retard	Assist	Architect	Max hand-holding mode — explain, translate metaphors, do the work. `skills/full-retard/SKILL.md`. Off: `normal mode`
mama take me home	Planning	Anyone	No plan yet — pave the road first
follow the yellow brick road	Execution	Anyone	Spec + plan exist — walk the road, don't improvise off it
follow the white rabbit	Vision	Architect leads	Steer toward nertia's best future reality — north star over local convenience
I'll be back	Close	Anyone	End session — leave state clean for the next return

mama take me home — planning path

Nothing yet → brainstorm → spec → plan
Spec exists, no plan → writing-plans only

follow the yellow brick road — execution path

Read spec → read plan → execute → verify → update build
If the plan is wrong, fix the plan first — then walk it

follow the white rabbit — architect leads toward best future

Not "what's easiest today" — what moves us toward the aspirational reality (recipe-first, portable sites, CLI north star, aligned incentives)
Used when choosing direction, weighing tradeoffs, or when the right call isn't on the current roadmap yet
The architect surfaces the path to the best future; Scott decides taste calls

Continue session — extend into next chat

Pick up where the last close left off. Either path works:

Paste the ## nertia session handoff block from the prior close into a new chat
Or let the architect boot read docs/superpowers/handoffs/LATEST.md (written on every close)

Boot order after continue:

content/docs/build.md — active track + top priority
docs/superpowers/handoffs/LATEST.md — if present, last close state
Detail spec or plan — only for the piece you're touching

Fresh start (no prior handoff): git checkout main && git pull → npm run git:drift — see Git flow.

I'll be back — closing ritual

Architect owns all in-flight changes and decides how everything gets put away:

Survey — git status + npm run git:drift
Land work — feature branch → PR → Squash and merge (not direct push to main); see Git flow
Sync — git checkout main && git pull; re-run npm run verify if you merged locally
No mystery dirt — every diff accounted for; stash or discard strays
Branch cleanup — npm run git:cleanup-branches (also auto on sessionEnd + post-merge; GitHub auto-delete for squash merges)
Update build state — /docs/build if something shipped or shifted
Handoff — run CLI, then paste the same block in the closing reply:

npm run session:handoff -- \
  --track "…" \
  --stopped "…" \
  --shipped "…" \
  --next "…" \
  [--boot "…"]

Writes docs/superpowers/handoffs/LATEST.md and prints:

## nertia session handoff

**Track:** [active track from build.md — one line]
**Stopped at:** [plan step / spec section / open question]
**Shipped this session:** [commits merged or ready — or "nothing landed"]
**Git:** branch `…` | main [even|behind|ahead] origin | open PRs: [none|#N …]
**Next action:** [single concrete first step next session]
**Boot:** content/docs/build.md → [optional: spec/plan path if non-obvious]

Fill every line; use none when true. Keep Next action one verb-led line.

Git flow (trunk)

Full detail: Git flow. Summary:

One long-lived branch: main
Branch names: feat/, fix/, docs/, chore/, refactor/ + short slug
Land: PR → Squash and merge → GitHub deletes remote branch
Start session: git checkout main && git pull → npm run git:drift
No sprint/* or worktree-* branches; no direct git push origin main

Session arc

START ──────► WORK ──────► CLOSE ──────► EXTEND ──► WORK …
  │              │             │              │
  main+drift     spec/plan     I'll be        paste handoff
  build.md       ──► build     back           or LATEST boot

Ritual compass (during WORK):

follow the white rabbit          mama take me home           follow the yellow brick road
   (architect leads)                  (pave road)                  (walk road)
         │                                │                              │
         ▼                                ▼                              ▼
  north star / best future        brainstorm ──► spec ──► plan      spec + plan ──► build ──► verify

Superpowers pipeline

brainstorm → docs/superpowers/specs/
writing-plans → docs/superpowers/plans/
executing-plans → build
verification-before-completion → ship

Glossary

Term	Definition
Recipe	Pattern + skin + content — portable site spec.
Pattern	Layout structure at section/page/site scale.
Skin	Tokenized design system (CSS vars on shadcn base).
Section	One functional block (hero, pricing, etc.).
Architect	Scott's sole assistant entry point — routes zones and workers.
Zone	Contract for a code area (`docs/zones/`).
Cavecrew	Compressed subagent workers (investigator, builder, reviewer).

Quick reference

Planning:  mama take me home
Execution: follow the yellow brick road
Vision:    follow the white rabbit
Continue:  paste handoff block — or boot reads LATEST.md
Close:     I'll be back → session:handoff
Boot:      build.md → LATEST.md (if any) → detail spec on demand
Git:       content/docs/git-flow.md → trunk + PR + squash