Strategy files produce inconsistent output — some pre-v0.20, some partially v0.20, none fully conformant

[synotim]

Problem

Spec-generating strategies produce inconsistent output. Some produce purely pre-v0.20 artifacts, some partially produce v0.20-compatible output, and none fully conform to the v0.20 model. The build skill (deft-directive-build) enforces the v0.20 model via its Pre-Cutover Detection Guard, so projects spec'd through most strategies are immediately unbuildable.

Observed Behavior by Strategy

yolo (fully pre-v0.20):

• Writes vbrief/specification.vbrief.json + root SPECIFICATION.md
• No scope vBRIEFs in lifecycle folders
• No PROJECT-DEFINITION.vbrief.json
• Build skill rejects entirely

interview (partially v0.20):

• Writes scope vBRIEFs to vbrief/proposed/ — but without YYYY-MM-DD-<slug> date prefix (e.g., scaffold.vbrief.json, styling.vbrief.json)
• Also writes vbrief/specification.vbrief.json (old-model artifact alongside new-model scope vBRIEFs)
• No PROJECT-DEFINITION.vbrief.json
• No SPECIFICATION.md at root (good)
• Lifecycle folders present (good)

speckit, rapid, enterprise — untested but likely inconsistent given the above.

Expected Behavior

All spec-generating strategies should produce the same v0.20-conformant output:

• Scope vBRIEFs in vbrief/proposed/YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>.vbrief.json (date-prefixed per README convention)
• PROJECT-DEFINITION.vbrief.json generated (or task project:render triggered)
• SPECIFICATION.md written as a rendered derivative with the deprecated-redirect sentinel, or omitted entirely
• specification.vbrief.json either omitted or clearly marked as a legacy artifact — not produced alongside scope vBRIEFs
• Lifecycle folders created if not present

Reproduction

yolo path:

1. Bootstrap new project with deft/run bootstrap
2. Run: "Read deft/AGENTS.md. Run the yolo strategy (light path) following deft's standard spec workflow."
3. Build: "Read deft/AGENTS.md. Follow deft's standard build workflow."
4. Build skill rejects with Pre-Cutover Detection Guard blockers

interview path:

1. Same bootstrap
2. Run: "Read deft/AGENTS.md. Run the interview strategy (light path) following deft's standard spec workflow."
3. Produces partial v0.20 output — scope vBRIEFs in proposed/ but without date prefix, plus legacy specification.vbrief.json

[MScottAdams]

Analysis -- valid, high-severity, and the framework's own onboarding cliff

Verdict: valid and P1. The build skill's Pre-Cutover Detection Guard (skills/deft-directive-build/SKILL.md lines 44-71) enforces the v0.20 vBRIEF-centric model, but none of the spec-generating strategies emit that shape. Every new user invoking the canonical interview strategy on a fresh project hits the wall at the spec-to-build seam.

Confirmed against the source files

Strategy	Writes specification.vbrief.json?	Writes PROJECT-DEFINITION.vbrief.json?	Seeds vbrief/proposed/ scope vBRIEFs?	Lifecycle folders?
yolo.md	yes (via interview)	no	no	no
interview.md	yes (Light step 3, Full step 4)	no	no	no
rapid.md	yes (step 3)	no	no	no
enterprise.md	yes (Stages 1+3)	no	no	no
speckit.md	yes (Phase 2/3)	partial -- Phase 1 writes Principles narrative only	only phase/epic scopes to vbrief/pending/ (Phase 4), not stories to proposed/	no

Every strategy violates at least one Pre-Cutover Guard criterion. The build skill will reject all of them.

Where the report is precise, and where it's imprecise

• Precise: yolo path is fully pre-v0.20; build skill rejects entirely.
• Precise: no strategy emits a complete PROJECT-DEFINITION.vbrief.json (speckit only writes the Principles narrative -- not the full identity/tech-stack contract).
• Imprecise: the report says interview "writes scope vBRIEFs to vbrief/proposed/" -- the canonical interview.md does NOT instruct that. What was observed was an agent improvising a partial v0.20 conversion (probably because the agent had also loaded AGENTS.md mentioning lifecycle folders). This is actually a worse signal: strategy output is non-deterministic across runs, varying by which adjacent context the agent loaded.

Root cause

The v0.20 cutover updated skills/deft-directive-build and added the Pre-Cutover Detection Guard, but the strategy files (strategies/*.md) and the artifact-guard contract (strategies/artifact-guards.md -- still targets specification.vbrief.json) were never migrated. Net: the framework's spec-to-build seam is broken at the strategy layer.

Recommended decomposition (do NOT land this as a single PR)

1. Contract first -- short doc at strategies/v0-20-contract.md defining the canonical v0.20 strategy output shape:
   • lifecycle folders seeded (vbrief/{proposed,pending,active,completed,cancelled}/)
   • PROJECT-DEFINITION.vbrief.json emitted via task project:render
   • scope vBRIEFs in vbrief/proposed/YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>.vbrief.json
   • specification.vbrief.json removed, not "marked legacy" -- keeping it dual-write recreates the surface v0.20 was supposed to retire
   • SPECIFICATION.md only as a rendered derivative with the <!-- deft:deprecated-redirect --> sentinel, or omitted
2. Deterministic gate -- mirror of scripts/preflight_implementation.py: task strategy:postcheck validating the output shape, wired into a strategy-gate.yml GH Actions workflow. Without this, strategies stay agent-improvised and the regression reappears.
3. Strategy migrations -- interview.md first (yolo inherits via Johnbot), then rapid.md, enterprise.md, speckit.md. Update artifact-guards.md Spec-Generating Guard to target the new shape.
4. e2e rehearsal -- extend task release:e2e or add task strategy:e2e: bootstrap, run each strategy, run the build skill, assert green. The only way to keep the seam tested.

Severity

P1 / adoption-blocker. Every user invoking the canonical interview strategy on a fresh project hits this. Suggested label set: bug, adoption blocker, phase2/vbrief-cutover (umbrella), strategy/skills as applicable.