Deviations Protocol

---
name: deviations-protocol
description: "Use when authoring a plan or implementation prompt - Deviations-from-Source block format, required even when empty."
---


# Deviations from Source Protocol
This file is the canonical source-of-truth for the "Deviations from Source"
block emitted by planning-loop artifacts (plans, implementation prompts).
Invoke this skill to author the block, even when empty.

## Purpose

Dilution is a deletion: when a reviewer's feasibility objection causes a
requirement to be quietly dropped or weakened while converting one artifact
into the next (spec → plan → prompt), the loss leaves no artifact — you
cannot grep for an absence. Every downstream step remains internally
consistent with the step directly above it, so every review passes even
though intent was lost several steps back.

The fix is the same move as pairing every zero with a control: since an
absence cannot be verified, force it to be STATED. An artifact that dropped
or weakened nothing must say so explicitly ("No deviations from source.");
an artifact that is silent on deviations is untrustworthy by construction and
FAILS the gate, whether or not it actually dropped anything.

## Format (emitted artifact — verbatim)

Every plan and implementation prompt carries this heading, placed immediately
after its Authored-against stamp block (see `stamp-protocol.md`):

```
## Deviations from Source

No deviations from source.
```

If anything was dropped or weakened relative to the declared source
artifact(s), replace the single line above with one bullet per deviation:

```
## Deviations from Source

- DROPPED: <requirement, quoted or closely paraphrased from the source> —
  why: <reason it was dropped/weakened> — source: <file:line or section ref>
  — attribution: <"owner decision" | "reviewer objection unresolved">
```

**The heading is REQUIRED even when the list is empty.** "No deviations from
source." is not boilerplate — it is a claim a human made that a reviewer can
check against the actual diff between artifact and source. An artifact
missing this heading entirely has not been checked and must fail the gate
that looks for it (see `project-setup/SKILL.md` Phase 0).

## Derivation rule

Derive the block by DIFFING the artifact against its actual, currently-read
source document or decision list — never by recalling from memory what was
probably dropped. No git diff can see an absence, so the author must state it
directly, freshly re-derived at authoring time, not carried forward from a
prior cycle.

## Attribution values

Each deviation item is attributed to exactly one of:

- `owner decision` — the intent-owner explicitly agreed to cut or weaken the
  requirement.
- `reviewer objection unresolved` — a reviewer raised a feasibility
  objection that has NOT yet been resolved by the intent-owner; this
  attribution is a FLAG, not a resolution, and must route to the
  intent-owner per the feasibility-escalation rule (see
  `coordinator-running-brainstorm-cycles/SKILL.md`) rather than being folded
  in silently.

## Format conventions

The `## Deviations from Source` heading is grep -F-matchable: exact case,
exact text, no variant headings. `project-setup/SKILL.md` Phase 0 gates on
its literal presence with `grep -F '## Deviations from Source'`. Do not
reword, recase, or relocate the heading.