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# Experiment discipline — guide (generic tier)

Reference notes, design rationale, and negative results (6).

#### 1. Keep an append-only experiment notebook separate from a curated strategy doc, and log rejected experiments as first-class output
`generic` · _see related: U0367 (other tier)_

Keep a chronological, append-only experiment notebook where every entry has an ID, hypothesis, expected mechanism, protocol, exact reproducible command, raw numbers, date/branch/SHA, files changed, artifact paths, a results table vs baseline, observations separated from inferences, an explicit keep/iterate/abandon verdict, and follow-ups; never edit entries after the fact, only annotate. Keep it SEPARATE from a curated strategy doc that holds current-best understanding: the notebook records WHY the work is shaped this way (including rejected hypotheses); the strategy doc records WHAT to do today. Treat negative/rejected results as worth as much as acceptances: log every rejected experiment with a stable ID capturing why it was believed, how it was tested, why it failed, and whether the dead thing is the specific IMPLEMENTATION or the entire FAMILY, so future work never silently re-runs dead paths. Log a run only when a future reader could not derive it by reading the code; promote a heuristic to the durable reference only after it survives multiple cycles.
  <sub>sources: archive/cogames_playground/alpha_cog/experiments/notebook/protocol.md, alpha_cog/audits/research-audit-2026-05-04.md, claude-code:425dc11e-1c8d-4d12-bf44-adf01b6fa796, claude-code:5f9e8287-da92-4dff-bf39-2511bcaf0700 (+8)</sub>

#### 2. Commit baseline state first so each change is separable, and gitignore large regenerable outputs
`generic` · _see related: U0370 (other tier)_

'Audit checklist checked off' is not 'cleanly landed': a status file can mark hygiene items complete while the worktree is still dirty, so commit the baseline state FIRST so each subsequent change gets its own clean, separable commit. Treat large deterministic outputs (e.g. ~100 MB trace/artifact files that are a pure function of their inputs) as regenerable: gitignore them and reproduce on demand rather than committing them, and verify they are actually ignored before staging or a `git add` will swallow them. Keep generated baseline/comparison artifacts out of the test-fixture tree and the repo root, in a clearly named untracked directory.
  <sub>sources: codex:019df40f-3672-73c0-8d5e-13abe5edd0f3, archive/cogames_playground/alpha_cog/experiments/traces/README.md, opencode:ses_21e25877effeMecaawB2dUys7v, opencode:ses_223c540d9ffe8nF6kcU1RXf0wp</sub>

#### 3. Keep OBSERVATION/HYPOTHESIS/RECOMMENDATION distinct, and make each recommendation name change, metric, risk, and evidence
`generic` · _see related: U0378 (other tier)_

In any analysis or diagnostic report, keep three voices distinct and explicitly labeled: OBSERVATION (evidence), HYPOTHESIS (inferred cause), and RECOMMENDATION (testable change), and tie each observed behavior to the metric it moved. Every recommendation in a prioritized-improvement section must name the change, the expected metric movement (metric + direction + magnitude), the risk, and the supporting evidence, keeping each change small, testable, and prioritized (P0/P1/P2) so a downstream actor can act without re-reading the raw data. Vague advice like 'do better' is disallowed. Anchor every factual claim to its source artifact and never assert facts the evidence does not support — state missing evidence as missing.
  <sub>sources: claude-code:5ba30745-2180-4e0c-9cb5-13846d2aa6a6, optimizers/.cursor/skills/episode-evidence-binding/SKILL.md, optimizers/instructions/mvp/reporter.md, archive/cogames_playground/BULBACOG_LEADERBOARD_GOAL.md</sub>

#### 4. Verify reported pain-point claims against code with a file:line verdict before fixing
`generic`

When investigating a tool's reported pain points, verify each claim against the actual code and record a verdict (verified / partially verified / UX-only / mis-stated) with a file:line root cause before proposing a fix. Some user claims turn out wrong: 'submissions silently accept slugs' was incorrect, and the '10 slots, only 8 score' mental model was actually normal rotation — fixing a misdiagnosed model wastes effort.
  <sub>sources: players/users/james/personal_cogs/among_them/guided_bot/coworld/CLI_PA</sub>

#### 5. Version-stamp and checksum derived artifacts so stale data cannot silently contaminate newer work
`generic`

Version-stamp every perception artifact (frame hash, guide bundle hash, generator version, VLM schema version, prompt version, model/provider id, source run id, consuming parser version) so stale VLM labels cannot silently contaminate newer parser work. When the parity oracle and the baked sprite atlas both derive from the same upstream snapshot, regenerate fixtures and atlas from that snapshot together, and guard the atlas with a checksum comparing the baked file digest to a stored digest that fails loudly on mismatch — baked atlas data is tied to game asset versions and rots silently. Always print and log the RNG seed when launching a server with a random seed so runs are reproducible after the fact.
  <sub>sources: players/tools/cogbase/docs/designs/maker_v1_design.md, players/archive/players/among_them/coborg/PLAN.md, players/users/james/personal_cogs/persephone/GAME_API.md</sub>

#### 6. Land refactors incrementally with every step green; test contract validates over internal shape
`generic`

Land a refactor incrementally with each step leaving tests green (for an env-to-config refactor: config+tests, then trace, then strategy, then SDK factory, then meeting client), preferring tests that construct config/policy pieces directly over tests that patch env. When porting from a partial fixture set, port simple cases first and leave explicit TODO markers for known edge cases, relying on the parity fixtures to surface rare states and adding a fixture when one is hit in the wild. Copy small shared fixtures (here ~164 KB) into the consuming package so the checkout is self-contained. Validate an agent-generation toolkit on its input/output contract (machine contract in, manifest plus artifacts out) and adversarial VLM cases (malformed JSON, unknown actions, low confidence, hidden-state hallucination), proving the machine contract wins over stale or contradictory Markdown, rather than testing the internal shape of derivers.
  <sub>sources: players_2/players/crewrift/crewborg/docs/designs/config.md, players/archive/players/among_them/coborg/PLAN.md, players/tools/cogbase/docs/designs/maker_v1_design.md, players/tools/cogbase/docs/designs/maker_v2_design.md</sub>
