maestro-explore
Answer an open question with evidence, without touching production code. Read-only toward production paths; exploration never authorizes implementation. Any tier may use it. Apply WORKFLOW.md for tier selection, authority, and durable decision thresholds.
Three modes; pick whichever settles the question:
- research - documented or external facts: read source, docs, or the web; record findings with links so claims stay traceable. Procedure: references/research.md.
- prototype - an environment-specific behavior question that reading
cannot settle: build the smallest throwaway that answers it, outside
production paths. Prototypes are disposable; only a decision-encoding
fragment (a schema, a reducer, a type shape) may be inlined into a locked
decision or the bundle's SPEC.md. Fixing the prototype's own bugs is still
this mode - a fix routes to
maestro-workonly when the target is production code; iterate directly, no re-routing pass per request. When the user approves porting, the port is production work: route it by tier (maestro-bundletier rule); the prototype never merges as-is. "Ship it as-is" waives the rewrite, not the route. A prototype that is deployed or relied on in real work is no longer throwaway: say so, and route its next change by tier. Procedure: references/prototype.md. - baseline - current repository behavior that must be preserved or
changed: capture it as runnable commands with observed output, so
maestro-verifycan compare later. Phrase each behavior the work must preserve as a guard, "the system SHALL CONTINUE TO ", so preserved behavior is a checkable claim, not an assumption.
Where findings land
- A fact is evidence, not automatically a decision. If it supports a durable
choice under the shared workflow, record that choice:
maestro decision draft "<choice>" --rationale "<why, with source link>" --work <id>, thenmaestro decision lock <id>. - Working evidence for an open work item:
maestro work note <id> "<finding + link>"; in a bundle, also the NOTES.md Current State. - A baseline the work must preserve: a VERIFY.md scenario in the bundle, or the work item's acceptance when there is no bundle.
- No work item and no bundle: deliver the findings in the conversation. Open a work item only if the question feeds work that will actually happen; a finding alone never opens a bundle.
maestro search "<topic>" before any research: a past decision or note may
already hold the answer.
