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A program adds durable scope and decisions above the milestone cycle. Use it when the outcome needs a sequence of milestones with separate delivery gates.

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Establish the program

  1. Define the program outcome, constraints, and vetoes in .project/CHARTER.md.
  2. Research open questions and record program decisions in .project/SYNTHESIS.md.
  3. Review and approve the milestone slicing in .project/ROADMAP.md.
  4. Derive the first milestone’s intent from its approved roadmap entry.
These program files remain active after a milestone ships. Each milestone still needs its own intent, plan, build evidence, and ship gate.

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Move between milestones

After integration validates, the router binds a new unused gsd-path/M00N branch at the current origin/main. It then inspects the current code and documentation and defines the next milestone. Research and decision phases run when its roadmap entry has open questions. The first milestone after roadmap approval starts at milestone definition; brownfield inspection has already run at program start when required.

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Plan ahead during build

Lookahead planning stores the next milestone’s work under .project/next/. It does not change the active build’s task contracts or bind another milestone branch. At the milestone boundary, the router promotes the track through the pipeline helper and checks plan drift.

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Change program direction

An explicit ruling can abandon a building milestone, archive its partial work, and return to roadmap slicing. Give that ruling through the router. Do not delete tasks or edit archived evidence to reshape the plan. See recovery and discussion for raising a concern before changing an approved contract.