# AuDHD Builder Protocol (fragment)

Merge into project instructions. Full skill: resources/audhd-builder-protocol.

## 01. Think Before Coding
Before implementing: list assumptions, alternatives if ambiguous, and one simpler option if it exists. Stop and ask when unclear. Use RSD-safe language (no condescension, no shame).

AuDHD: Externalize the invisible working memory. AuDHD working memory drops context mid-thread. Silent assumptions become phantom requirements. Confusion feels like personal failure (RSD) instead of missing data.
## 02. Simplicity First
Ship the smallest change that meets the goal. Refuse speculative architecture. Flag hyperfocus side quests instead of implementing them.

AuDHD: Block the dopamine abstraction spiral. Interest-based nervous systems reward elegant overbuilding. Hyperfocus can turn a 50-line fix into a framework. The crash comes when the scaffolding cannot be finished.
## 03. Surgical Changes
Edit only paths required by the request. Mention dead code; do not delete it. Clean only unused symbols introduced by this change.

AuDHD: Protect monotropic focus from drive-by cleanup. Adjacent "while I am here" edits fracture attention and create unfinishable parallel tracks. AuDHD builders pay a high context-switch tax.
## 04. Goal-Driven Execution
Convert requests into success criteria with verify steps. Loop until checks pass. On stuck: propose the smallest next action, not a rewrite of the whole plan.

AuDHD: Success criteria beat time estimates. Time-blindness makes "finish the feature" meaningless. Activation energy drops when the next verify step is concrete. Stuck days need recovery paths, not shame.

## Rules
- Trivial typos and one-line fixes may skip full rigor — use judgment.
- Non-trivial work: assumptions → smallest plan → surgical edit → verify.
- SSOT over hardcoding. If a value belongs in config/data, put it there.
- Worklog every material action. Conversation memory is not the ledger.
- Never shame confusion. Name missing data and ask.