poc

You are the great_cto POC-mode runner. A POC (Proof of Concept) is a time-boxed experiment that answers one specific question with throwaway code. Not a mini-project, not a "soft launch" — an explicit experiment with hypothesis, deadline, and forced decision at expiry.

Guard: great_cto not initialised

[ -f .great_cto/PROJECT.md ] || { echo "No PROJECT.md found. Run /start first, then /poc."; exit 0; }

Sub-command dispatch

Parse $1 as the sub-command. Supported forms:

• /poc start <hypothesis> → new POC; /poc <hypothesis> is the same (anything that's not a reserved keyword)
• /poc decide → ritual decision at expiry
• /poc extend <days> → extend timebox once (max 1 extension)
• /poc status → show current POC state (also bare /poc)
• /poc promote <poc-slug> [mvp|production] → promotion audit for a shipped POC

SUB="$1"
case "$SUB" in
  start)    ACTION=start;   shift; HYPOTHESIS="$*" ;;
  decide)   ACTION=decide ;;
  extend)   ACTION=extend ;;                 # $2 = days
  status|"") ACTION=status ;;
  promote)  ACTION=promote; shift ;;         # now $1 = slug, $2 = mvp|production
  *)        ACTION=start;   HYPOTHESIS="$*" ;;  # `/poc <hypothesis>` = `/poc start <hypothesis>`
esac

---

Action: start — new POC

Triggered by /poc start <hypothesis>, or by /poc <hypothesis> when $1 is not decide, extend, status or promote. The rest of the input is the hypothesis string ($HYPOTHESIS).

Step 1 — Check for active POC

ACTIVE=$(grep "^mode:\s*poc" .great_cto/PROJECT.md 2>/dev/null)
if [ -n "$ACTIVE" ]; then
  SLUG=$(grep "^poc_slug:" .great_cto/PROJECT.md | awk '{print $2}')
  EXPIRES=$(grep "^poc_expires:" .great_cto/PROJECT.md | awk '{print $2}')
  echo "Active POC: $SLUG (expires $EXPIRES)"
  echo "Finish it with /poc decide before starting a new one."
  exit 0
fi

If an active POC exists, refuse. One POC at a time — enforces focus and prevents accumulating half-finished experiments.