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 <hypothesis> → new POC (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

---

Action: new POC

Triggered when $1 is not decide, extend, or status. The entire input is the hypothesis string.

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.

Step 2 — Gather POC frame interactively

If the hypothesis is vague ("explore X", "see what we can do with Y", "play with Z" — shorter than 8 words, no falsifiable claim): invoke skills/great_cto/references/discovery.md first. Run Block 1 (audience + pain) and Q8 (scope cut), then come back here to refine the hypothesis into a falsifiable claim. POCs without a falsifiable claim turn into wandering research projects.

Ask the CTO four short questions (don't skip any — these are the guardrails):

1. Hypothesis — already captured as $@. Rephrase it as a falsifiable yes/no claim. Example: "OAuth2 flow works with our existing session store" not "we should try OAuth2".
2. Success criteria — observable, binary, verifiable by a human in <5 min. Example: "user can log in + session persists across 3 restarts".
3. Timebox — 1 / 3 / 7 / 14 days. Reject anything > 14 days — if it needs more, it's not a POC, it's a feature. Start with /start or create an ARCH instead.
4. Out of scope — 3 things you're deliberately not building. This is the most important field. Without it, POC scope drifts into production work.