prototype-close

Writing: read docs/skills/shared/writing-rule.md before you write a durable artifact.

/prototype-close — Close a Prototype via the Disposition Gate

The disposition gate prevents the worst-of-both case: a prototype that "looked great in the demo" but never decides what to do with it, leaving a throwaway mockup that quietly gets promoted into production. Every prototype must close with one of two paths:

• PROMOTE — the direction was chosen; file a fresh [Feature] ticket so the real work goes through the full production SDLC. The prototype artifact is NOT lifted into production — the new feature re-implements based on the chosen direction.
• DISCARD — the direction was rejected (or "not now"); write a memo at docs/prototype-memos/<slug>.md so future-us doesn't re-explore the same ground.

This is the UX/demo sibling of /spike-close (technical exploration). Same gate, same two paths, different artifact directory (docs/prototype-memos/ vs docs/spike-memos/).

Path resolution

Read the registry path via portfolio_registry, the per-project docs dir via portfolio_projects_dir, and the ideas backlog via portfolio_ideas_backlog — all from .claude/hooks/_lib-portfolio-paths.sh. Source the helper at the top of any bash block that touches those paths:

source "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/.claude/hooks/_lib-read-config.sh"
source "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/.claude/hooks/_lib-portfolio-paths.sh"
registry=$(portfolio_registry)

Defaults match today's single-fork layout. See docs/multi-project.md.

Usage

/prototype-close --promote 142
/prototype-close --discard 142
/prototype-close --promote          # uses the active-ticket marker
/prototype-close --discard

Process

1. Resolve the prototype ticket

Two paths:

• If $ARGUMENTS includes a number (e.g. --promote 142 or --discard owner/repo#142), use that.
• Otherwise read the active-ticket marker of the working tree you are in (see /start-ticket "Read the active ticket") and use the ticket recorded there. If no marker resolves, ask: