📝 [docs] board: bound expensive design comparisons

skills/super-board/references/design-preflight.md

@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+# Design preflight
+
+Compare two designs before an unsettled choice creates a new ownership boundary,
+new/changed public interface, or architecture expensive to reverse. Labels alone do not
+trigger this step. Ordinary bugs and mechanical refactors keep the normal path.
+
+## Establish the decision
+
+1. Read the current flow and its owners/callers, `PROJECT.md` and `CONTEXT.md` when present,
+   and applicable specs/ADRs. Name the question and the constraints with source references.
+2. Follow an applicable recorded decision when it answers the question. Finish here rather
+   than reopening it to produce options.
+3. Confirm who may choose. Interactive lint proposes a choice to the user in the existing
+   per-issue loop. Workers compare only authorized technical forks at rung 3 of the
+   [decision policy](../../super-build/references/decision-policy.md). Ambiguous product
+   intent, an unauthorized auth/trust change or a public-contract break takes its human gate.
+
+## Compare and choose
+
+Use `mattpocock-skills:codebase-design` for module depth and interfaces. Reach
+`mattpocock-skills:domain-modeling` only when terminology or an ADR needs work. Workers
+recheck [conditional skill readiness](skills-readiness.md) before activating either helper.
+
+Sketch two genuinely different arrangements of callers and modules. For each, record:
+
+- **Owner and interface:** who owns state/behavior, which callers use it, and what they pass/get.
+- **Constraints:** how it satisfies the recorded requirements and existing contracts.
+- **Module depth:** what useful work it hides behind how much caller knowledge.
+- **Blast radius:** which callers, data or contracts change.
+- **Migration and reversal:** how existing callers move and what undoing the choice costs.
+- **Verification:** the observable behavior and project checks that would prove it.
+- **Deletion test:** what capability or complexity vanishes if the module is removed.
+
+Renaming the same arrangement is not a second design. Sketches are enough; build only the
+chosen design unless the ticket already authorizes a prototype. Choose the minimal design
+that meets the constraints, then state why it wins and the main tradeoff.
+
+## Retain the choice
+
+Interactive lint shows the comparison and proposed choice, then saves only the exact issue
+edit approved in its existing loop. Put a compact decision and rationale in Context, or
+link an applicable spec/ADR. Its local-write boundary remains unchanged. A worker records
+its rung-3 choice in the existing commit decision trailer, with the evidence reference.
+Keep existing ticket sections, lanes and human gates.
+
+Done means the applicable recorded design was followed, or both sketches and a justified
+choice are available to the next worker/reviewer. An unresolved human choice stays blocked.
+Design quality remains agent judgment; format and installer checks do not prove the sketches
+are distinct or the selected design is good.

skills/super-board/references/lint.md

@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ PHASE 7 — Final summary + session-reset nudge
 
 ---
 
-## Lint criteria — 18-criterion table
+## Lint criteria — 19-criterion table
 
 An issue is flagged if any of these apply. An issue can fail multiple criteria; all firing criteria are surfaced in Phase 4.
 
@@ -103,6 +103,11 @@ An issue is flagged if any of these apply. An issue can fail multiple criteria;
 | 16 | Ticket sections missing (writing-standard.md § 3): `## Problem`, `## Context`, `## Fix`, `## Risk` — and `## Evidence` (the folded 12-row table) on a bug | Body has "What to build" and ACs only | Rewrite into the ticket format; draft Problem/Fix from the body, ask for Who and Risk |
 | 17 | Acceptance Criteria not a checklist | ACs as prose or plain `-` bullets | Rewrite as `- [ ] <checkable outcome>`, one per line |
 | 18 | Context steps not lettered under Where, more than one step per line, or chained with arrows | "Where: /x — sign in → open Receipts → drop file" | Rewrite as `- **Where:** …` then `  - a. Sign in` / `  - b. …`, one per line; embed the screenshot (raw URL pinned to a sha), never link it |
+| 19 | Unsettled new ownership boundary, new/changed public interface, or architecture expensive to reverse; no adequate applicable design record | Two callers could each own the new shared state, with no recorded choice | Follow [design preflight](design-preflight.md); compare two sketches and propose a choice in Context |
+
+Criterion 19 is conditional. Read the current flow, owners/callers and applicable specs/ADRs
+before flagging it. Labels alone do not trigger it. Ordinary bugs, mechanical refactors and
+choices already settled by an applicable design record keep the normal path.
 
 ---
 
@@ -169,9 +174,14 @@ ticket closes, or becomes the first slice, once the user approves the split.
 | Issue with multiple interpretations (criterion #12) | `mattpocock-skills:grilling` |
 | Ticket too big (criterion #15) | `/to-tickets` (split into vertical slices) |
 | Ticket format (criteria #16–18) | Inline rewrite into `ticket-format.md` (sub-agent in lint itself) |
+| Unsettled expensive design (criterion #19) | [Design preflight](design-preflight.md) with `mattpocock-skills:codebase-design`; `mattpocock-skills:domain-modeling` only for terminology/ADR work |
 | Catch-all (none of above) | Inline draft (sub-agent in lint itself) |
 
 One sub-agent per issue. User stays in control of pacing.
+When criterion 19 fires, propose the two sketches, choice and short rationale within that
+issue's existing loop.
+Save the exact approved edit in Context (or a link to an applicable spec/ADR). No separate
+local design file or extra save permission; unresolved human choices remain blocked.
 
 ---
 
@@ -262,7 +272,7 @@ Before declaring lint complete, the worker MUST verify all three:
 
 - [ ] `docs/super-board/pre-flight.md` exists and lists every credential / tool / env signal encountered while scanning issues + PROJECT.md.
 - [ ] Every issue in active-pipeline columns (Ready, Building, QA, Review) either:
-  - has a populated `## Acceptance Criteria` section that passes all 18 criteria, OR
+  - has a populated `## Acceptance Criteria` section that passes all 19 criteria (conditional #19 only when triggered), OR
   - was dropped on purpose (closed as not planned, Done, `🤷 dropped` comment), OR
   - carries a `🛡 Blocked` comment naming the human-gated blocker.
 - [ ] No issue is left in an in-between state (flagged but not resolved, partially edited, or awaiting user input that never came).

skills/super-board/references/ticket-format.md

@@ -47,3 +47,7 @@ and prior failing input/action; Evidence cites the prior PRs/findings. Fix names
 prevention, not an implementation plan. An AC requires the retained behavioral witness:
 old failure for the reported reason, corrected pass and behavior-preserving refactor survival.
 See [correction prevention](../../super-collect/references/correction-prevention.md).
+
+When an unsettled design triggers [design preflight](design-preflight.md), keep the
+approved choice and short rationale in Context, or link its applicable spec/ADR there.
+Keep the same sections. Lint saves only the exact issue edit the user approves.

skills/super-board/references/writing-standard.md

@@ -214,6 +214,10 @@ under Risk.
 | `## Risk` | 🟢/🟡/🔴 level + one line | yes |
 | `## Blocked by` | `- #N — why` bullets, or exactly `- None.` | yes |
 
+When an unsettled design triggers [design preflight](design-preflight.md), retain the
+approved choice and short rationale in the existing Context, or link its applicable
+spec/ADR there. Keep the same sections. Lint saves only the exact issue edit the user approves.
+
 Example:
 
 ```

skills/super-build/references/decision-policy.md

@@ -166,6 +166,14 @@ touches fewer files, adds no public surface, and can be reverted by dropping
 one commit. When two options tie on blast radius, take the one an existing test
 already constrains.
 
+For an authorized, unsettled technical rung-3 fork that introduces a new ownership boundary,
+new/changed public interface, or architecture expensive to reverse, follow
+[design preflight](../../super-board/references/design-preflight.md). An applicable supplied
+design/spec/ADR answers the question at an earlier rung; follow it. Labels alone, ordinary
+bugs and mechanical refactors do not trigger a comparison. Recheck conditional helper
+readiness before use. Record the choice in the existing decision trailer below.
+The comparison does not settle ambiguous product intent or waive any hard human gate.
+
 **One technical check is still mandatory before the final commit:** run
 `mattpocock-skills:code-review` against your own working diff, passing the
 merge-base as the fixed point (`git merge-base HEAD origin/<base>`). It never