openengineer/CONTRIBUTING.md

Contributing to Open Engineer

The Bedrock Phase

Open Engineer is currently in The Bedrock Phase. During this phase, contributions follow a strict linear workflow.

How to Contribute

The Four-Question Framework

Every proposed addition must answer four questions:

1. Observation? — What was observed that prompted this?
2. Engineering Principle? — What engineering principle does this express?
3. Reasoning? — What is the reasoning that connects the observation to the principle?
4. Relationship to Existing Concepts? — How does this relate to what already exists in the standard?

Nothing enters Bedrock without surviving those four layers.

The Workflow

1. Observe — Begin with a direct, verifiable observation
2. Draft — Write the proposed addition
3. Review — Submit for review against the four-question framework
4. Accept — If it passes review, it is accepted
5. Freeze (RC) — Accepted documents reach Release Candidate status
6. Reference — Frozen documents become reference material

Editorial Rules

• Translate. Do not transplant. — Extract engineering principles from observations without adopting surrounding ideology.
• Single Responsibility — Every document must have exactly one primary responsibility.
• No Overlap — The spec defines. The reference explains. The examples illustrate. The tools implement.

Important Constraints

• Do not skip ahead in the specification dependency tree
• Do not redefine earlier layers — only extend them
• Do not add free-form exploration; channel ideas through the RFC process
• Stop touching implementations (website, tools) until the specification is frozen