Prototype

A prototype is throwaway code that answers a question. The question dictates the shape.

Pick a branch

Work out which question you're answering — read it off the user's prompt, the surrounding code, or ask if they're reachable:

• "Does this logic / state model feel right?" → LOGIC.md. Stand up a tiny interactive terminal app and push the state machine through the cases that are hard to hold in your head on paper.
• "What should this look like?" → UI.md. Produce several sharply different UI variations on one route, toggled by a URL search param and a floating bottom bar.

The two branches yield very different artifacts, and choosing wrong throws away the entire prototype. When the question is truly ambiguous and the user can't weigh in, fall back to whichever branch fits the surrounding code (a backend module → logic; a page or component → UI), and record that assumption at the top of the prototype.

Rules for both branches