docs: formalize ticket convention; rename retrieval-keywords gap to #000001

Tickets are flat docs/ticket-NNNNNN-<slug>.md — actionable proposals
awaiting go/no-go, scoped defects, or queued enhancements.
Architecture references and bench journals stay un-numbered.

docs/TICKETS.md: index + convention + Next ID line so future shifts
know where the next number comes from. Renumbering protocol: every
new ticket commit bumps the Next ID line atomically with the new
ticket file. Status field tracks open / in progress / closed; closed
tickets keep the file in place as a design log.

docs/ticket-000001-retrieval-keywords-audit-gap.md: the ticket
opened in 73058b0, renamed and re-headered to fit the convention.

2026-05-01 12:09:00 -04:00

2.5 KiB

Raw Blame History

Aborist tickets — index

Aborist uses a flat ticket-NNNNNN-<slug>.md convention for actionable proposals: defects with a known root cause, design proposals awaiting go/no-go, or scoped enhancements queued for future implementation.

Convention

Filename: docs/ticket-NNNNNN-<slug>.md. The ID is a six-digit zero-padded integer; the slug is hyphen-lowercase and short enough to stay readable on a 100-column terminal.
Numbering: monotonic, never reused. Pick the next free integer greater than every existing ticket. The current next ID is on the Next ID line below; bump it when you open a ticket and commit the bump in the same commit as the new ticket file.

Header: every ticket starts with

# Ticket #NNNNNN — <short title>

**Status:** open · awaiting go/no-go      (or "in progress", "closed")
**Opened:** YYYY-MM-DD
**Scope:** <one-liner — what this ticket is for>
**Audience:** <who reads this>
**Hard constraint:** <invariants this ticket commits to NOT break>

Body: problem statement, design choices with trade-offs, recommendation, implementation sketch, scope boundaries, status. See ticket-000001-retrieval-keywords-audit-gap.md for a worked template.
Closure: when a ticket lands, flip Status to closed · landed in commit <sha> and leave the file in place. Do not delete tickets; they are the design log.

Distinction from other docs

docs/ also contains architecture references and bench journey notes that are NOT tickets — they describe state of the world rather than proposing change. Examples that stay un-numbered:

cti-architecture.md (architecture reference)
mesh.md, mesh-deploy.md (architecture + ops reference)
naming-deferral.md (naming convention reference)
qa-modes-bench-2026-04-30.md (point-in-time bench journal)
verifier-semantic-gap-design.md, self-reference-thought-chains-design.md (older design docs that pre-date the ticket convention; leave as-is unless retroactively promoting one to a ticket adds value)

If a doc proposes change AND awaits a decision AND has scoped implementation cost, it's a ticket. Otherwise it's reference.

Index

Newest first. Update on every open/close.

ID	Title	Status	Opened
#000001	Retrieval-keywords audit gap	open	2026-05-01

Next ID

000002

2.5 KiB Raw Blame History