ADR 0003: Distillation is unidirectional

Status

Accepted

Context

Information must move from high verbosity (research, narrative) toward executable task files. Reverse flow ("code → spec", "feelings → audit as requirements") rewires truth to match patches and destroys auditability.

Decision

Allowed transitions follow the verbosity gradient downhill only, with explicit Distillation Loss Statements when material is dropped. Promotions from task findings back into specs/audits are narrow corrective moves, not full reversals.

Consequences

• Positive: accountable compression; ambiguity surfaces as authoring work (spec-writing) instead of silent implementation drift.
• Negative: mandates extra hops (research → spec → feature) — intentional friction.