ADR-0103 — The spec is a living form; the task is an on-demand split slice

Context

The dominant path is 1 spec → 1 task (split-work: "most specs become exactly one task packet"), and in that case the task repeats the spec: the spec's ACs already carry their own Verify with: lines, so the task's ## Verify restates them; scope is "all of it"; Agent instructions are boilerplate. Only the execution record (Run summary / Self-review / Findings) carries weight — and that is run content, not a second contract. The result is a pass-through station that doubles the spec (suspec-works#72 ceremony; the session deliberation; RFC-lean-artifact-set D1).

The task earns its keep for one job the spec cannot do: a write-disjoint scope slice when one spec splits into N parallel tasks. So the move is to demote the task, not delete it.

Verified safe to do additively: no check or parser rejects an extra spec section — the SOL parser records an unrecognized heading and moves on; C005/C006 are presence-only; ADR-0058's "frozen list" is a convention, not an enforced reject. So adding an optional section breaks no existing spec, check, or parse.

Decision

1. The spec is the unit of work and a living form. It is authored as intent, then filled as the work is done, with a hard internal seam:

   • Contract — frozen at ready: ## Intent, ## Requirements (ACs + Verify with:), ## Non-goals, ## Open questions, ## Affected areas, ## Dropped from sources (the ADR-0058 list, unchanged). These do not change after ready except through spec re-review (the drift rule).
   • Execution — append-only, after ready: a new optional ## Execution section the implementer fills — affected areas touched, per-AC verify results citing pasted output, a run summary, and the ADR-0056 self-review. Appended; it never rewrites the contract. This refines ADR-0058 by adding one optional section (additive — verified to break nothing). Level: convention.

2. In the 1:1 case there is no task file. The implementer reads the spec, implements, and fills the spec's ## Execution. The review packet stays a separate artifact in reviews/ — independence (implementer ≠ reviewer, ADR-0056/0099) holds because it attaches to the work, not the file, and the verdict lives in a file the implementer does not write.

3. The task is an on-demand split slice. When one spec must become N parallel tasks, split-work cuts a task per slice (a scope-subset + Do not change + Affected areas + a pointer to — or, in spec-external mode, a pinned snapshot of — the spec, ADR-0100). Each slice carries its own execution + review. A task is cut only when the work decomposes; it is no longer a pass-through station. This refines ADR-0030: task.md stays a shipped Tier-1 template but is demoted from an always-present station to an on-demand artifact. Level: convention.

4. Coverage keys on whatever scopes the work (refines ADR-0079): the review's coverage is checked against the task's scope when a task exists, and against the spec's AC ids when it does not (the 1:1 case). Level: convention now; the suspec-cli reconcile adapts as a tracked follow-up.

Consequences

• Additive, not breaking. Existing specs (no ## Execution yet) stay valid; existing tasks stay valid; no parser or check change ships. The ## Execution section is optional markdown.
• The 1:1 path loses a file and a layer of repetition — the spec is written once and grows its run record; the reviewer reads the spec's contract + execution and writes the separate packet.
• Independence + the verdict model are untouched — the review packet is still a separate artifact; the spec author / implementer / reviewer roles attach to the work (ADR-0099).
• Reference impl (suspec-cli / suspec-mcp) adapts as a tracked follow-up (specified-vs-shipped, ADR-0063): new task becomes the split tool; suspec check/review coverage keys on the spec when no task; scan_task reads the spec's ## Execution in the 1:1 case. The CLI keeps working in the meantime (the task artifact still exists).
• Honesty: convention-level; no checks.yaml rule or contract bump lands here.

Propagation

The kit spec template (add ## Execution), the task template (reframed as the on-demand slice), docs/02-basic-workflow.md + docs/06-creating-tasks.md (spec is the unit; task on-demand), split-work (cut a task only when decomposing; otherwise fill the spec's ## Execution), implement-task (1:1 → fill the spec's ## Execution; split → the task), and review-output (review the spec's ACs + execution when there is no task). suspec-cli/mcp adaptation tracked.

Affected obligations / constraints

• Refines: ADR-0058 (one optional ## Execution section added), ADR-0030 (task.md demoted to on-demand), and ADR-0079 (coverage keys on the spec when no task).
• Reaffirms: ADR-0056 / ADR-0099 (independence, the separate review packet) and ADR-0100 (the split slice carries the spec snapshot).
• Does NOT change: the contract section list's freeze-at-ready, the verdict model, or the checks contract.