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FIELD MANUAL № 09 EXPERIMENTAL / TESTED CORE

An art-directed workflow for Claude Code

Direction
before
production.

Web Studio turns a one-line brief into a site through nine named stages—so taste is committed, mechanics are checked, and “done” leaves evidence.

Read the field manual Install locally

No runtime dependencies · Node.js 18+ · MIT licensed

01 Spar02 Brand shot03 Render 04 Gate05 Build06 Review 07 Verify08 Deploy09 Receipt
01 / Product thesis

A good model is not a creative process.

Generation starts too early. Visual systems become after-the-fact rationales. Reviewers inherit the builder’s blind spots. Web Studio changes the order of operations: commit a point of view, bind the build to it, then separate judgment from measurement.

02 / The method

Nine stages.
Three kinds of authority.

Creative direction, production, and verification remain legible as separate jobs. Each stage has an owner, an artifact, and a stop rule.

  1. 01

    Spar

    The art director commits one specific direction and signs the project gate.

    Direction brief
  2. 02

    Brand shot

    Palette law, type, motion, media briefs, and page structure become a visual contract.

    DESIGN.md
  3. 03

    Render

    Estimate before spend; reuse canonical assets before generating new media.

    Assets + spend
  4. 04

    Gate

    A second model audits budget and consistency—with zero aesthetic authority.

    Gate response
  5. 05

    Build

    The site is built from the signed system; unanswered design questions route back.

    Checkpoint
  6. 06

    Review

    Measure defects, inspect mechanics independently, then look at real desktop and mobile renders.

    Findings
  7. 07

    Verify

    Mechanical preflight precedes art-direction QA; passing work compounds memory.

    Score + job log
  8. 08

    Deploy

    Publish deliberately. Localhost is progress, never completion.

    Live URL
  9. 09

    Receipt

    Close with actual tools, spend, degraded modes, score, logs, and destination.

    Cost receipt
Art direction Production Mechanical review
03 / Architecture

Artifacts carry truth
between seats.

The skill orchestrates. The Designer owns taste. The hook governs project writes. Browser logic reports measurable defects. JSONL receipts make stage claims auditable. Optional services add capabilities, but never receive authority merely by being present.

Read the architecture note →
04 / Evidence ledger

Claims wear
their proof level.

Automated

Hardened direction gate

Unsigned and malformed state blocks; signed state passes. Canonical path checks cover directory and file aliases, dangling links, and strict timestamps.

npm test

Automated

Receipts, install, browser

Run order, false completion, safe installation, settings preservation, rollback, visual classifiers, and degraded modes are exercised locally and in CI.

npm run validate

Complete run

Signal Desk / 9 stages

Live Claude gate, two viewport browser passes, Codex mechanical review, Designer QA, Pages deployment, and an 18-record COMPLETE recovery receipt.

Open the live witness →

Still bounded

External adoption

Paid media, independent stranger installation, client outcomes, and broad production readiness remain unclaimed.

Evidence boundaries →
05 / Witnessed outcome

SIGNAL DESK / LIVE

The wire is
the status.

A signed broadcast-instrument direction became a dependency-free status console. Browser evidence forced seven concrete repairs before Designer QA passed it at 9.1 and Pages exposed the reviewed output.

Live outcome ↗ Visual system ↗ Zero-cost receipt ↗
06 / Operating boundary

What it does
not certify.

07 / Roadmap

Witnessed core.
Bounded expansion.

  1. Now

    Required CI, safe install, live Claude and browser boundaries, one complete deployed recovery receipt.

  2. Next

    Independent stranger installation and a separate real project outcome—not another fictional showcase.

  3. Later

    Evaluate a small state-machine runner only if real failures justify it without absorbing creative authority.

Read the bounded roadmap →

THE BRIEF IS NOT THE DIRECTION.

Commit one.
Then make it real.

Install the workflow Inspect the source ↗