| 1 | --- |
| 2 | description: Optional main-pipeline stage for reviewing and revising the complete Design Spec before lock authoring and generation. |
| 3 | --- |
| 4 | |
| 5 | # Refine Spec Stage |
| 6 | |
| 7 | > **Opt-in Generate-PPTX stage**. Default writes `design_spec.md` + `spec_lock.md` and proceeds. With explicit refinement, produce and audit the complete Design Spec, then **stop before the lock** for unrestricted user review/revision. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | This stage is **conditional**, same shape as the split-mode choice: it never fires on its own and the default path is unchanged. The Strategist confirmation stage settles design directions up front as abstract recommendations; this pass lets the user revise the **concrete spec** the Strategist produced from them. It is most valuable for a zero-background user, who can judge a finished spec far better than the up-front recommendations — and the spec's content outline (`§IX`) is usually what they most want to adjust. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | ## When to Run |
| 12 | |
| 13 | The user **explicitly asks** to refine / review / revise the spec before generation. Recognize any of: |
| 14 | |
| 15 | | Pattern | Example | |
| 16 | |---|---| |
| 17 | | "refine the spec / review the spec first" | "produce the spec first, let me review before slides" | |
| 18 | | "let me revise the spec, then continue" | "send me the spec to confirm, I'll edit it" | |
| 19 | | Any request to inspect/iterate the design spec before generation | "draft the full plan, I want to adjust it, then generate" | |
| 20 | |
| 21 | **Default is OFF.** Strategist surfaces this option as one short opt-in line inside the Strategist confirmation stage (see [`generate-pptx`](../generate-pptx.md) Step 4). No request → the spec is written in one go and the pipeline auto-proceeds as usual; this stage never starts. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | **Prerequisite**: the Strategist confirmation stage is settled (mode + visual style + the rest). This pass revises the spec produced from that stage; it does not re-open the confirmation stage itself. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | --- |
| 26 | |
| 27 | ## Step 1: Produce the complete Design Spec |
| 28 | |
| 29 | Run [`generate-pptx`](../generate-pptx.md) Step 4 through the complete `design_spec.md` (§I–X) and initial Gate 1 audit. Read relevant `sources/` so §IX carries facts, not skeleton points. |
| 30 | |
| 31 | **Hard rule — no lock before approval**: Do not create, update, use, or validate `spec_lock.md` during review. On a resumed project, any prior lock is stale derived state until Gate 2 resynchronizes it after approval. |
| 32 | |
| 33 | --- |
| 34 | |
| 35 | ## Step 2: ⛔ HARD STOP — present, discuss, and revise |
| 36 | |
| 37 | Present the Design Spec and **wait for explicit revision or approval before anything else**. Review the one project `design_spec.md` in chat; do not create a second draft, parallel summary, or fixed-field questionnaire. |
| 38 | |
| 39 | The user may revise **any part of the spec** and request any number of changes per round. Discuss in **prose**; do not emit scores or force field-by-field confirmation. Let the user drive. |
| 40 | |
| 41 | **Reference — review lenses, not a checklist or score**: raise these in plain language to surface what is worth discussing. They name a *direction*, never a number — never convert any into HEX values, px sizes, ratios, page quotas, or grades. |
| 42 | |
| 43 | - *Outline*: logical clarity (do the points build on each other), information density (right amount per page — nothing padded or crammed), focus (each page lands one idea), register (spoken vs formal, matched to the audience), emotional resonance (a hook to open, a payoff to close), chapter balance (page budget not lopsided). |
| 44 | - *Color*: does the scheme fit the content's mood and audience, and is there enough hierarchy and contrast to read comfortably — not which exact HEX. |
| 45 | - *Typography*: do title and body form a clear contrast or a clean concord, is the size hierarchy legible, does the type character match the visual style — not which px. |
| 46 | - *Layout*: does structure follow each page's information weight, or does it fall back to one uniform symmetric grid (the "AI-generated" look). |
| 47 | - *Icon / image*: one consistent icon character throughout; images that serve the content (hero / atmosphere used on purpose) rather than decorate. |
| 48 | - *Page rhythm*: do `anchor` / `dense` / `breathing` track the narrative, or is everything flatly dense. |
| 49 | |
| 50 | These overlap with what the confirmed `mode`, visual style, and §6.1 already shape — treat them as discussion angles to surface what is worth talking about, not permission for the Strategist to redo a decision without the user's explicit revision. |
| 51 | |
| 52 | **Revise one Design Spec only**: Apply each user-requested round incrementally to `design_spec.md`; affected decisions supersede earlier values, while unaffected confirmed decisions and cross-section coherence remain intact. Do not regenerate the document for a local change or touch lock anchors. Iterate until explicit approval. |
| 53 | |
| 54 | **Re-run the route/template preflight after reuse revisions.** For changed reuse/prototype decisions, repeat [`strategist-template.md`](../../references/strategist-template.md) preflight before approval. `style` later locks flat; `mirror` / `layout` require a complete structured contract. Update only human-facing Design Spec decisions during review; Gate 2 derives structure mappings. Legacy prototypes remain unselectable. |
| 55 | |
| 56 | --- |
| 57 | |
| 58 | ## Step 3: Approve and author the lock |
| 59 | |
| 60 | After explicit approval, return to [`generate-pptx`](../generate-pptx.md) Step 4 Gate 2. Author or resynchronize `spec_lock.md` once from the approved Design Spec plus current context, validate, then continue to Step 5 or Step 6. Do not reopen `result.json`. |
| 61 | |
| 62 | > Note: this stage does NOT duplicate Strategist content. It inserts a review-and-revise checkpoint between Design Spec Gate 1 and lock Gate 2. [`strategist.md`](../../references/strategist.md) and [`generate-pptx`](../generate-pptx.md) remain authoritative for artifact content and route sequencing. |
| 63 |