human-experience-filter-art/sessions/0007/SESSION-0007.0-TRANSCRIPT-2026-06-06T14-12--2026-06-06T17-57.md

Session 0007.0 — Transcript

App: human-experience-filter-art Date: 2026-06-06 (PST) · 14:12 → 17:57 Type: coding Goal: continue the roadmap; reframed by the operator to simulator-first — bring the slice-1 alteration engine into the simulator so the experience can be tuned before any hardware. Outcome: design spec written, committed, and pushed on branch feature/simulator-alteration-preview. No code changes. Implementation deferred to the next session (design + implementation to ship as one PR).

Plan

Bring the alteration engine into the simulator (scope: tune the look), per docs/superpowers/specs/2026-06-06-simulator-alteration-preview-design.md:

• Python-canonical engine, thin browser renderer.
• Dark/Light = live runtime color grade; Left/Right = 5×5 grid of pre-baked authored variant clips selected by coordinate (24 videos/base clip).
• Revises design §4.3/§10: HUD baked into variant videos (authorial precision) rather than runtime overlay — trades away near-free i18n.
• Engine reconciliation: parameterize Calibration, add VariantRef, slim RenderPlan (drop runtime AnalyticalOverlay/Restyle); state.py crossfade on variant change.
• Simulator: retire selection X-ray + /api/select; add /api/alteration + /api/clips + variant manifest; placeholder-variant generator.

Pre-session state

• main at 5290785, clean and pushed. Sub-projects 1 & 2 done; sub-project 3 (Player Runtime) in progress — slice 1 (pure-logic player/ core) merged via PR #5 (session 0006).
• A stale nested worktree (.worktrees/feature-BuildSimulator11, branch feature/player-alteration-core, already merged) was present and breaking the session resolver ("ambiguous app.json"), exactly as the session-0006 memory gotcha predicted.

Turn-by-turn arc

1. Session gate. Opened with "What's next?" → classified as a coding session; ran wgl-session-coding-init.
2. Baseline cleanup. Claim dry-run failed on the resolver ambiguity. Verified the stale worktree's branch was fully merged + clean, removed the worktree and branch, and deleted the empty .worktrees/ dir. Tree back to clean main.
3. Claimed session 0007 (no other sessions in flight).
4. Operator steer: "only design things that will run in the simulator; get everything working the way we like in the simulator before hardware." Saved as a feedback memory (simulator-first-before-hardware).
5. Discovered the simulator (simulator/, built session 0004) is fully decoupled from player/ — it exercises the OLD selection model and has no alteration surface. That gap became the work.
6. Brainstorming (with the visual companion). Decisions, one at a time: scope = tune the alteration look; medium = short looping video; Right restyle = labeled stand-in shader (swappable for real variants); calibration = live-adjustable curves; architecture = A, Python-canonical; integration = new view, retire the selection X-ray.
7. Interactive look mockup (browser): a real nature image with the 4 knobs as live sliders. Operator confirmed Dark/Light read well, but said for Left/Right they'll author videos with the overlay baked in for precise HUD control.
8. Surfaced the tradeoff: baking the HUD reverses design §4.3/§10's near-free i18n. Operator chose precision wins. Confirmed the variant grid as full 5×5 = 24 authored clips per base (shown as a grid mockup).
9. Revised model presented and approved: base clip + variant manifest; RenderPlan = {grade, variant}; runtime overlay/restyle layers retired; placeholder-variant bootstrapping via ffmpeg.
10. Wrote the spec, self-reviewed, committed on a feature branch.
11. Operator: "do [implementation] next session. finalize this one." → wgl-session-finalize.

Cut state (end of session)

Repo	Branch	Commit	State
human-experience-filter-art	feature/simulator-alteration-preview	3ef21fb	pushed to origin, not merged

• docs/superpowers/specs/2026-06-06-simulator-alteration-preview-design.md — new, committed.
• main unchanged at 5290785.
• Working tree clean. Visual-companion server stopped; .superpowers/ gitignored.
• No tests run (no code changed).

What lands on the operator's plate

• Author the 24 variant videos per base clip (the Left×Right grid), with HUD baked in. The simulator will consume them via the manifest; placeholder variants cover the gap until then.
• Deferred decisions (also surfaced in chat):
  • knob→strength calibration — unresolved since session 0006; will be settled by eye in the simulator's calibration panel next session, then baked into DEFAULT_CALIBRATION.
  • grade tints baked HUD — accepted under "precision wins"; revisit only if it reads badly once real authored clips exist.

Prompt the operator can paste into the next session

/goal Implement the simulator alteration preview on branch feature/simulator-alteration-preview, per docs/superpowers/specs/2026-06-06-simulator-alteration-preview-design.md — begin with the writing-plans skill, then build: parameterize Calibration + add VariantRef and slim RenderPlan in player/, add /api/alteration + /api/clips + simulator/clips.py variant manifest, rewrite the simulator UI as the player preview, retire the selection X-ray + /api/select, add the placeholder-variant generator, and update tests + USER_GUIDE + ROADMAP §3 + the parent design §4.3/§10 pointer.

(Or resume with /goal next — the Next /goal: field is stored in memory sub-project-3-player-progress.md.)