spec(0062): staged delivery (§7.1) + companion feasibility spike plan

§7.1 now records the 4 de-risking rungs (mockups → throwaway feasibility
spike → vertical slice → full build), riskiest-API-assumption-first, so any
forced design change lands on throwaway code. Adds coauthoring-feasibility-
spike.md: 5 experiments (E1 editable proposals+Keep/Undo, E2 baseline router,
E3 preview authorship, E4 comment loop, E5 discoverability) with PASS/FAIL
criteria; closes open Q2/Q4/Q7 before any plan is written.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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---
status: draft
---
# Feasibility Spike Plan — Coediting Markdown with a Machine (native surfaces)
| | |
| --- | --- |
| **Companion to** | `coauthoring-native-surfaces.md` (Solution Design) — §7.1 rung 2 |
| **Type** | Throwaway discovery **prototype** (handbook §5.3) — code is disposable |
| **Goal** | Prove the API-dependent design assumptions on the **real** VS Code surfaces, cheaply, **before** the full build — so post-ship iteration is polish, not design |
| **Non-goal** | Production code, real Claude/SDK wiring (except E4), persistence durability, polish, breadth |
| **Status** | `draft` |
---
## Why this exists
Static mockups validated the *look* and *state coverage*; they prove **nothing**
about whether VS Code's native surfaces actually behave as the spec assumes. Twice
already, an unexamined assumption would have forced a redesign (the diff can't
recolor per author; the Comments API can't render in the preview). The remaining
high-risk assumptions can only be settled by **building on the real API**. This spike
does exactly that and nothing more: each experiment returns a **PASS / PASS-with-
fallback / FAIL**, and any FAIL becomes a spec delta folded back into
`coauthoring-native-surfaces.md` before a plan is written.
## Shape & guardrails
- **One throwaway VS Code extension** (`vscode-cowriting-prototype`), run in the
Extension Development Host. **Delete it when the spike ends** — none of this code
graduates.
- **The machine is stubbed** for E1E3, E5 (a function returning canned `before/after`
edits) so we test *VS Code feasibility and feel*, not the SDK. E4 may use a minimal
real call only if cheap.
- **Time-box: ~23 focused days.** If an experiment can't be made to PASS or
PASS-with-fallback inside its slice, that is itself the finding — record it and move
on.
- **No persistence/durability work**, no anchoring ladder, no cross-rung format — those
are not API-risk; defer to the build.
## Experiments (riskiest first)
### E1 — Editable proposed side + Keep/Undo *(highest risk)*
- **Assumption (INV-12, Q2, Q7):** the machine's proposal can be reviewed in a
multi-diff / diff editor whose **proposed side is writable**, the writer can tweak it
before keeping, and **per-change Keep/Undo** works.
- **Build:** open a diff between a read-only baseline (`cowriting-baseline:` virtual
doc) and a **writable** proposal doc (untitled/in-memory) seeded with a canned edit;
attach Keep/Reject actions (try the multi-diff overlay; fall back to per-hunk
**CodeLens**). Edit the proposal side; on Keep, apply to the "live" doc and attribute
machine-vs-tweak by diffing final ↔ canned ↔ baseline.
- **PASS:** proposed side is editable; Keep applies the *tweaked* text; attribution
splits correctly; live doc untouched until Keep.
- **Decides:** Q2 (stable ceiling vs CodeLens fallback), Q7 (Keep/Undo after free
cross-hunk edits). **If FAIL:** the accept/reject surface design changes — know now.
### E2 — Baseline router (git HEAD + snapshot)
- **Assumption (INV-7):** a `QuickDiffProvider` against a `cowriting-baseline:` doc
shows gutter bars + "Open Changes"; the original resolves from **git `HEAD`** when
tracked and from a **snapshot** otherwise; the diff goes **clean on commit /
Mark-Reviewed**.
- **Build:** register the provider; for a repo file read `HEAD` via the Git extension
API and recompute on `repository.state.onDidChange`; for a `~/Downloads` / untitled
file use a stored/in-memory snapshot. Commit (git) and "Mark Changes as Reviewed"
(snapshot) → confirm the diff clears.
- **PASS:** both modes render the expected diff; both resets clear it; works for an
untitled doc.
### E3 — Preview authorship via markdown-it
- **Assumption (PUC-3, D11):** a contributed `markdown.markdownItPlugins` /
`extendMarkdownIt` plugin injects per-span **authorship colors + deletions** into the
**built-in** Markdown preview, toggled by a setting/command, with no custom webview.
- **Build:** contribute the plugin; feed canned attributions/changes; render
green/blue + strikethrough; toggle `cowriting.annotations` on/off.
- **PASS:** marks render inside the native preview; toggle works; deletions show;
scroll-sync intact. **If FAIL:** authorship-surface design changes.
### E4 — Comment → reply → offer → proposal loop
- **Assumption (PUC-8, D10):** a Comments-API thread on a coedited doc can fire a turn,
post a **machine reply `Comment`**, and convert an accepted **offer** into a pending
proposal (E1's surface). Also: a **preview selection → native thread on source** via
the markdown-it token `.map` (D15).
- **Build:** create a thread on selection (and from a preview selection mapped to
source); on add, run a stubbed-or-minimal turn; post a reply comment with an
"Make this edit" action that opens an E1 proposal.
- **PASS:** reply appears in-thread; offer→proposal works; preview-initiated thread
lands on the correct source range. *(Feel/latency notes captured.)*
### E5 — Discoverability (title bar + status bar)
- **Assumption (INV-13):** the editor **title-bar** actions (`editor/title` menus) and
a **`StatusBarItem`** (`✦ Coediting · N changes`, click → review) are visible and
obvious without the Source Control pane; everything gates on `cowriting.isCoediting`.
- **Build:** contribute the menus + status-bar item gated on the context key; enter/exit
coediting flips them.
- **PASS:** a first-time (non-git) user can find "review changes" without opening Source
Control. *(Cheapest experiment — fold into the others.)*
## Output
A short **findings report** (PASS / PASS-with-fallback / FAIL per experiment, with the
feel notes for E1/E4) and, for any non-PASS, a concrete **spec delta** applied to
`coauthoring-native-surfaces.md` — explicitly resolving open questions **Q2, Q4, Q7**.
Then the code is deleted and delivery moves to rung 3 (vertical slice).
## Mapping to the design
| Experiment | Validates | Closes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| E1 | INV-12 · editable proposals + Keep/Undo | Q2, Q7 |
| E2 | INV-7 · baseline router (HEAD + snapshot) | — |
| E3 | PUC-3 / D11 · preview authorship | — |
| E4 | PUC-8 / D10 / D15 · comment loop + preview-initiated thread | — |
| E5 | INV-13 · title-bar / status-bar discovery | — |
| (any FAIL needing a non-native surface) | INV-3 escape hatch | Q4 |
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### 7.1 Approach / strategy
This is a **design-only north star**: it produces no implementation plan and ships
no code. When the operator decides to act on it, the build order follows the surface
mapping — stand up the pure cores, then **the diff surface** (smallest,
highest-confidence native win), then **the preview extension**, then **the
multi-diff accept/reject** (largest API-boundary risk — do it last, with the
CodeLens fallback ready). Each delivered increment is one SPEC → one plan → one
execution once decomposed.
This is a **design-only north star** it ships no code. Delivery proceeds in **four
de-risking rungs, riskiest-API-assumption first**, so any forced design change is
discovered on throwaway code rather than after the full build (the explicit goal:
post-ship iteration is *polish*, not *design*):
1. **Static mockups (done).** Validate visual design + state coverage. *(Already
surfaced and closed the empty-state, comments-from-preview, and discoverability
gaps.)*
2. **Throwaway feasibility spike (next).** A disposable VS Code extension (a §5.3
*prototype*; the machine **stubbed** with canned edits) whose only job is to prove
the API-dependent assumptions on the real surfaces and return a **go/no-go per
assumption — closing the build-time open questions (Q2, Q4, Q7) before any plan is
written.** Riskiest first: (a) the multi-diff proposed side is **editable** with
working **Keep/Undo** (INV-12); (b) the **baseline router** renders QuickDiff
against a snapshot *and* git `HEAD`, going clean on commit / Mark-Reviewed (INV-7);
(c) the **`markdown-it`** plugin injects authorship + deletions in the built-in
preview with a toggle (PUC-3); (d) the **comment → reply → offer → proposal** loop
(PUC-8); (e) the **title-bar + status-bar** discoverability reads as obvious
(INV-13). Companion: `coauthoring-feasibility-spike.md`. Output: a findings report
+ any spec deltas folded back here.
3. **Vertical slice.** One real end-to-end flow (enter → Ask Claude via the **real
`@cline/sdk`** → real proposal → review → keep) on a real document, minimal
breadth — proving the loop works for real once the surfaces are validated.
4. **Full build.** The implementation plan decomposed from this (spike-revised) spec,
built surface-by-surface in the validated order: **pure cores → diff surface**
(highest-confidence native win) **→ preview extension → multi-diff accept/reject**
(largest API-boundary risk, last, with the CodeLens fallback ready). One SPEC →
one plan → one execution per increment.
### 7.2 Rollout / launch plan