Autograph
dev

Exploration

Autograph ships with a small toolbox for exploration and brainstorming: the exchange zone and the canvas. Use them, adapt them, or bring your own.

What works for us

These are the tools autograph's authors use day to day. Nothing here is mandatory: adopt them, adapt them, or build your own.

The exchange zone

The exchange zone is the agent's scratch area for working with you - a place for asynchronous collaboration, not product code. The dev agent uses workspace/exchange.dev.tmp/ (the metalab agent uses exchange.lab.tmp/ at the project root).

  • exchange.dev.tmp/proposed/: proposed changes to read-only files, mirrored at their real path so it is clear which file is being replaced.
  • Code-review diffs the agent produces for you to inspect.
  • Canvas files for ongoing exploration (see below).

Everything here is a working document: review it, apply what you want, drop the rest.

Canvas

A canvas is a structured exploration file (*.canvas.md) kept in the exchange zone. It is a working surface for thinking - options, hypotheses, open questions - not a polished deliverable.

Brainstorming

Lay out ideas without committing to any. The agent challenges assumptions and proposes counter-options; keep the threads worth pursuing and drop the rest.

Problem decomposition

Break a tangled problem into dimensions, constraints, and dependencies. Map what you know and what you still need to find out before choosing an approach.

Decision preparation

Compare options side by side - trade-offs, risks, effort - track open questions, and converge on a decision that produces concrete actions (tickets, ADRs).

The canvas cycle

1. OpenSeed the canvas with context and the problem statement.
2. Explore Add notes, let the agent structure and investigate, pull findings back in. Repeats until things settle.
3. ConvergeCompare options, close open questions, record decisions.
4. CloseTurn decisions into actions (tickets, ADRs), then promote or delete the canvas.

Two notations drive the explore step:

>>An inline note: your feedback, idea, or question, left directly in the canvas.
>> @action: A meta-action: asks the agent to do something outside the document, such as checking code or opening a ticket.

A canvas usually grows from a simple skeleton:

exchange.dev.tmp/async-ports.canvas.md
# <Problem title>

## Context
Why are we exploring this? What triggered it?

## Problem statement
The core question or tension to resolve.

## Options
Compared approaches - tables, trade-offs, constraints.

## Open questions
What we still need to investigate.

## Decisions
What we converged on -> links to resulting actions.