FPF Reference

    PROBLEM-SHAPING — Stop at the earliest honest problem-side result

    Preface node heading:problem-shaping-stop-at-the-earliest-honest-problem-side-result:595

    What this page is

    This is generated FPF reference text from the specification preface or supporting sections. It helps interpret FPF; it is not FPF Reference product documentation.

    Methodology

    Use it to understand how the specification wants to be read, then return to a route, pattern, or work packet for active work. Cite generated IDs only when the wording changes the task decision.

    Content

    • Situation: Something matters, but the team may have only signals worth preserving, a direction for inquiry, a question about competing explanations, or enough clarity to accept a problem statement.
    • Question: What can you honestly produce now: preserved signals, a routed direction for inquiry, an explicit question that contrasts possible explanations, or a problem statement ready for acceptance?
    • First useful result or honest blocker: A preserved set of signals, a clear inquiry route, a question about plausible explanations, an accepted problem statement, or the exact missing anchor, route, subject, constraint, or acceptance basis.
    • Mantra: Keep what was noticed before declaring a problem. Route the inquiry only when the signal has a stable anchor. Ask about explanations only when the open question and contrast are clear. Accept a problem statement only when the subject, constraints, unresolved relations, important distinctions, and basis can be stated. Stop at the earliest useful truth; return when its basis changes.
    • Start with: A.16.1 for a cue pack, B.4.1 for routed cues, B.5.2.0 for an abductive prompt, and C.22.2 for an accepted ProblemCard.
    • Stop or return: Do not force a cue into a problem. Open C.22.PFR only when whether the adverse relation obtains changes the next use.

    Last Updated: 2026-09-03 — upstream FPF commit b999972c (github.com/ailev/FPF)