Layer 02 · Specify · Documentation-as-Code
Northbeam · Aurora Methodology
From Blueprint to Contract
The blueprint says what's possible.
The charter says what gets built.
L01 · In

Future-State Blueprint

→
L02 · Question

What do we commit to ship?

The Charter
Spec, executive-readable and machine-verifiable.
Aurora Charter · Keystone Customer Health
§1 Executive Statement
1 paragraph
§2 Background & Forcing Function
3 paragraphs
§3 Scope · in / out / refused
5 workstreams
§4 Acceptance Criteria · testable
40 criteria · 97 tests
§5 Wave Plan
3 waves · forcing fn 06-18
§6 AI Decision Registry
17 ADRs
Trace
Every requirement, linked to evidence.
Requirement R1
Scoring model returns non-null inputs for 100% of revenue-bearing accounts after repair
→
Critical · Evidence Required
Snowflake query result + dbt run log + signed backfill report
→
Value claim from L01
$1.5M ARR-at-risk addressable · 25-50% error reduction · ws-005
No requirement gets locked without all three. No orphan acceptance criteria. No orphan evidence claims. No orphan value promises.
AI Decision Records
Where AI can act. Where it cannot.
ADR-008

Driver attribution must be interpretable

The model that explains "why is this account at risk" must produce decomposable answers. No black-box reasoning on the customer-impact path.

→ Build cannot import: torch · tensorflow · transformers · keras
ADR-016

Customer-facing actions require human confirmation

The AI playbook can prepare the email, the calendar invite, the in-app message. A named human ratifies before anything fires.

→ Build cannot call external APIs without HumanConfirmation parameter
ADR-015

AI memo cannot invent numbers

Every paragraph in the board memo traces to a numerical source listed in §2 or a documented assumption in §5.

→ Build cannot emit bare-LLM output strings into the memo template
ADR-017

The validation gate cannot be bypassed

A signal known to be unreliable (broken data lineage) is suppressed by the validation layer before it reaches a CSM.

→ Build cannot route a dispatch that fails the mapping-health check
Safe-AI Guardrails
Three guardrails. All three structural.

Interpretable by default

Where AI explains a customer-impact decision, the explanation must be decomposable into named drivers. Opaque models forbidden on the explain path.

Human-in-the-loop on external actions

The AI can compose. The AI cannot send. A named human confirms before any customer touch — email, call, in-app, invoice, refund.

Forbidden patterns enforced at commit

Every ADR's "do not" list becomes a grep pattern the build layer runs before commits land. Forbidden lines never reach production.

Ambiguity Log
Every unanswered question, surfaced.
Ambiguity Log · 26 items · 7 blocking
AMB-021 · Should Diego's sales-side renewal signals be folded into the canonical health score?
✓ Maya: yes
AMB-022 · Should Priya's product engagement score join the canonical?
✓ Maya: yes · weight 0.05
AMB-026 · What's the trailing-window for the board-facing churn number?
✓ Lin: T-12 months
AMB-015 · How does a canonical-definition change propagate to downstream consumers?
✓ Tom: hash-signed, additive only
AMB-009 · Threshold for when a CSM dispatch becomes a CRO escalation?
deferred · Wave 2
Charter does not lock until every blocking ambiguity is resolved with a named decision-maker on the record. No vague-on-purpose specifications.
Lock
Charter locked.
🔒

Aurora Charter v1

Keystone Customer Health · 17 ADRs · 40 acceptance criteria · 97 tests
SIGNED · 2026-05-23 · TOM · MAYA · LIN · BILL
Immutable
Any change from here forward requires a change-order with named approval and audit-trail. No quiet revisions.
Automated · Repeatable
Weeks of specification now automated.
Weeks
→
Days
17
AI safety decisions
40
Acceptance criteria
97
Tests authored from spec
26
Ambiguities resolved
Handoff
One locked contract. Forward.
L02 · Locked

Aurora Charter v1

→
L03 · BUILD
Aurora doesn't hand a builder a "rough idea." It hands them a contract with 17 enforceable guardrails and 97 tests waiting to be made green.
The blueprint says what's possible. The charter says what gets built — and what we refuse to build.
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