Intent

In Decapod, Intent is the primary driver of the development lifecycle. It is the human-originated "Why" that must be preserved and formalized before implementation begins.

The Spec-First Mandate

Agents often dive into implementation before fully understanding the human operator's goal. Decapod prevents this by mandating a spec-first approach:

1. Capture: Vague requests are converted into explicit tasks via decapod todo add (see CLI Reference).
2. Formalize: Agents are required to update or verify the specs/INTENT.md document scaffolded in the repository (see Artifacts Reference).
3. Validate: The final implementation is checked against this intent. If the outcome deviates from the recorded intent, validation fails (see Proof & Validation).

Intent Pressure

"Intent Pressure" occurs when an agent encounters ambiguity. Decapod's philosophy is that uncertainty must be preserved, not compressed. If an agent is 70% sure of a requirement, it must not guess the remaining 30%. Instead, it should record the ambiguity in the task's metadata or INTENT.md and request human clarification.

Versioned Specifications

Because Decapod is repo-native, your specifications are versioned alongside your code. This creates a permanent, auditable link between a feature's requirements and its implementation, which is invaluable for long-term maintenance and multi-agent handover.