Understanding the Project

Write vision.md

Write architecture.md

Write roadmap.md

The Process

There's nothing clever about the prompts here. "Write vision.md" is exactly what it sounds like. The value isn't in the prompting— it's in the iteration.

The workflow:

1. Ask AI to write the document
2. Read it carefully
3. Ask questions about things that don't make sense
4. Request additions or clarifications
5. Repeat until the document is solid

Why These Three?

vision.md

This is the "why." What problem are we solving? What's the thesis? What are the core principles that can't be compromised? It surfaces the hard paradoxes early—if you can't articulate them, you don't understand the problem. The key thing about the vision: use it to keep focus. When you're deep in implementation and lose the thread, come back here.

architecture.md

This is the "what." System diagrams, code sketches, data structures. It forces you to think through the layers before writing any code. Where does state live? How do components communicate? What are the trust boundaries?

roadmap.md

This is the "when." What's the minimum viable demonstration? What can be deferred? What's required vs. optional? It also defines exit criteria—how do you know when you're done?

What I Learned

Writing these documents crystallized a few things:

1. The baseline matters. You can't claim Maxwell is better than Linux CFS without measuring what CFS actually does. The roadmap now starts with measuring the problem before building the solution.

2. Honest limitations help. The vision doc explicitly calls out that this isn't a complete AI safety solution. A well-funded malicious agent still runs. That honesty makes the real claims (DePIN verification) more credible.

3. Implementation priority is a forcing function. When you have to decide what to build first, you discover what you actually understand vs. what you're hand-waving.

Next Steps

Identify research directives and perform initial deep research.