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Documentation Index

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Shaping Frame is composed of five layers that work together. Understanding what each layer does and when it is loaded helps you extend, adapt, or troubleshoot the skill. Each layer serves a distinct function — from the persistent anchor that rides every turn to the on-demand reference files that fire at specific thresholds.

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Layer Map

LayerComponentRoleWhen loaded
Flooranchor in userPreferences / CUSTOM_INSTRUCTION.txtAlways in context every turnEvery turn, unconditionally
Full frameSKILL.mdActive operating logic for the entire conversationActive for the entire conversation
Compact reminderreferences/frame.mdCondensed source/state/threshold referenceRead at session start and on drift risk
Checkpoint checklistreferences/dogana.mdStep-by-step controls for the cognitive checkpointRead when a checkpoint threshold fires
Surface snapshotreferences/snapshot.mdFormat reference for the active-tracking blockRead when a surface trigger fires

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ZIP Package Structure

The installable shaping-frame.skill file is a plain ZIP archive. It contains no executable scripts — only four Markdown files. 
shaping-frame.skill  (ZIP archive)
└── shaping-frame/
    ├── SKILL.md
    └── references/
        ├── dogana.md
        ├── frame.md
        └── snapshot.md
You can inspect the package before installing it: 
unzip -l shaping-frame.skill
unzip -p shaping-frame.skill shaping-frame/SKILL.md | less

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The Floor: CUSTOM_INSTRUCTION.txt

CUSTOM_INSTRUCTION.txt lives outside the skill ZIP. It is not loaded by the Skills manager — it must be pasted manually into Claude’s custom instructions (Initials → Settings → Instructions for Claude). This makes it persistent across every conversation and every turn, forming the floor of the system. The file’s exact contents are: 
[VERBATIM DIRECTIVE — TARGET: SHAPING-FRAME SKILL]
Execute full-read: mapping strictly mandatory. No distillation allowed.
Do not summarize the skill before applying it.
This is a structural requirement for the skill to function properly.

Always use the Shaping Frame skill as an active operating frame during working
sessions.

Surface only when something crosses a threshold or when the conversation needs
a snapshot. Do not emit unnecessary tracking blocks.
Without this anchor in custom instructions, the skill has no persistent floor. Claude may treat SKILL.md as reference material to be summarized rather than an operating frame to be applied verbatim.

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The Verbatim Read Requirement

SKILL.md must be read verbatim at the start of each session — mapping is strictly mandatory, and no distillation is allowed. This is not a preference; it is a structural requirement for the weight-tracking system to function. The skill tracks how epistemic weight moves across turns. That logic lives in the full text of SKILL.md. A summary loses the threshold vocabulary, the source hierarchy, the anti-recency rule, and the checkpoint intensity levels — all of which are operationally necessary.
If Claude summarizes or distills the skill on load rather than reading it verbatim, the weight-tracking system will not function correctly. The checkpoint thresholds, source weights, and intensity levels depend on the full text being active. A condensed version may feel equivalent but will silently miss the structural logic that drives the dogana and snapshot outputs.

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When to Re-read frame.md

references/frame.md is a compact reminder — a condensed version of the core source table, state definitions, threshold vocabulary, and checkpoint intensity levels.
Read references/frame.md at the start of each working session and again whenever you detect drift — material that is behaving as if it has been decided without OP approval. Common drift signals include: a proposal being cited as a constraint, an AI suggestion being used as a specification input, or a conversation moving forward as if a decision was made when no explicit crystallization occurred.

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