The brain is useful because you can inspect the company’s context and work without reconstructing a chat.
Current context and durable history
profile.json describes the business; state.json records progress; build-map.json holds the applicable graph. NOW.md is a rendered current view. dials.json records department autonomy, while ledger.jsonl holds append-only task and playbook events. Dated decision records live under decisions/.
The ledger and decision files serve different purposes. Do not treat every event as a complete business decision, or a current view as a substitute for history.
Start an inspection by deciding which question you are asking. “What is the company doing now?” points toward current state and its rendered view. “What happened during the last session?” points toward the ledger. “Why did we choose this direction?” calls for the dated decision and its supporting context. These are connected questions with different source files.
Artifacts have real paths
Phase 0 output folders are named by playbook: phase0-company-brief, phase0-architecture, phase0-product-flow, phase0-data-model, phase0-roadmap, phase0-org-chart and phase0-task-plan. The website, one-pager and deck each have their own folders.
These paths hold Markdown, Mermaid, JSON and HTML. The face builder reads the structured package into face.json. A partial face can be valid while still missing work required for publication.
A path is part of the handoff between sessions. It lets a reviewer open the actual output and allows later work to refer to the same artifact. Keep the structured files and the rendered collateral aligned: a roadmap in JSON and a roadmap described in a deck should not quietly disagree about what is committed.
When a company changes direction, inspect the related files instead of editing only the public summary. The brief, product diagrams, ownership and task plan may all depend on that decision. Rebuilding a face from inconsistent inputs merely gives the inconsistency another representation.
Public projections are separate
The CAF record lives in attest/, with an envelope, claims, event delta, receipt window, Merkle proofs and an append-only chain. It is separate from the company-authored face. A private signing key belongs outside the brain and must not be shipped with public outputs.
Optional capx-bind.json records the company’s connection. Before connecting, inspect the disclosed material and the behavior of later bound updates.
The distinction between the face and CAF is useful to readers as well as builders. The face describes the company in its own words and artifacts. The signed operating record supplies a different set of statements and checks about recorded work. Publishing them together should make their relationship inspectable without implying that a signature proves every product claim.