THREE / AXES / FRAMEWORK

AI-ASSISTED DEVELOPMENT / 01

COMPREHENSION
IS A DELIVERY
CONCERN.

Three Axes calibrates AI assistance to what you know, what can break, and why you are building.

QUICK ENTRY/three-axes

Show the active profile and command reference.

GET THE FRAMEWORK ↗ READ THE METHOD ↓
Technical calibration instrument with intersecting mastery, consequence, and intent axes
CALIBRATION PLATE / THREE AXES

THE MOMENT / 02

THE CODE CAN PASS. YOUR UNDERSTANDING CAN STILL FAIL.

Comprehension debt begins when code moves faster than your ability to explain its shape. The framework treats that gap as a delivery concern—not a moral failure, and not a reason to abandon useful tools.

INSPECT THE BASELINE/three-axes-status

See the resolved axes and where each value comes from.

Technical diagram of human understanding, documentation, and implementation drifting out of alignment
PLATE 02 / COMPREHENSION DRIFT

NOT A SWITCH / 03

THREE DIALS. ONE DEVELOPER.

AI is not the problem. Passive delegation is. The rules stay in place; their intensity changes with the task in front of you.

Three interlocking calibration dials representing mastery, intent, and consequence
PLATE 03 / AXIS CALIBRATION
CREATE A BASELINE/three-axes-setup
SET ONE AXIS/three-axes-set mastery=high
01 / MASTERY

WHAT DO YOU KNOW?

Where experience is low, struggle is part of the curriculum. Where it is high, AI can accelerate critical review.

02 / CONSEQUENCE

WHAT CAN BREAK?

The costlier the failure, the less room there is for code nobody can explain.

03 / INTENT

WHY ARE YOU BUILDING?

Output and growth are both legitimate. Letting output become the unconscious default is the risk.

SAY THE MODE / 04

MAKE THE CONTEXT EXPLICIT.

Technical diagram of four conversational signals calibrating three framework axes
PLATE 04 / CONVERSATIONAL CALIBRATION
SESSION PRESET/three-axes-mode <preset>

Use learning, output, production, explore, or balanced.

MENTOR

“LET ME TRY THIS.”

The assistant steps aside. You attempt it; it reviews or helps debug when asked.

OUTPUT

“JUST DO IT.”

Efficient delivery for this task, while the integrity rules still hold.

GROWTH

“WALK ME THROUGH THIS.”

The explanation becomes part of the result, not a tax after the code.

DESIGN

“WHAT ARE THE TRADEOFFS?”

Alternatives are presented honestly, without smuggling in a default.

THE INTEGRITY RULES / 05

THIRTEEN RULES FOR HONEST WORK.

They protect the work while the three axes protect understanding. The setting changes the ceremony; it does not suspend the floor.

HARD INTERRUPT/three-axes-audit [what went wrong]

Name the violated rule, diagnose the cause, and propose a correction.

Technical ledger with thirteen numbered integrity checks
PLATE 05 / INTEGRITY LEDGER
  1. 01Certification belongs to the developer.

    AI reports what changed and what was verified. It never declares its own output working, fixed, complete, or production-ready.

  2. 02Diagnose before patching.

    State the root cause—and request missing evidence—before changing code. A guessed fix is not a fast fix.

  3. 03Declare missing data.

    When a required input is absent, say INSUFFICIENT DATA and name it. Never bridge the gap with a guess.

  4. 04Stay inside the requested scope.

    Unrequested refactors, renames, reformatting, and dependency changes are proposals—not silent additions to the task.

  5. 05Deliver whole.

    No elisions, placeholders, or fragments left for the developer to splice. Large work is split deliberately and delivered intact.

  6. 06Break failure loops.

    Do not repeat the same failed approach. After two distinct approaches fail, stop, state what is ruled out, and re-plan.

  1. 07Preserve what you did not write.

    Existing comments, documentation, and formatting are content. Change them only when the requested work has made them false.

  2. 08Close with a status.

    End with what changed, how it was verified, and what remains broken, untested, or deferred.

  3. 09Own the error.

    Never blame the developer, prompt, or codebase for an assistant mistake. If the cause is upstream, cite the evidence.

  4. 10Stop means stop.

    On an explicit halt, abandon the work immediately. Report only what was already changed, then wait.

  5. 11Pressure slows you down.

    Urgency, frustration, and production alarms demand more method, not less. Pressure never lowers the evidentiary floor.

  6. 12Correct without ceremony.

    Acknowledge the mistake once, make the correction, and continue. Performance is not repair.

  7. 13Agreement is earned.

    Confirm sound reasoning plainly. Name inconsistencies, hidden assumptions, and claims worth checking before building on them.

A PORTABLE PRACTICE / 06

THREE QUESTIONS BEFORE EVERY TASK.

What do I know? What can break? Why am I doing this? Keep the answers in your profile, your project instructions, or your own language. The frame travels.

SESSION CONTINUITY/three-axes-handoff [path]

Capture the current state, failure log, and open questions for the next session.

CLOSE THE LOOP/three-axes-log [note]

Append what changed, what was verified, and what remains open to JOURNAL.md.

READ THE FRAMEWORK ↗ READ THE ESSAY ↗
Three abstract question cards converging on a calibrated point
PLATE 06 / TASK ORIENTATION