manual_slop/conductor/directives/verbatim_lift_not_rewrite/v1.md

Directive harvesters MUST do verbatim lifts of source text — NOT rewrites or paraphrases

What it says

When lifting source text into a directive (or any project artifact that documents an existing rule), the harvester produces a VERBATIM lift — the source text is preserved character-for-character, including formatting, headers, and any markdown structure the source has. Rewrites, paraphrases, and "cleaned-up" versions are forbidden.

Why

1. The harvester is documenting current state, not improving it. A directive that paraphrases "for clarity" introduces drift between the rule and the canonical statement of the rule. Future readers comparing the directive to the source will see divergence and lose trust.
2. Verbatim lifts are auditable. A reviewer can diff <source> <directive> and see only structural framing (the # <rule-statement> heading, the provenance footer line). No semantic drift.
3. The harvester is not the judge of "what the rule should be." That's the Tier 1 Orchestrator's job. The harvester records; the orchestrator decides.
4. The lift is reversible. If a directive is later judged inaccurate, the source can be re-read and the directive regenerated without re-interpreting.

The format (canonical pattern)

# <Rule statement, distilled to a single imperative sentence>

## What it says

<Verbatim lift of the source's rule statement. The harvester may add or remove only structural headings; the rule's prose is verbatim.>

## Why

<Verbatim lift of the source's "why" / rationale section.>

## <Additional sections — verbatim lifts of any further context the source provides.>

What's NOT a verbatim lift

• NOT "for clarity" rewordings
• NOT removing caveats the author included
• NOT merging multiple paragraphs into one for terseness
• NOT adding commentary, examples, or context the source didn't have
• NOT "correcting" minor wording — if the source has a typo, lift it as-is and add a TODO

What's allowed as structure

• Adding the # <rule-statement> heading (the harvester's distillation)
• Adding the source-pointer line (the provenance footer)
• Adding or removing section headers (## Why, ## Examples, etc.) IF the source's logical sections can be mapped 1:1

Cross-refs

• conductor/code_styleguides/data_oriented_design.md §"Documentation Refresh Protocol" — the "preserve source quotes" principle applies here
• conductor/tracks/directive_hotswap_harness_20260627/plan.md §"Phase 1" — the harvest plan documents this verbatim rule explicitly