experiment: archive historical project documents

2026-08-06 14:24:52 +01:00
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+## Experiment 29 — Archive the History Without Losing the Trail
+
+**Status:** Pending Rob's review
+
+### Hypothesis
+
+Historical documents can be moved into a clearly labelled archive without breaking links, losing evidence, or confusing future sessions. A fresh Claude session should still be able to understand the current system from the short entry point, locate historical material when specifically needed, and identify which documents are current versus retained only as evidence.
+
+### Files Archived (5)
+
+| Original Path | Archive Path | Reason |
+|---|---|---|
+| `docs/v0.4-handoff.md` | `docs/archive/v0.4-handoff.md` | Historical v0.4 handoff; architecture has evolved since. Referenced in `orchestrator-contract.md` (reference repaired). |
+| `docs/v0.4-route-status.md` | `docs/archive/v0.4-route-status.md` | Historical route tracking; current routes differ. |
+| `docs/v0.5-release-notes.md` | `docs/archive/v0.5-release-notes.md` | Historical release record; nothing active depends on it. |
+| `docs/v0.6-ambiguity-generalisation.md` | `docs/archive/v0.6-ambiguity-generalisation.md` | Superseded by later reasoning architecture decisions (Exp 15–25B). |
+| `docs/v0.7-observation-report.md` | `docs/archive/v0.7-observation-report.md` | Experimental observation snapshot; useful reference but not current guidance. UX work paused. |
+
+### Files Deliberately Not Archived (2)
+
+| Document | Reason |
+|---|---|
+| `docs/architectural-principles.md` | 14 architectural principles from experiments; may be needed when re-engaging with reasoning architecture. Status unclear — review before future archive. |
+| `docs/backlog info.md` | Mock fixture backlog useful if resuming UI development. Needs content verification before archiving. |
+
+### Reference Repairs
+
+- `docs/orchestrator-contract.md`: Updated reference from `docs/v0.4-handoff.md` to `docs/archive/v0.4-handoff.md` (line 78) and table entry (line 87).
+- `docs/project-knowledge-inventory.md`: Updated all five archive candidate entries with new paths and provenance notes; updated Return-to-Work section.
+- No other files contained active references to archived documents.
+
+### Practical Archive Test
+
+**Task:** A developer needs to find what v0.4 originally said about the case-orchestration API, without reading the full experiment log or archive directory.
+
+**Execution:** From `docs/project-knowledge-inventory.md` (section 3) → identifies `docs/archive/v0.4-handoff.md` as the historical handoff for v0.4 architecture; from `docs/archive/README.md` → confirms file exists at that path and explains what it contains; verified file is accessible.
+
+**Result:** The developer can locate the correct archived document in two steps: (1) inventory identifies which past document contains relevant evidence, (2) archive index confirms location and contents. The current project can be fully understood from `docs/current-project-state.md` alone without opening any archived file. No current task depends on archived files by default — they are consulted only when a named past decision or release is under investigation.
+
+### Uncertain Candidates
+
+- `docs/architectural-principles.md`: Should it be archived now, or reviewed first for accuracy against current implementation? Decision deferred to Rob's review.
+- `docs/backlog info.md`: Contains mock fixtures — may become irrelevant if the fixture strategy changes. Needs content verification before any future archive decision.
+
+### Status
+
+Pending Rob's review.

 These are observations, not implementation tasks.