The unit ways packages is not a prompt or a skill — it's a gated, multi-phase process. The manifest declares it under spec.flow:

spec:
  flow:
    phases:
      - { id: prd,  label: PRD }
      - { id: plan, label: Planning }
      - { id: build, label: Implementation }
    gates:
      - { id: prd,  afterPhase: prd,  approval: user, enforcement: blocking }
      - { id: plan, afterPhase: plan, approval: user, enforcement: blocking }
      - { id: scans, afterPhase: build, approval: auto, check: "npm test" }
    generates:
      - { name: PRD.md,  pathTemplate: "docs/prds/{slug}/PRD.md",  producedInPhase: prd,  gate: prd }
      - { name: PLAN.md, pathTemplate: "docs/prds/{slug}/PLAN.md", producedInPhase: plan, gate: plan }
    state: .ways/state.json

Phases — the ordered stages of the flow.
Gates — checkpoints between phases: approval: user (a human says OK) or auto (a named check passes); enforcement: blocking or advisory.
Generates — the documents each phase must produce, with path templates.
State — where progress lives, so gate status is inspectable, resumable, and auditable. One .ways/state.json per worktree — see State files.

Conformance: claims are checked

ways conformance applies rules a way must pass beyond schema validity — a way earns the conformant tier or it doesn't install (ways add refuses non-conformant ways):

Rule	Guarantees
`namespaced-name`	`metadata.name` is `ns/name` (e.g. `incu/dev`) — the cross-way collision key
`auto-gate-check`	every `approval: auto` gate names a resolvable check
`generates-map`	every generated doc maps to a declared phase and gate
`state-pointer`	the flow declares a state contract pointer
`slot-ids-unique`	slot ids are unique within `needs` (no ambiguous duplicate)
`contract-resolves`	every slot `contract` reference exists in its catalog — an unknown ref fails, with the near-miss named (typo lint)
`hard-user-gate`	at least one `approval: user` + `enforcement: blocking` gate exists

One rule is a warning, not a tier-breaker: needs-not-alias flags a way still declaring slots under the deprecated capabilitySlots alias and hints the rename to spec.needs — the way stays conformant.

That last rule is the point: a "gated way" without a real human gate is not conformant. The contract encodes the discipline — no code before plan approval, no silent merges — instead of trusting a README to say it.

Validation tiers

A way climbs a ladder of verifiable claims: schema-valid → conformant → doctor-clean → (later, with the registry) reviewed and verified-publisher tiers. Each tier is checkable by tooling — none is self-declared.

Gates & conformance

Conformance: claims are checked

Validation tiers

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