Skip to main content
  • Status: accepted · Date: 2026-07-17 · Deciders: Davor Runje

​
Context

The author wants progress tracked at all levels (hypothesis/paper/thesis) with a markdown dashboard. A research pass grounded how to do this without perverse metrics.

​
Decision drivers

  • Avoid a separate progress artifact that drifts out of sync.
  • Research is not decomposable/burndown-able; verdicts are binary-ish.
  • A self-tracking tool is especially Goodhart-prone.

​
Considered options

  1. A cross-cutting progress skill; status in each artifact’s frontmatter; dashboard is a generated projection; semantic (coverage+blocker) roll-up; anti-Goodhart (surface gaps, never a score).
  2. A fourth “progress” level.
  3. Percentage/velocity dashboards.

​
Decision

Option 1. Status lives with the artifact (living-document); roll-up is a semantic function of children + gate criteria; refuted = done/green (verdict and readiness are distinct axes). Do not count words/papers/commits/success-rate.

​
Consequences

  • Nothing to game or keep in sync; honest coverage/blocker view.
  • Roll-up rules must be specified per level (open item).

​
Rejected alternatives

  • Fourth level — progress isn’t an object with a lifecycle.
  • Percentage/velocity — assumes decomposable scope; Goodhart-prone.
meta-spec §3.6; sub-spec 1 §5; digest thesis-and-progress-tracking.md.