01 — Files (one job each)

PLAN.md — WHAT we build: idea, scope, phases, locked decisions, open questions. Rarely changes. New decisions append here once.
PROGRESS.md — WHERE we are: status snapshot (date), Done / In progress / Pending, Next up (the handoff), session log table, reminders. Updated EVERY session, before anything closes.
Optional per-topic trackers (create when topic first matters, not upfront): tests checklist, UI/design state, backend/data, problem ledger. Each owns its topic; PROGRESS points to them, never duplicates them.
Doc index (optional, grows late): one-line map of every doc + reusable artifacts. Exists to make future distillation trivial.
Project config (optional, only for foreign layouts): SKILL-CONFIG.md in project root overrides snapshot path, history path, and gate command (template: templates/CONFIG.md). Missing file = defaults (PROGRESS.md + discovered gate).

Rules:

One status home: PROGRESS snapshot. Trackers hold detail; PROGRESS holds pointer + verdict.
Status words fixed: done / in-progress / pending / blocked. Same words everywhere.
Dates on every snapshot and log row (YYYY-MM-DD). "Recent" without a date is forbidden.
Update minimum: PROGRESS + session-log row every session; every other doc only when its subject changed (files added/moved, milestone moved, user-visible facts changed).

Two repos (code vs state)

Code repo (e.g. MyApp/): app source only. Its .gitignore excludes testing/, metro.log, build dirs. Raw evidence never committed.
State repo (workspace root): PLAN + PROGRESS + trackers + problem ledger only. Its .gitignore excludes every app folder (each app is its own repo) + reference/study folders.
Why separate: code history stays clean for builds; state history keeps full process record (decisions, test proof maps, lessons for future skills). Either can die without killing the other.
Unpushable dirs need zip-if-changed: baseline lives in the state repo as <dir>-BASELINE.md (the last fingerprint); fingerprint = git status --porcelain -- <dir> + git log -1 --format=%H -- <dir>; identical → NO ZIP; changed → zip to <dir>-backup-<YYYY-MM-DD>.zip excluding .git node_modules runtime/logs secrets, then refresh the baseline.
Both private, both pushed every session. Commit alone stays on one disk — only the push is backup.

Conditional updates. Updating every doc every session rots docs with noise. Cost: stale words nobody trusts. Rule: PROGRESS + log always; others only when their subject changed.
Zip-if-changed. Gitignored dirs die with the disk; zipping every session wastes uploads. Cost: lost floors or GBs of pointless zips. Rule: the procedure above — fixed baseline location, fingerprint command, and zip destination; NO ZIP when identical.