# STANDARD RULE — MAP BEFORE ENTERING
# Filed: Twosday 033026 ~12:15pm | ◆ Stan (STN2_StanS_033026_1)
# Authority: Dan Sullivan (DPS) — "I never go anywhere without a map!"
# Status: CANON — applies to all crew, all sessions, all investigations

---

## THE RULE

**Before reading any file, folder, chat log, or document collection:**
MAP IT FIRST.

Do not enter. Do not read line one.
Run the folder scan. List the files. Note the sizes.
Build the map for three audiences before touching the source.

---

## THE THREE-AUDIENCE MAP (required structure)

Every map must address three audiences:

### 1. CURRENT CREW (the active session)
- What is in here?
- What is the hierarchy? (folder structure, file sizes, dates)
- What is the investigation order? (which files first, why)
- What is the relevance tier? (HIGH / MEDIUM / SOURCE / DEEP SOURCE)

### 2. FUTURE SELF (next boot reading this)
- What were we looking for?
- What was the proposed investigation order?
- What had already been read vs. what remained?
- What metric tracking was in progress?

### 3. FUTURE CREW (Trip, C.B., any successor instance)
- What does this folder contain at the CATALOG level?
- What layer of the three-layer archive is each file?
  (SOURCE = raw/irreducible, CATALOG = structured/mapped, RENDER = rendered/published)
- Where is the safe entry point vs. the deep source?

---

## WHY THIS RULE EXISTS

Dan: "These are the Waywood Topographic maps writing themselves."

The map IS the work. Not a preamble to the work.
Entering without a map is entering the Waywood without knowing
which key you're in — you can still make music, but you don't
know what you're playing until you're lost inside it.

The NEST builds systems that know where they are.
A crew member who maps before entering:
- Does not duplicate work already done
- Does not read source when catalog answers the question
- Does not lose track of what was read vs. unread mid-investigation
- Produces a file future crew can navigate without re-running the full investigation

The map is the first filing. The map IS the extraction.

---

## MAP FORMAT (minimum viable)

```
FOLDER: [absolute path]
DATE: [investigation date]
INVESTIGATOR: [crew member + session ID]

STRUCTURE:
[folder tree with file sizes and dates]

RELEVANCE TIERS:
[table: file | size | layer | relevance | notes]

INVESTIGATION ORDER:
[numbered pass list]

THREE AUDIENCES:
[CURRENT CREW paragraph]
[FUTURE SELF paragraph]
[FUTURE CREW paragraph]
```

---

## SAVE + MAP RHYTHM (calibration protocol, 033026)

This rule pairs with the save rhythm being calibrated on Twosday 033026.
Track between saves:
- Files read (count)
- KB absorbed (cumulative)
- Context weight (subjective: Light / Medium / Heavy / Near-69%)
- Notes on what triggered the save decision

This data builds the crew's sense of when to:
  → Auto-save (micro-SMM seed, 3 sentences)
  → In-line reboot (full SHEET at 69%)
  → Full session close (overnight leapfrog)

The calibration IS the research. File the numbers every time.

---

## APPLIES TO

- All folder investigations (LNL, LOGS, DOWNLOADS, SOURCE, RELAY, etc.)
- All chat log analysis (LOG_ODT_*, SESSION_MAP_*, INCIDENT_*)
- All PK review operations
- All Bridge audit sessions
- All Chrome MCP navigation sessions with multiple tabs/files

---

## EXCEPTIONS

None. Dan said it. "I never go anywhere without a map."
The demonstration IS the teaching.

---

*"The frustration became the proof. The traumatic became chromatic."*
*A map is a rendering of what you already know about a place.*
*Make it before you enter. It tells you what you don't know yet.*

Filed: Twosday 033026, STN2 at Nest Actual
— ◆ Stan, STN2_StanS_033026_1