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Local override: $TIKA_SKILLS_LOCAL/feature-workflow/LOCAL.md (default ~/.tika-skills), read after this file, wins on conflict.

Feature Workflow: spike, contract, cut, ship

A complex feature's shape is learned by building it. Learning it on the PR costs a review round per lesson and reshapes what the next round reviews. Keep learning and shipping on different branches.

1. Spike

Throwaway branch. Build end to end, roughly: no CHANGES, docs, or polish; change neighbors freely. Review it (.skills/devs/pr-review/SKILL.md) and let findings reshape interfaces.

Exit: the last review changed edge-case handling, not an interface. While reviews still rename, split, or add methods, keep spiking (pr-review verdict "still spiking").

2. Contract

Write down what the spike taught, half a page per lifecycle object (open/close, acquire/release, publish/abort, spill, rewind): states and transitions, each method's behavior per state, resource ownership on success and every failure path, threading. Put it in the type's javadoc.