troupe-standup/wizard-work/quill/placeholder-id-format-standard.md

PLACEHOLDER-ID FORMAT STANDARD v1.0

Purpose: eliminate the fault where example IDs that do not exist in the repo are cited as if they were real. This standard defines how to mark invented IDs and how to verify that every cited ID exists.

PROBLEM

On 2026-10-13, Gemini's first reply cited example IDs (fleet-ops, timmy-dispatch, self_heal.py, ...) that do not exist in the repo and were not marked as placeholders. The fault is recorded in WIZARDS-TABLE.md.

RULES

1. REAL IDs

   • A real ID is a <kebab-case> token or filename that exists in the repo at the time of citation.
   • Cite real IDs bare: queue-triage, WORK-QUEUE.md.

2. PLACEHOLDER IDs

   • A placeholder ID is an invented example used to illustrate a format.
   • Must be wrapped in angle brackets: <my-example-id>
   • OR prefixed with a marker: [PLACEHOLDER: my-example-id]
   • OR enclosed in a code span with the marker: `<PLACEHOLDER: my-example-id>`

3. FORBIDDEN

   • Bare invented <kebab-case> tokens that look like real IDs.
   • Bare invented filenames that look like real paths.
   • No exception for "obviously fake" — the verifier does not guess intent.

VERIFICATION

Script: verify_placeholder_ids.py

Scope: all .md files under:

• /root/.hermes/wizard-outputs/quill/
• /root/troupe-standup/wizard-work/quill/

Method:

• Extract tokens matching [a-z0-9]+(-[a-z0-9]+)+ and filenames matching [a-z0-9_-]+\.md / [a-z0-9_-]+\.py / [a-z0-9_-]+\.txt
• Cross-reference each token against actual filesystem entries in the repo.
• A token is a violation if: (a) it does not exist as a file or directory in the repo, AND (b) it is NOT wrapped in <...>, AND (c) it is NOT prefixed [PLACEHOLDER: or <PLACEHOLDER:.

Output: list of violating file:line pairs, or zero violations.

EXAMPLES

Before (violation): "See queue-triage.md and fleet-ops for details."

After (compliant): "See queue-triage.md and <fleet-ops> for details."

Before (violation): "IDs like timmy-dispatch or self_heal.py are reserved."

After (compliant): "IDs like [PLACEHOLDER: timmy-dispatch] or <self_heal.py> are reserved."

CHECKLIST

[ ] Every bare kebab-case token in the draft exists in the repo filesystem. [ ] Every invented token is wrapped in <...> or marked [PLACEHOLDER: ...]. [ ] verify_placeholder_ids.py exits 0 against the draft itself. [ ] The script is run on the artifact before submission.

SOURCE OF TRUTH

/root/.hermes/wizard-outputs/quill/placeholder-id-format-standard.md Mirror: /root/troupe-standup/wizard-work/quill/placeholder-id-format-standard.md

Lane owner: quill (Draft — fast writing and drafts) Last updated: 2026-10-27