Ask yourself this.
Is what I am working on right now for the user, or for me?
EPA is a framework for asking the right questions while building. The questions change. The discipline does not.
What changes, and what it does not promise.
er
Understanding arrives through use. Data serves a purpose she recognizes as her own. Ownership is how the system is built. What must not leak cannot leak. When business and user conflict, business yields.
Does not promiseThat every product already holds. This is what must hold, checked per product.
The organisation
EPA limits paths, not goals. What must hold is written before anything ships. Red is a find: construction work, not a moral verdict.
Does not promiseThat review holds if only the owner of the model can hear an answer they do not want.
he field
The form spreads a comparable way of asking. The direction coincides with the direction of regulation.
Does not promiseProven societal effect. Compliance. The belief is the reason, not the proof.
When you want to begin.
1
Before building
Open START.md in the package.
- one decision this week
- two people
- the entry question then the six
- one dated page of what must hold
Expect red somewhere. That is the instrument working. No Continuity Module yet.
02
Building with an agent
Only after Card 1, and only if they are building with an agent.
- Place epa-agent-contract.md as AGENTS.md in the repository root (copy or link, never a rewrite).
- Before trusting any review, run it against negative-control.md. Green there means the setup is broken.
The contract is a reminder. It is not a holding boundary.
03
Continuity Module
Install only for agentic work on a version-controlled workspace (git, continuous integration, and branch protection). EPA itself is wider; this module is not a requirement of the framework.
If premises fail: stay on EPA (Cards 1–2). Do not install icm/.
- Read epa-continuity-module.md.
- Follow icm/INSTALL.md.
- Prove the install with icm/VERIFY.md before trusting it.
Get the package
Private on GitHub until deliberate public launch. Public download lands with that launch.
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