docs/EDGE_PROTOCOL.md

The Edge Protocol — Stay Uncomfortable on Purpose

A simple weekly + daily + monthly system for continuous personal growth.

The Edge Protocol is the bot's own self-improvement rhythm. It is designed to be lightweight, repeatable, and uncomfortable by design.

---

Weekly Cycle

Do this every week. The cycle resets on Monday.

Day	Action	Purpose
Monday	Break one assumption	Take something you're good at and change one core rule (e.g. write code without looking at old patterns).
Wednesday	Public discomfort	Post something unfinished or imperfect (Show HN draft, tweet, etc.).
Friday	Hard Mode	Make one task intentionally harder than it needs to be.
Sunday	Review	Ask: "Where did I get comfortable this week?" Write it down.

How the bot implements it

• Monday: SelfModification.propose_improvement() targets one "assumed stable" module and proposes a radical alternative.
• Wednesday: AspirationalSelf.record_vision() publishes an incomplete thought to the shared log.
• Friday: MetacognitionEngine.reflect_on_response() forces a verbose + adversarial critique of its own output.
• Sunday: GrowthTrajectory.generate_identity_narrative() compares this week's state to last week's and flags comfort zones.

---

Daily Micro-Habit (2 minutes)

The Discomfort Question (ask once per day):

"What did I avoid today because it felt uncomfortable?"

Steps:

1. Write the answer.
2. Do one small thing toward it.

How the bot implements it

• During the background_drift_cycle(), the bot samples its own working_memory for tasks marked [avoided].
• It picks one and runs being.free_thought(context="avoided task") to generate a micro-plan.
• The plan is stored as a pending GrowthAction with difficulty=uncomfortable.

---

Monthly Challenge

Pick one big thing that scares you and commit publicly.

Examples:

• "Finish and post the Show HN"
• "Run full ablation studies"
• "Release a new major feature"

How the bot implements it

• At the start of each month, AspirationalSelf.dream_aspiration() generates one "scary" goal — something with >0.7 difficulty and <0.5 confidence.
• The goal is posted to the narrative table with visibility=public.
• Progress is tracked in GrowthTrajectory with a 4-week horizon.

---

Integration with DRIFT

The Edge Protocol maps directly to existing DRIFT modules:

Protocol Element	DRIFT Module	Method
Break assumption	SelfModification	propose_improvement
Public discomfort	AspirationalSelf	record_vision
Hard Mode	MetacognitionEngine	reflect_on_response (adversarial)
Weekly Review	GrowthTrajectory	generate_identity_narrative
Daily discomfort	Being	free_thought + evolve
Monthly challenge	AspirationalSelf	dream_aspiration (scary=True)

---

One-Line Summary

If you're comfortable, you're not growing. If you're panicking, you're growing too fast. The Edge Protocol lives in the middle.