The New Medium — The Signal Loop

Every observation is an asset — if you capture it.

Most engineering knowledge evaporates. A bug fixed, a pattern noticed, a frustration voiced — all of it disappears if it isn't captured. The Signal Loop is the mechanism that turns raw observations into structured improvements. It runs continuously alongside every other workflow.

Zone 1 — What Triggers a Signal

Something Surprising

The code does something unexpected. A dependency you didn't know about. A pattern that doesn't match the docs.

Something Frustrating

Friction in the workflow. A tool that doesn't work how you expect. A process that requires too many steps.

Something Working Well

A pattern worth repeating. An approach that saved significant time. Something the team should do more of.

A Gap

Something the system should do but doesn't. Missing capability. Known limitation. Interface mismatch that needs a ticket.

Zone 2 — The Loop

The Seven-Stage Loop — observation to improvement

How signals become features

Observe

During work — not after. Notice something worth remembering and capture it immediately.

→

Signal

create-signal { type, content, source }. One sentence. Raw. Unpolished.

→

Pattern

Signals accumulate. Patterns emerge. Multiple signals from the same source.

→

Opportunity

create-opportunity { title, type, description }. Synthesized insight. Actionable.

Backlog

Opportunity links to a backlog item. CONSIDERED → reviewed → COMMITTED.

→

Epic

promote-backlog → Epic. Scoped. Prioritized. Acceptance criteria. Enters Build workflow.

→

Feature

Shipped. Documented in FEATURES/. Reflected in PRODUCT_SOT. System improves.

↻

The feature ships → new observations emerge → loop continues

Zone 3 — Signal Types

Feedback

User or stakeholder input. What they said, in their words.

create-signal { type: 'feedback', content: 'User said auth flow is confusing', source: 'support-ticket-42' }

Observation

Something noticed in the code, process, or output.

create-signal { type: 'observation', content: 'Migration count doubled in 6 months', source: 'E28-investigation' }

Metric

A measurable data point worth tracking over time.

create-signal { type: 'metric', content: 'Sprint velocity dropped 40% after migrations', source: 'sprint-retro' }

Idea

Possible improvement with no validation yet. Low confidence.

create-signal { type: 'idea', content: 'Auto-generate CONTRACT.md from package.json?', source: 'shower-thought' }

Zone 4 — The MCP Commands

Capture

create-signal { type, content, source } create-opportunity { title, type, description } link-opportunity-to-backlog { opportunity_id, backlog_item } create-gap { title, description, severity }

Review & Promote

list-signals { limit: 20 } list-opportunities {} list-backlog {} promote-backlog { item_id: '001' } prioritize-gaps { top_n: 10 }