# The Record Method — Start Record / End Record v1

Version: 1.0.0  
Purpose: provide the minimum continuity boundary for a serious AI project chat.

## Authority boundary

This template creates a navigable working record. It does not automatically approve facts, decisions, instructions, or canon. Human disposition remains a separate act.

## Start Record

```text
Project:
Workstream:
Objective for this chat:
Prior record or handoff:
Source files being used:
```

Use the Start Record before substantive work begins. The prior record or handoff should identify the bounded current state, not require the model to reread the complete archive.

## End Record

```text
Topics:
Summary:
Search terms:
Decisions or changes:
Open items:
Source record IDs:
Next step:
```

Use the End Record before leaving the chat. Discussed material remains discussion unless the human explicitly accepts, revises, rejects, defers, or supersedes it.

## Recommended workflow

1. Preserve the complete source conversation or file.
2. Catalog it in RecordMethodKeep.
3. Extract candidates without granting authority.
4. Apply human disposition.
5. Update current state and supersession.
6. Generate the next-chat handoff.

The archive may be large. Working memory should remain bounded.