Language Bank
Operating vocabulary for Two Birds Innovation — trigger words, code words, industry terms, and friction tracking.
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Trigger Words
RETRO
Run a sprint retrospective on recent sessions.
When to use: After completing a major sprint or build session. Generates a structured What Went Well / What Didn't / What to Change analysis.
"RETRO on the March 31 build sprint — what should we do differently next time?"
SPRINT
Execute a focused build session from the sprint queue.
When to use: When you want Claude to pick up and execute items from NEXT-SPRINT-QUEUE.md autonomously. Commits after each completed item.
"SPRINT — run the top 3 items from the queue. Skip Aaron manual tasks."
STATE
Read and summarise current SESSION-STATE.md.
When to use: At the start of a new session to understand what happened last. Gives Claude full context of recent work without re-reading everything.
"STATE — what did we do last session and what's next?"
DASHBOARD
Open or update the Command Centre project dashboard.
When to use: When you want a visual status check across all Two Birds projects. Also used to update project statuses after completing work.
"DASHBOARD — update Clarity status to Active, mark DCC Sprint 2 complete."
HAL
Reference the HAL Stack infrastructure and automation layer.
When to use: When discussing automation infrastructure — n8n workflows, overnight builds, prompt queues, LightRAG. HAL is the operational backbone.
"HAL — what's the status of the overnight scheduler and prompt queue?"
JOURNEY
Access or update the narrative journey archive.
When to use: When you want to write, read, or extend the raw session logs or narrative chapters. The living record of Aaron's transition from corporate PM to founder.
"JOURNEY — write chapter 3 covering the first client conversation."
Two Birds Code Words
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| KUNO | Aaron's father. The original inspiration for the Digital Confidence Centre — a senior who needed help navigating technology safely. |
| PAISLEY | Aaron's twin daughters. The reason behind the name Two Birds — two things from the same origin, travelling in divergent directions. |
| HAL | The automation and infrastructure layer. Named after HAL 9000 — but friendlier. Covers n8n, overnight builds, prompt queues, and observability. |
| SOVEREIGNTY | The Sovereignty Doctrine — build tools that empower humans, never replace them. Core design philosophy for all Two Birds products. |
| BRENDA | Composite persona of a 74-year-old senior afraid of her iPad. The design test: "Would Brenda understand this?" Used to validate every DCC decision. |
| CONTEXT ROT | The fear and reality of losing session context between Claude Code conversations. Led to SESSION-STATE.md, LAST-RUN-SUMMARY.md, and portable briefing documents. |
| CAPACITY WINDOW | The limited context window available in each Claude Code session. Drives the discipline of concise prompts, phased execution, and state persistence. |
| HAND-OFF | The process of transferring context between sessions — via SESSION-STATE.md, voice notes, or Gmail drafts. A hand-off document is the bridge between today's session and tomorrow's. |
| FRICTION POINT | Any moment where the workflow breaks, slows down, or causes frustration. Logged with an FP number, scored 1-10, and tracked for potential product or process improvement. |
| OVERNIGHT | The automated overnight build system — Windows Task Scheduler runs Claude Code at 2:00 AM to execute sprint queue items while Aaron sleeps. |
| STRAW MAN | A deliberately imperfect first draft built to provoke feedback. Build the straw man, let Aaron knock it down, rebuild from the rubble. Faster than debating in the abstract. |
| POSITIVE FRICTION | Intentional slowdowns that improve outcomes — confirmation modals, "are you sure" prompts, forced pauses before destructive actions. Not all friction is bad. |
| SCAFFOLDING FIRST | Build the structure before the content. Create the file, the nav, the empty sections — then fill them in. Prevents the blank-page paralysis and ensures architecture is sound before details land. |
| WORKFLOW AUDIT | A structured review of how Aaron actually works — what tools, what order, what friction. The input for HAL infrastructure decisions. Run quarterly. |
| DAILY STANDUP | Aaron's morning check-in ritual. Type STATE in Claude Code. Read the response. Know what to do today. Takes 30 seconds. Replaces the corporate standup meeting. |
| WAIT FOR NATIVE | A feature that would be valuable but that the vendor (Anthropic, GitHub, etc.) will likely build natively within 3-6 months. Do not build a workaround — log it and wait. |
| LOSSLESS RECOVERY | The ability to resume work after any interruption — power failure, context reset, laptop switch — without losing progress. Achieved through SESSION-STATE.md, git commits, and LAST-RUN-SUMMARY.md. |
Industry Language
| Term | Two Birds Meaning |
|---|---|
| RETRO | Retrospective — a structured review of what went well, what didn't, and what to change. Run after every major sprint. |
| SPRINT | A focused build session with a defined scope. Typically 2-4 hours. One Claude Code session = one sprint. |
| SPRINT REVIEW | End-of-sprint summary showing what was built, what was committed, and what's next. Written to SESSION-STATE.md. |
| BACKLOG | The prioritised list of work waiting to be done. Lives in NEXT-SPRINT-QUEUE.md. Ordered by strategic value. |
| HITL | Human-in-the-Loop — tasks that require Aaron's manual action, approval, or judgement. Marked in the queue and skipped by automation. |
| MRR | Monthly Recurring Revenue — the target metric. Goal: $10,000/month by August 2026. Current: $0. |
| FRACTIONAL | One dedicated day per week of senior leadership. Two Birds offers fractional AI leadership at $4,000/month. |
| AEO | Answer Engine Optimisation — structuring content so AI search tools (Perplexity, ChatGPT, Gemini) can surface it in answers. |
| GEO | Generative Engine Optimisation — broader than AEO. Optimising for how generative AI models interpret and recommend content. |
| WCAG AA | Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Level AA — the accessibility standard all Two Birds products must meet. Covers contrast, font size, keyboard navigation, screen readers. |
| STATIC | Static HTML/CSS/JS — no server, no build tools, no npm. The Two Birds stack. Deployed via GitHub Pages + Cloudflare. |
| EPHEMERAL | Information that exists only in the current session and will be lost when the context window resets. The enemy of continuity. |
Feedback Flags
REWORK
Something was built but needs to be redone. The output missed the mark or the approach was wrong. Start over with a different strategy.
REMINDER
A standing instruction that Claude keeps forgetting. Add to CLAUDE.md or session briefing to prevent recurrence.
NEW
A new task, idea, or requirement that emerged during the session. Add to NEXT-SPRINT-QUEUE.md or the appropriate backlog.
BUG
Something is broken. Fix immediately before continuing with other work. Log in session state if the fix is deferred.
POLISH
Functional but rough. The output works but could be cleaner, better designed, or more polished. Low priority — address when capacity allows.
Friction Point Log
| FP | Description | Score | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| FP-001 | Context rot between sessions — losing state when context window resets | 9 | Fixed |
| FP-002 | Ctrl+V does not paste in Windows terminal — must right-click | 7 | Fixed |
| FP-003 | GitHub Actions inbox flooding — workflows firing on every push | 8 | Fixed |
| FP-004 | Task Scheduler registration requires admin elevation — cannot be done from Claude Code sandbox | 6 | Logged |
| FP-005 | Git bash mangles schtasks flags — /create interpreted as file path | 5 | Fixed |
| FP-006 | Context rot — losing state between sessions | 9 | Mitigated |
| FP-007 | Human backlog growing faster than Aaron can review | 6 | Ongoing |
| FP-008 | Retro blind spot — no native cross-session awareness in Claude Code | 7 | Wait for Native |
Wait For Native
Features that would be valuable but that the vendor will likely ship natively. Do not build workarounds — log and wait.
| Feature | Vendor | Est. Timeline | Current Workaround |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cross-session memory | Anthropic | 3–6 months | SESSION-STATE.md + CLAUDE.md context injection |
| Account-level Retro awareness | Anthropic | 3–6 months | LAST-RUN-SUMMARY.md + "retro" trigger word |
| Automated session handoff | Anthropic | 2–4 months | Manual SESSION-STATE.md update at end of each session |
| Claude persona customisation | Anthropic | 3–4 months | CLAUDE.md standing rules + tone instructions |