The WAVE Protocol
Workflow Augmented by Virtual Engineering
Scrum is for humans. WAVE is for cyborgs.
Traditional development assumes a linear progression of effort. WAVE is for bursty AI-assisted engineering cycles.
The Swell
PREPARATION & CONTEXT
Before you prompt, gather the waters. Curate specific files, docs, and constraints so the model has a clean, focused context window.
The Ride
GENERATION & FLOW
Prompt, apply, and iterate at high intensity. Stay in flow while the model is productive and defer deep refactors until later.
The Crash
LIMITS & HALLUCINATION
The model will eventually lose the plot. Recognize the crash early, stop, and avoid compounding bad output.
The Paddle
GROUNDING & REFACTORING
Manual engineering mode: read generated code, fix structure and types, commit, and reset context before the next run.