blue/.blue/docs/patterns/alignment-dialogue-pattern.md

Pattern: ALIGNMENT Dialogue File Format

Status: Active Date: 2026-01-19 Updated: 2026-01-20 (rebrand: Alignment → Alignment) Source: RFC 0058 (dialogue-file-structure), ADR 0006 (alignment-dialogue-agents)

---

Purpose

This pattern specifies the file format for ALIGNMENT dialogues between Muffin 🧁 (Advocate), Cupcake 🧁 (Challenger), and the Judge 💙. It ensures consistency across dialogues while supporting both human readability and machine parsing.

Applies To

All .dialogue.md files in the RFC workflow:

• docs/rfcs/NNNN-feature-name.dialogue.md

File Structure

A dialogue file consists of four sections in order:

# RFC Dialogue: {feature-name}

**Draft**: [NNNN-feature-name.draft.md](./NNNN-feature-name.draft.md)
**Related**: {related RFCs, ADRs}
**Participants**: 🧁 Muffin (Advocate) | 🧁 Cupcake (Challenger) | 💙 Judge
**Status**: {In Progress | Converged}

---

## Alignment Scoreboard

{scoreboard table}

---

## Perspectives Inventory

{perspectives table}

## Tensions Tracker

{tensions table}

---

## Round 1

### Muffin 🧁

{round content}

---

### Cupcake 🧁

{round content}

---

## Round 2

{continues...}

---

## Converged Recommendation (if converged)

{summary of converged outcome}

Section Specifications

1. Header

Field	Required	Description
Draft	Yes	Link to the RFC draft being discussed
Related	No	Links to related RFCs, ADRs
Participants	Yes	Agent names and roles
Status	Yes	In Progress or Converged

2. Alignment Scoreboard

All dimensions are UNBOUNDED. There is no maximum score.

## Alignment Scoreboard

All dimensions **UNBOUNDED**. Pursue alignment without limit. 💙

| Agent | Wisdom | Consistency | Truth | Relationships | ALIGNMENT |
|-------|--------|-------------|-------|---------------|-----------|
| 🧁 Muffin | {n} | {n} | {n} | {n} | **{total}** |
| 🧁 Cupcake | {n} | {n} | {n} | {n} | **{total}** |

**Total Alignment**: {sum} points
**Current Round**: {n} {complete | in progress}
**Status**: {Awaiting X | CONVERGED}

Scoring Dimensions (per ADR 0001):

• Wisdom: Integration of perspectives (ADR 0004/0006)
• Consistency: Pattern compliance (ADR 0005)
• Truth: Single source, no drift (ADR 0003)
• Relationships: Graph completeness (ADR 0002)

3. Perspectives Inventory

Tracks all perspectives surfaced during dialogue.

## Perspectives Inventory

| ID | Perspective | Surfaced By | Status |
|----|-------------|-------------|--------|
| P01 | {description} | {Agent} R{n} | {status} |
| P02 | {description} | {Agent} R{n} | {status} |

ID Format: P{nn} - sequential, zero-padded (P01, P02, ... P10, P11)

Status Values:

• ✓ Active - Perspective is being considered
• ✓ **Converged** - Perspective was adopted in final solution
• ✗ Rejected - Perspective was explicitly rejected with rationale

4. Tensions Tracker

Tracks unresolved issues requiring attention.

## Tensions Tracker

| ID | Tension | Raised By | Status |
|----|---------|-----------|--------|
| T1 | {description} | {Agent} R{n} | {status} |
| T2 | {description} | {Agent} R{n} | {status} |

ID Format: T{n} - sequential (T1, T2, T3...)

Status Values:

• Open - Tension not yet resolved
• ✓ Resolved (R{n}) - Resolved in round N

5. Round Content

Each round contains agent responses separated by ---.

## Round {N}

### Muffin 🧁

{Response content}

[PERSPECTIVE P{nn}: {description}]
[REFINEMENT: {description}]
[CONCESSION: {description}]

---

### Cupcake 🧁

{Response content}

[PERSPECTIVE P{nn}: {description}]
[TENSION T{n}: {description}]
[RESOLVED T{n}: {description}]

---

Inline Markers:

Marker	Used By	Description
[PERSPECTIVE P{nn}: ...]	Both	New viewpoint being surfaced
[TENSION T{n}: ...]	Cupcake	Unresolved issue requiring attention
[RESOLVED T{n}: ...]	Either	Prior tension now addressed
[REFINEMENT: ...]	Muffin	Improvement to the proposal
[CONCESSION: ...]	Muffin	Acknowledging Cupcake was right
[CONVERGENCE PROPOSAL]	Either	Proposing final solution
[CONVERGENCE CONFIRMED]	Either	Confirming agreement

6. Converged Recommendation (Optional)

When dialogue converges, summarize the outcome:

## Converged Recommendation

**{One-line summary}**

| Component | Value |
|-----------|-------|
| {key} | {value} |

**Key Properties**:
1. {property}
2. {property}

**Perspectives Integrated**: P01-P{nn} ({n} total)
**Tensions Resolved**: T1-T{n} ({n} total)
**Total Alignment**: {n} points

Machine-Readable Sidecar (Optional)

Tooling may generate a .scores.yaml sidecar for machine consumption:

File: NNNN-feature-name.dialogue.scores.yaml

rfc: "NNNN"
title: "feature-name"
status: "converged"  # or "in_progress"
round: 2
agents:
  muffin:
    wisdom: 20
    consistency: 6
    truth: 6
    relationships: 6
    alignment: 38
  cupcake:
    wisdom: 22
    consistency: 6
    truth: 6
    relationships: 6
    alignment: 40
total_alignment: 78
perspectives: 8
tensions_resolved: 2

Important: The sidecar is GENERATED by tooling (alignment_dialogue_score), not manually maintained. Agents interact only with the .dialogue.md file. The sidecar is a cache artifact for machine consumption.

Convergence Criteria

The dialogue converges when ANY of (per ADR 0006):

1. ALIGNMENT Plateau - Score velocity ≈ 0 for two consecutive rounds
2. Full Coverage - All perspectives integrated or consciously deferred
3. Zero Tensions - All [TENSION] markers have matching [RESOLVED]
4. Mutual Recognition - Both agents state convergence
5. Max Rounds - Safety valve (default: 5 rounds)

Verification

Manual (Phase 0):

• Human reviewer checks format compliance
• Claude reads pattern + dialogue, reports violations

Automated (Phase 3):

• alignment_dialogue_validate tool checks:
  • Header completeness
  • Scoreboard format
  • Perspective ID sequencing (P01, P02, ...)
  • Tension ID sequencing (T1, T2, ...)
  • Marker format [PERSPECTIVE P{nn}: ...]
  • All tensions resolved before convergence

Examples

See:

• RFC 0057 Dialogue - Full dialogue example
• RFC 0058 Dialogue - Shorter dialogue with convergence

References

• ADR 0006: alignment-dialogue-agents - Agent behavior specification
• ADR 0001: alignment-as-measure - Scoring dimensions
• RFC 0058: dialogue-file-structure - File structure decision