Backlog

Key Ideas

• Captured Work: backlog is where known work can exist before it is ready to be acted on.
• Low Commitment: backlog work should not imply immediate agent execution.
• Promotion Boundary: moving from backlog to todo means the work is ready to enter active workflow consideration.

Purpose

Backlog exists so Refine can preserve work without pretending every known Gap should be acted on now. Imported, drafted, uncertain, or future work needs a durable place where it can be inspected and refined.

Expected Role

Backlog should protect intent while delaying commitment. A backlog Gap should still be readable, attributable, and connected to Features or source context, but it should not consume workflow capacity until it is promoted.

Promotion from backlog to todo should be explicit or policy-driven. It should preserve the Gap's context and make clear why the work is now eligible for action.

What Happens

When a Gap is in backlog:

• Refine stores the work as durable target-app state.
• Users or agents can inspect, edit, enrich, deduplicate, prioritize, or attach it to a Feature.
• Workflow automation should not claim it for implementation.
• Promotion rules or explicit user action can move it to todo when it has enough context to act on.
• The transition to todo should preserve source context, ordering, reporter, priority, and Feature membership.

Future Direction

Future backlog behavior may include prioritization, dependency analysis, deduplication, planning, and agent-assisted refinement. The state should remain a durable waiting area, not a dumping ground for vague work.