Design a Mission

What You’ll Build

A mission file that decomposes a multi-session task into claimable objectives. By the end, any agent can pick up your mission, understand what needs to be done, and start working on the next objective.

Prerequisites

• Convergence Model — how the execution hierarchy narrows scope
• Mission Decomposition — the pattern for breaking work into objectives
• Token Selection — context budgets for mission-scoped work

Steps

Step 1: Define the Task

Start with what you’re trying to accomplish. Write it as a single sentence:

“Write 8 pattern files documenting reusable aDNA architectural patterns.”

If the sentence describes work that can fit in one session (2-4 hours of agent work), it might not need a mission — just do it. If it spans multiple sessions or involves distinct deliverables, it’s a mission.

Step 2: Identify Deliverables

List every concrete output the mission produces:

The rule: every objective must name a specific file or artifact. “Research token optimization” is not an objective. “Write concept_context_optimization.md” is.

Step 3: Map Dependencies

Some objectives must be completed before others. Map the dependency graph:

Objective 1 (foundational concepts)
  ↓
Objective 2 (governance concepts — resolves forward refs from Obj 1)
  ↓
Objective 3 (advanced concepts — builds on Obj 1+2 cross-links)

If there are no dependencies, objectives can be worked in any order. If there are, document them — an agent claiming Objective 3 needs to know that Objectives 1 and 2 must be done first.

Step 4: Estimate Context Budget

For each objective, estimate what context needs to be loaded:

## Context Dependencies

- `what/context/adna_core/context_adna_core_paradigm_overview.md` (~1K tokens)
- `what/context/adna_core/context_adna_core_context_engineering.md` (~1K tokens)
- M01-M02 concepts for cross-linking (~5K tokens)
- Campaign and mission docs (~5K tokens)
- **Total**: ~12K tokens → fits within 75% rule for 100K window

If the total exceeds what a session can hold, the mission has too many objectives or needs to be split.

Write the total onto the mission as token_budget_estimated. It is not decoration: the number decides the shape of the work — under 50K is one session, 80K–200K is two or three, and 200K or more means the mission should be split rather than run. See Budgeting and Routing a Mission for the formula the estimate comes from.

Step 4b: Declare the Model Tier

Beside the budget, declare which class of model runs the work:

token_budget_estimated: "~12K tokens"
executor_tier: sonnet     # the class of model this mission is routed to

Pick the tier from what the work decides, not from how big it is. Novel design, ambiguous requirements, and anything irreversible or outward-facing go to the judgment class. Well-briefed execution inside stated guardrails goes to the middle class. Sweeps, counts and format fixes go to the mechanical class.

A mission is only safe to run on a cheaper model if Steps 1–4 have already been done properly — the tier you can afford is decided by the quality of the brief, not the other way round.

Step 5: Write the Mission File

Put it all together using this structure:

---
type: plan
plan_id: mission_m04
campaign_id: campaign_rosetta
title: "M04 — Pattern Library"
status: pending
phase: 1
created: 2026-04-14
updated: 2026-04-14
last_edited_by: agent_stanley
tags: [mission, patterns]
token_budget_estimated: "~12K tokens"
executor_tier: sonnet
---

# Mission M04 — Pattern Library

## Intent

{One paragraph: what the mission accomplishes and why it matters.}

## Objectives

| # | Objective | File | Status |
|---|-----------|------|--------|
| 1 | Write question test pattern | pattern_question_test.md | pending |
| 2 | Write AGENTS.md pattern | pattern_agents_md.md | pending |

## Context Dependencies

{List what to load before starting work.}

## Quality Gates

{What must be true before marking an objective complete.}

## Dependencies

{Which missions must be done first.}

Step 6: Validate the Design

See it in action: Open how/campaigns/campaign_rosetta/missions/mission_m04_pattern_library.md in this vault. It has 8 objectives across 4 pattern categories, context dependencies listed with specific file paths, and quality gates matching the campaign standard.

What You Learned

• Missions decompose multi-session work into claimable, session-sized objectives
• Every objective needs a named deliverable — not just a description of activity
• Context budgets determine whether the mission is correctly scoped — and the session that runs the mission logs token_budget_actual beside your estimate, so the two can be compared at the After-Action Review
• The model tier is declared before the work, not chosen during it
• The mission file is a self-contained briefing: any agent can pick it up and work

Next Steps

• Build a Lattice — compose a workflow from modules (advanced)
• Convergence Model — deeper understanding of how missions narrow scope
• Context Recipe — pre-define the context assembly for common mission types