Seven formats, chosen so one editor can run all of them (research/09 §7). A format that requires residue cannot ship as prose alone — it must leave a detector, embed, data column, or model revision behind.
Ledger Note
Two paragraphs of human judgment on what moved on the ledger — the model's diary, annotated.
- Audience
- Returning readers; the weekly heartbeat.
- Time
- 30–60 min
- Cadence
- Weekly in season
- Rigor bar
- Every claim is a ledger event or a live embed; no new analysis required.
- Model tie
- Built directly from diffSnapshots output; embeds re-run the live engines.
e.g. The Week the Model Changed Its Mind · Three Verdicts That Flipped on One Slider
Docket File
residue requiredThe workhorse: take one Open Docket question, investigate it, settle or sharpen it on the record.
- Audience
- Serious fans and analytics-literate readers.
- Time
- 6–15 hrs
- Cadence
- 2/month in season
- Rigor bar
- Full assumption-bounds sweep; the piece must show where (or whether) the conclusion flips.
- Model tie
- Starts from a machine-generated question with a stable id; publishes at its lineage.
e.g. The Same Contract, Four Different Prices · Free Lunches: When a Trade Helps Both Teams
Desk Brief
A fast, structured read on a live situation the detectors flagged — assignment-to-publish in a day.
- Audience
- Anyone following the news; Bow's answer to the hot take.
- Time
- 2–4 hrs
- Cadence
- As signals warrant
- Rigor bar
- Only ships if a detector actually fired; conditional claims with stated assumptions only.
- Model tie
- Anchored to a specific signal (docket question or ledger event) cited in the piece.
e.g. Why the Model Calls This Trade a Free Lunch · The Docket Just Opened a File on Phoenix
Flagship Investigation
residue requiredQuarterly original research on a territory question — the pieces a front office forwards.
- Audience
- All audiences, layered: story up top, methods appendix below.
- Time
- 30–60 hrs over 4–8 weeks
- Cadence
- Quarterly
- Rigor bar
- New dataset or model extension; external-validity check; adversarial review pass.
- Model tie
- Must change the model — a new lens, detector, or assumption dimension exists afterward.
e.g. Do the Lenses Know Something the Market Doesn't?
Method Memo
residue requiredModel changes, assumption audits, and decision retrospectives — being wrong, in public, on purpose.
- Audience
- The analytics community; low traffic, maximal credibility per reader.
- Time
- 3–6 hrs
- Cadence
- On every model change + quarterly retrospective
- Rigor bar
- Auditable by a team analyst; every change versioned against the ledger record.
- Model tie
- Documents a diff to lib/aasv, lenses, or detectors; the ledger grades it later.
e.g. What Is a Win Worth? An Audit of Our Most Important Number · The Report Card
Teaching Note
residue requiredA classroom-ready explainer that turns one desk finding into a Track 101/201 artifact.
- Audience
- Students and instructors on the education side of the house.
- Time
- 2–4 hrs, derived from an already-published piece
- Cadence
- 1/month, trailing the publication
- Rigor bar
- Plain language, glossary-linked; every number is a live embed a student can re-run.
- Model tie
- Reuses the source piece's embeds; links the lesson to the live model.
e.g. Why a Dollar Doesn't Cost a Dollar (Track 101 companion)
Partner Memo
A front-office-style brief for schools and partners — the desk's work in decision-memo form.
- Audience
- Partners, program directors, front-office-adjacent readers.
- Time
- 2–3 hrs, derived from existing findings
- Cadence
- As partnerships require
- Rigor bar
- Memo discipline: recommendation, evidence, risk, dissent — no claim without a citation.
- Model tie
- Compiled from buildPlayerMemo/buildTeamBrief outputs and published findings.
e.g. State of the Apron: A Briefing for Partners