Design API (develop a design seed, resolve nothing)

Bind VERB=design, ARTIFACT=api -- the design stage in the contract's vocabulary -- then follow the shared contract at .aid/runtime/templates/design-lifecycle.md. This skill binds that contract and restates none of its rules. The seed it writes is .aid/design/api.md; realizing it into the built endpoint is /aid-create-api's job, not this one's.

• Boundary vs /aid-create-api: that skill builds the endpoint from a ready seed; this one only develops the seed. Neither resolves anything on its own -- the user decides when a seed is ready to realize.
• Not a numbered pipeline phase; does not route to /aid-execute.

State machine: INTAKE -> DESIGN -> VERIFY (loop) -> PRESENT [user decides] -> DONE, as design-lifecycle.md § Skill shape defines it. Print the [State: NAME] -- {purpose} entry line on each state.

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State: INTAKE

1. Require a subject. Empty argument -> ask one bootstrapping question ("What API do you want to design -- its resources, contract, and error model?") and wait.
2. Allocate through the Work Initiation Gate exactly as the contract's Allocation rule requires (.agents/skills/aid-design/SKILL.md INTAKE step 4 is the shape), with initiator: aid-design-api. phase is not driven.
3. Acquire .aid/design/ per the contract, then read .aid/design/api.md if a prior seed exists -- re-invocation iterates it rather than starting over.
4. Classify complexity for the aid-architect dispatch (verifier tier >= producer).

Advance: DESIGN.

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State: DESIGN

Dispatch aid-architect (clean context, tiered) to write or iterate .aid/design/api.md in the seed shape the contract fixes (design-seed.md; feature-002 §4), grounded in .aid/knowledge/ and the project source plus any seed read in INTAKE. What this artifact's seed must settle: the resource shape, the request/response contract, and the error model; its ## Destination names where the built endpoint lands. Never writes .aid/knowledge/ and never writes production code -- the design invariant (design-lifecycle.md).

Advance: VERIFY.

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State: VERIFY

Full verify, as design-lifecycle.md defines it. Not clean -> loop to DESIGN; the 3-cycle circuit breaker there escalates to IMPEDIMENT + lifecycle: Blocked.

Advance: PRESENT.

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State: PRESENT (hard stop -- the user decides)

Set lifecycle: Paused-Awaiting-Input. Present the seed clearly. Assert no resolution -- the user iterates (re-invoke this skill) or realizes it now (/aid-create-api).

Advance: DONE.

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State: DONE

Set lifecycle: Completed, updated now, append a ## Lifecycle History row. The seed persists at .aid/design/api.md; consumption happens at /aid-create-api.