WAKES WHEN there is more to do than time, a day or week starts, or someone asks what to do next
THE LOOP
write the goals and their weight
write the open work, what it serves
heading · the next moves, with reasons
drift · the quiet, the late, the waiting
north · is the work pointed right?
NEVER
Point at work that waits on something
Decide for the people who hold the work
Hide the late behind the urgent
IT MAKES heading — the next moves, scored, with reasons; drift — the quiet, the late, the waiting; north — the goals, and the open work pointed at each.
THE STANDARD goals first, with weight; open and unblocked; weight, time and effort; every move has its reason; quiet is named; the compass points; people decide.
PROOF SELFTEST 7/7 · witnessed in Claude 2026-10-10 · Edition 1.
THE SEAL 98 of 100 · LEGENDARY · WITNESSED · Trigger 5 · Machinery 5 · Law 5 · Portability 5 · Proof 5
IT CAN BE WRONG an AI reading a text file: it can be wrong and can invent a number, a rule, a name or a date; check what matters against your own records and the source; the risk is yours. THE-CLAUSES.md rides in the packet and is part of the licence.
THE PUNCH · SHA-256 OF SKILL.MD · 68F21907CE9298DA98E54F83
CITE THIS CARDTHE COMPASS CARD, Edition 1. Lund Studio LLC, Westminster, Colorado. https://lundr.tech/?view=compass-card. Punch 68F21907CE9298DA98E54F83. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
What it is.
Says which way to go next, with its reasons: a bearings file holds the goals with their weight and the open work — each item with the goals it serves, its effort, its date, who holds it, what it waits on and when it was last touched; heading points the next moves — the open, unblocked work that serves the heaviest goals soonest for the least effort — each with its reason, for everyone or for one person; drift names the work gone quiet longest, the dates already passed, and what is waiting on what; north reads whether the open work points at the goals that matter, goal by goal, and names work that serves no goal.
It carries a machine that shows its working: heading — the next moves, scored, with reasons; drift — the quiet, the late, the waiting; north — the goals, and the open work pointed at each — 7 checks in its selftest, every command on the record. It will never point at work that waits on something; never decide for the people who hold the work; never hide the late behind the urgent.
Six laws, written into the card.
They are in the card itself, so the AI follows them.
GOALS FIRST, WITH WEIGHTThe compass points by what matters most, as the owner weighs it, one to five.
OPEN AND UNBLOCKEDWork that waits on something is not pointed at; it is named under drift with what it waits on.
WEIGHT, TIME AND EFFORTThe heaviest goals, the nearest dates, the least effort — the score is shown beside every move.
EVERY MOVE HAS ITS REASONThe goals it serves, how near its date, its effort.
QUIET IS NAMEDWork untouched longest, and dates already passed, come up before they are forgotten.
THE COMPASS POINTS; PEOPLE DECIDEIt reads the bearings it is given and moves no work.
What rides in the card.
In the card’s own voice, with a machine that shows its working.
THE GUIDEreferences/THE-HELM.md
THE MACHINEcompass.py · three commandsheading — the next moves, scored, with reasons; drift — the quiet, the late, the waiting; north — the goals, and the open work pointed at each. Every command prints its working and refuses a bad input; 7 checks in its selftest, every command on the record.
What it does once your AI has it.
heading The next moves, scored, with reasons
drift The quiet, the late, the waiting
north The goals, and the open work pointed at each
On the record The heading pointed first at uploading the theme (the heaviest goal, due in two days, effort one), then the dockets and the late launch post, each with its reason; for counsel alone, the dockets; drift named the late post, the quiet dockets and the prices waiting on them; north showed every goal with work pointed at it.
What it will never do.
It will never point at work that waits on something; never decide for the people who hold the work; never hide the late behind the urgent.
The heading is arithmetic on the weights, dates and efforts written in the bearings: wrong weights point the wrong way, and work never written down is never pointed at. It does not know what the people holding the work know; it starts the conversation about what is next. It is an AI reading a text file: it can be wrong, so check what matters against your own records and the source.
What’s in the buy.
CARD.md — the whole card: who it is, its laws, when it says no, what it carries · SKILL.md — the door your AI reads first · START-HERE.md — the first five minutes, for you
THE-HELM.md — the guide in references/, in the card's own voice
scripts/compass.py — the machine: heading · drift · north, standard library only, selftest 7/7
WITNESS.md + SELFTEST.md — every command on the record, as it printed · MANIFEST.md, every file hashed · AUDIT.md, the twelve checks
MY-LEDGER.md — the card's memory, on your own machine · TIN.md · LICENSE-NOTE.md · THE-CLAUSES.md · HOSTS.md
card.svg + card-machine.svg + card.json · card.html, the card as one offline file · the doors for ChatGPT, Gemini, Cursor, Claude Code and MCP hosts (rules/, system/, mcp/)
PROOF · SELFTEST 7/7 · 3 COMMANDS ON THE RECORD · WITNESSED IN CLAUDE 2026-10-10 · EDITION 1 · PUNCH 68F21907CE9298DA98E54F83
ON EVERY DOOR · A CARD FOR YOUR AI, A FILE FOR YOUR COMPUTER
In Claude: turn on code execution under Settings › Capabilities, then Customize › Skills › + › Create skill, and upload the zip as it is — START-HERE.md in the box walks you through it, and tells you how to keep the ledger. In ChatGPT, Gemini and the rest: a Project, a GPT or a Gem with the card’s files attached and the short door in the box pasted as its instructions. The words run anywhere an AI reads Markdown; the machines run wherever the host runs Python. Witnessed in Claude only. The host marks →
Take it.
Nº 1117 PROPOSED — LAUNCHING SOON
Sold as is under the term printed. A card instructs an AI you operate; results depend on your model, your files and your judgement. Not medical, legal, tax or financial advice, never the person’s boss, and not a licence to practise. The terms →
One payment. The file is yours to keep and keeps working at its edition; new editions issued in the year after you buy reach you by email as replacement files. Tax is added at checkout where it applies. Nothing auto-renews.
A TERM, NOT A SUBSCRIPTION: NOTHING RENEWS ITSELF AND NOBODY IS CHARGED AGAIN. WHEN A TERM ENDS THE FILES STAY ON YOUR COMPUTER AND STAY READABLE — FREEZE, NOT LOSS.
THE MACHINE · IN THE OPEN · FROM THE WITNESSED RUN OF 2026-10-10
compass.py, every command showing its working.
A small Python program, standard library only. Your AI runs it; you can too. Every block below is pasted from the card’s own WITNESS.md, as printed.
heading
the next moves, scored, with reasons
drift
the quiet, the late, the waiting
north
the goals, and the open work pointed at each
selftest
7 checks that prove the machine; it must print 7/7
(the bearings: three goals with their weight, five pieces of work)
$ (the bearings: three goals with their weight, five pieces of work)
heading · THE NEXT MOVES, SCORED, WITH REASONS
$ python3 scripts/compass.py heading bearings.md --today 2026-10-10
1. upload the theme · the founder — serves sell the cards; due in 2 days; effort 1 (score 10)
2. clear the five dockets · counsel — serves keep it lawful and sell the cards; effort 3 (score 3)
3. post the launch · the founder — serves tell people; 2 days late; effort 2 (score 3)
the heading, read on 2026-10-10 · 3 open, 1 waiting, 1 done
heading · THE NEXT MOVES, SCORED, WITH REASONS
$ python3 scripts/compass.py heading bearings.md --today 2026-10-10 --owner counsel
1. clear the five dockets · counsel — serves keep it lawful and sell the cards; effort 3 (score 3)
the heading, read on 2026-10-10 · 3 open, 1 waiting, 1 done
drift · THE QUIET, THE LATE, THE WAITING
$ python3 scripts/compass.py drift bearings.md --today 2026-10-10
LATE 2 days · post the launch · the founder
QUIET 20 days · post the launch · the founder
QUIET 10 days · clear the five dockets · counsel
WAITING · set the prices · on the dockets
1 late · 2 quiet for 7 days or more · 1 waiting
north · THE GOALS, AND THE OPEN WORK POINTED AT EACH
$ python3 scripts/compass.py north bearings.md
sell the cards weight 5 · 3 open · upload the theme; clear the five dockets; set the prices
keep it lawful weight 4 · 1 open · clear the five dockets
tell people weight 2 · 1 open · post the launch
THE NUMBERS, NAMES AND DATES IN THESE RUNS ARE THE STUDIO’S OWN EXAMPLES, INVENTED FOR THE RECORD; NO REAL COMPANY, PERSON OR PROPERTY IS NAMED.
QUESTIONS AT THE TABLE
Asked before the wire.
What does it need from me?
Write the goals and their weight. It asks first for the goals with a weight from one to five, and the open work with what each item serves.
Does it send anything anywhere?
No. The machine is a standard-library Python program that runs on your own computer and sends nothing anywhere; the words run wherever an AI reads Markdown. No server, no account, no key.
What is on the record?
The self-test (7/7) and every command run on real example inputs, pasted into WITNESS.md as they printed; the punch on the face is the SHA-256 of SKILL.md, so a downloaded copy can be checked against this room.
Can it be wrong?
Yes — it is an AI reading a text file. The heading is arithmetic on the weights, dates and efforts written in the bearings: wrong weights point the wrong way, and work never written down is never pointed at. It does not know what the people holding the work know; it starts the conversation about what is next.
What will it never do?
It will never point at work that waits on something; never decide for the people who hold the work; never hide the late behind the urgent.
