BFM-decomp/decomp-architect/templates/PLACEHOLDERS.md

PLACEHOLDERS.md — every {{…}} the decomp kit uses, and when each is filled

The contract. The set of placeholders that appear anywhere under decomp-architect/ (this file included) must equal the set listed here — tools/kit_lint.py computes both with one regex over the package and diffs them; a placeholder used in a template but not listed, or listed but unused, fails the lint. Adding a placeholder means editing this file in the same change. After the kit's install, the leftover-placeholder audit (ProjectArchitect's F9 rule, run again at the kit's Step 10) must find none of these anywhere in the project outside the kit's own package folder and the reference copy of the methodology.

Two classes, following ProjectArchitect: copy-time placeholders are answered at the game interview (the kit's SETUP Step 2, plus three values read back from what ProjectArchitect already stamped) and filled wherever a template is copied in (Steps 3–9); generation-time placeholders have no value at Phase 0.5 — the installer writes each as a literal TODO(phase-N) line at Step 8, and the phase that produces the value replaces the line.

Shared with ProjectArchitect (read back from the files it already stamped; never re-asked)

Placeholder	Filled from	Used in
{{PROJECT_NAME}}	the installed CLAUDE.md title	the README and CONTRIBUTING skeletons, the docs and scratch READMEs
{{INSTALL_DATE}}	today, in the same format ProjectArchitect used	every overlay's "installed" line
{{COOKBOOK_NAME}}	the cookbook file ProjectArchitect created under docs/	the CLAUDE overlay's flywheel line, the cookbook overlay
{{DOMAIN_FAILSAFES}}	referenced only, never filled by the kit — ProjectArchitect's own CLAUDE.md placeholder, which its generation step fills from the intake's Part D	intake.decomp.md Part D names it so the generation step knows which four fail-safes to write

Copy-time (answered at SETUP Step 2; filled at Steps 3–9)

Placeholder	What it is	Used in
{{GAME_TITLE}}	the game's title	the intake, the README skeleton, the ops-setup overlay
{{GAME_SERIAL}}	region and serial (the identifier printed on the medium)	the intake, the README and NOTICE skeletons, the ops-setup overlay
{{PLATFORM}}	the console or platform	the intake, the README and NOTICE skeletons, the ops-setup overlay, TODO(platform) resolution
{{TARGET_BINARY}}	the main executable's file name on the medium	the ops-setup overlay, the firewall config's first purge path
{{DUMP_PATH}}	the absolute path of the developer's own dump — machine-local, never committed	the intake; the machine-local line of the ops-setup overlay only
{{CONTAINER_LAYOUT}}	one line: how code is packaged on the medium (archives, overlays, compression)	the intake, the docs README, the ops-setup overlay
{{SDK_EVIDENCE}}	the SDK/compiler-era evidence found (library version stamps, strings, a loader's detection)	the intake, the ops-setup overlay, the cookbook overlay's pinned context
{{COMPILER_FAMILY}}	the compiler family the evidence suggests — a candidate set, not the pin	the intake, the ops-setup version-pins row (TODO until Phase 4 replaces it with {{TOOLCHAIN_TRIPLE}})
{{COMMUNITY_WORK}}	prior public work found, or "none found on "	the intake, the README skeleton's acknowledgements
{{PROJECT_GOALS}}	the developer's stated goals, one paragraph	the intake, the README skeleton
{{LICENSE_CHOICE}}	the license for tools and documents, and the statement made over the decompiled source	LICENSE, src/NOTICE.md, the README skeleton
{{AI_DISCLOSURE}}	the project-level sentence disclosing how AI is used	the README skeleton, CONTRIBUTING
{{PUBLIC_OR_PRIVATE}}	the day-one visibility decision (the firewall applies either way)	the README skeleton, the ops-setup git posture

Generation-time (written as TODO(phase-N) at SETUP Step 8; replaced by the phase that produces the value)

Placeholder	What it is	Filled when	Used in
{{TOOLCHAIN_TRIPLE}}	the pinned compiler → assembler shim → binutils triple with flags	Step 8 as TODO(phase-4); Phase 4's pin task replaces it	the ops-setup version pins, the cookbook overlay's pinned context
{{EXTRACT_CMD}}	the one command that extracts the medium and verifies the manifest	Step 8 as TODO(phase-1)	the ops-setup build/run/test block
{{FLEET_CHECK_CMD}}	the clean fleet verification (clean → extract → build over every binary, exit code read)	Step 8 as TODO(phase-3)	the ops-setup gate line, the CLAUDE overlay's fail-safe wording
{{DISASSEMBLER_MCP}}	the disassembler server's endpoint and the command that starts it	Step 8 as TODO(phase-2)	the ops-setup MCP/hooks row, config/mcp.json.template
{{EMULATOR_BRIDGE}}	the runtime oracle's scripting interface or bridge endpoint	Step 8 as TODO(phase-2)	the ops-setup MCP/hooks row

Not placeholders (by design)

• TODO(platform), TODO(phase-N) markers are for the developer, in prose or config; they are not filled by the installer and are not in the placeholder set. The kit's lint counts them separately so the README can say how many remain.
• The registry seed's G-numbers are literal (G1–G67 by construction, see registry-E.decomp.md's header); there is no numbering placeholder.
• The firewall config's hash sources are literal paths tagged required: or pending:, not placeholders; a pending: source becomes required: at the phase that creates it (the audit fails on a missing required source and warns loudly on a missing pending one).

The check (what kit_lint.py does with this file — task 11 of the kit's own build)

used   = sorted(set(re.findall(r'\{\{[A-Z_0-9]+\}\}', <every file under decomp-architect/>)))
listed = sorted(set(re.findall(r'`\{\{[A-Z_0-9]+\}\}`', PLACEHOLDERS.md)))
assert used == listed, (set(used) ^ set(listed))