"Technology succeeds when it protects attention, tells the truth, and knows when to disappear."
How the well grows
The final test is not feature count. It is whether a writer can draw an original, copy it, leave, return, recover failures, and share deliberately while the machinery stays bounded and mostly ignorable.
Attach it with a narrow contract
Write end-to-end invariants across layers: original durable before response; adornments cannot delete it; only fresh running jobs land; reviewer cannot edit; local date drives views; focus aids fail softly; sibling owners remain canonical; share payload is original-only.
When extension steals sovereignty
Unit tests can all pass while the story fails between them. A response may be fast but non-durable, a job durable but stale, a focus view beautiful but trapping, a share button convenient but leaky. The whole path is the product.
Retest the first promise
Even after “Close the Well” arrives, the original returns first, the author keeps the pen, and late work asks permission. Trace whether sharing, scheduling, search, or audio invents copied originals, hidden clocks, or broad payloads for convenience. An extension that bypasses old invariants has changed the product rather than grown it.
Run the whole path
Build one end-to-end scenario that crosses browser, API, database, worker, sibling service, and back. Add duplicate delivery, source editing, deletion, stale artifacts, and permission denial. Prove that database rows, outbound payloads, and sibling references tell the same story instead of trusting one successful screen.
What it means to close the well
Closing does not mean stopping features. It means one practice is complete from original draw through paper, recovery, rediscovery, and deliberate sharing. When technology appears only to explain itself and otherwise recedes behind the ink, the well has grown useful hands.
The extension's actual contract
One scenario follows the same entry id from committed original through job claim, source edit, stale-output drop, transcribed state, fresh search projection, on-demand voice, and explicit share form. Each layer must report the same current entry state.
A green middle layer is evidence, but only the complete path proves the covenant.