Repair & Redirection

Repair Philosophy

Not all drift is the same. A naming inconsistency needs a different fix than a feature that contradicts the product thesis. Taste Engine provides three repair modes matched to drift severity:

Mode	When	Command
Patch (1A)	Surface drift — wording, naming, minor pattern violations	taste revise run
Structural (1B)	Deep drift — wrong concepts, misaligned architecture	taste repair run
Redirect (2C)	Irreparable — artifact’s goal conflicts with canon	taste redirect run

Patch Revision (1A)

For mostly_aligned or mild salvageable_drift verdicts. The engine generates minimal edits:

taste revise run <review-id>

The revision engine:

1. Reads the original artifact and review feedback
2. Generates a minimal revision — fewest changes to fix the identified issues
3. Generates a strong revision — more thorough alignment improvements
4. Re-reviews each revision against the same canon packet
5. Reports whether the revision improved the verdict

You get two options: the minimal fix (lower risk of over-editing) and the strong fix (better alignment but more changes).

Structural Repair (1B)

For hard_drift or severe salvageable_drift verdicts where the concepts themselves are wrong:

taste repair run <review-id>

The structural engine follows a 4-step pipeline:

1. Goal extraction — What was the artifact trying to accomplish?
2. Fault diagnosis — Where exactly does the artifact diverge from canon?
3. Concept generation — What replacement concepts would align with canon?
4. Draft generation — Produce a new draft using the replacement concepts

The re-review confirms whether the structural repair achieved alignment.

Goal Redirection (2C)

For contradiction verdicts where the artifact’s stated goal directly conflicts with canon:

taste redirect run <review-id>

The redirect engine:

1. Preserves the goal — Identifies what the artifact was trying to achieve
2. Generates 2-3 directions — Alternative approaches that achieve a similar goal while respecting canon
3. Evaluates each direction — Explains tradeoffs and expected alignment

Redirection briefs are not revised artifacts — they’re strategic suggestions for the author to pursue a different approach entirely.

Choosing the Right Mode

The review verdict maps directly to a repair path:

aligned           → No repair needed
mostly_aligned    → Patch (1A) if desired
salvageable_drift → Patch (1A) or Structural (1B)
hard_drift        → Structural (1B)
contradiction     → Redirect (2C)

The taste gate run command includes this mapping in its output, so CI pipelines can surface the recommended repair path alongside the verdict.