frontend-patterns/research/plan/AuthorityProjectionComparison.md

# Next bounded comparison — authority placement and projection

Prepared: 2026-09-27 · WP-0003 T01 · Status: completed bounded documentary comparison.
Originally prepared before execution. LEARN-0015 was preregistered at `2df1d94`;
the [completed review](../reviews/AuthorityProjectionComparison.md) records six
documents, six seed dispositions and two synthetic traces. Zero new drafts.
The original method and limits below are retained for comparison.

## Why this question

The [classification inventory](../catalog/ClassificationCoverage.md) finds that
seven of the original sixteen seeds have developed drafts. None of Server Authority,
Local Authority, Replicated Authority, Server Projection, Client Projection or
Streaming Projection has a dedicated developed draft. Current authority-family
membership instead describes acceptance/precondition mechanisms. The language needs
to explain placement decisions as well as recovery after those decisions.

Do these six seed names describe reusable patterns, context choices, implementation
strategies or delivery mechanisms? Which independent decisions are conflated when
we pair server authority with server rendering, or local authority with client rendering?

## Bounded method

1. Register one prospective cycle before new evidence collection, with a new
   comparison group for this documentary/conceptual protocol. Record effort and
   source access limits; do not pool it with navigation runtime cycles.
2. Reuse existing Carniato/local-first and navigation/rendering reviews as prior
   interpretations, not new independent evidence. Inspect at most six primary-source
   documents across at least two independent source families. Pin versions or record
   access dates and claim locators. Sources may corroborate only parts of a contract.
3. For each of the six seeds, describe the relevant authority scope, acceptance
   boundary, replica/cache semantics, projection inputs, execution location and
   delivery timing. Keep optimistic display distinct from accepted authority and
   streaming delivery distinct from where projection is computed.
4. Construct a decision matrix for two synthetic briefs already represented by
   VC-01 transactional administration and VC-02 offline field notes. Vary projection
   placement while holding authority assumptions explicit. State incompatible or
   unsupported combinations rather than invent implementations. These are conceptual
   probes, not new validated walkthroughs or deployed known uses.
5. Record a disposition for each seed: develop a candidate, retain as a seed, treat
   as context/strategy, merge, or reject—with evidence and unresolved questions.
   Produce at most two new drafts, and only where context, competing forces,
   consequences and alternatives justify distinct patterns. Zero is a valid result.

## Acceptance, limits and handoff

Deliver a claim table, the two decision traces and six seed dispositions. Identify
at least one conflation or counterexample, or explicitly report that none was located
in the bounded evidence. Review responsibility/force mappings against resulting
candidate changes, then regenerate coverage and update evolution profiles/ledger at
the normal review boundary. No automatic canonical promotion or gate closure.

Stop after six primary documents or 45 active research minutes, whichever occurs
first; allow up to 10 additional verification minutes. Register these limits with the
cycle before starting. Preserve unknowns instead of widening silently. Live inference,
if needed later, uses llm-connect; this brief requires no model calls or new runtime
fixture. It does not establish measured performance, production guarantees or human
usefulness.

WP-0003 T01 retains the bounded Zulip caller/transport/test follow-up as an unresolved
navigation applicability question. Broadening does not require declaring that question
resolved; preserve its limitations and keep the authored navigation fixture paused.
WP-0002 T03 retains independent seed/usefulness review. M1/M2 and WP-0004 prerequisites
remain unchanged. Classification is a research aid, not a demand to fill every cell.