The Update Demand
Source of truth: this chapter is mirrored from the “Update Demand” section of
CLAUDE.md. Both files are kept in lock-step;CLAUDE.mdis authoritative if they ever diverge (aTestUpdateDemandTableCoversCI gate enforces table coverage against the registries).
Any change to Pulse code, configuration, file format, or public surface MUST update the corresponding skill file(s) and CLAUDE.md in the same PR. This is not a courtesy. It is a non-skippable CI failure if any of the trigger conditions below is met without the corresponding doc update.
Trigger → required update
| If you change… | You MUST also update… | Enforced by |
|---|---|---|
| A registered aggregator | skills/aggregation-design.md (add or update the section for that aggregator) | TestSkillsCoverAllComponents |
| A registered attribute | skills/attribute-composition.md | TestSkillsCoverAllComponents |
| A registered filterer | skills/aggregation-design.md (filtering section) | TestSkillsCoverAllComponents |
| A registered grouper | skills/grouper-design.md | TestSkillsCoverAllComponents |
| A registered window operator | skills/window-design.md | TestSkillsCoverAllWindowTypes |
| An error code (added/removed/renamed) | errors/fixup_metadata.go (codeMetadata Message + Fixups; surfaced per-code via pulse_errors_lookup / pulse errors lookup CODE) | TestCodesHaveFixups, TestManifestErrorCodesComplete |
| A CLI leaf (added/removed/flag added) | CLAUDE.md “Common Claude Code Workflows” + skills/session-bootstrap.md if user-facing | TestSkillsCoverAllCliLeaves |
A --json envelope or format_version | CLAUDE.md “Output Format Contract” | TestClaudeMdMentionsFormatVersion |
A .pulse file format change (header layout, new field type) | CLAUDE.md “Code Conventions” + skills/cohort-schema-design.md | TestClaudeMdMentionsFormatVersion, TestSkillsCoverAllFieldTypes |
| A new non-skippable CI gate | CLAUDE.md (gate listed by name in the relevant section) | TestClaudeMdMentionsAllNonSkippableGates |
| A new architectural decision | CLAUDE.md (relevant section) + PRD if applicable | reviewer enforcement |
| An environment variable | CLAUDE.md “Build / Dev / Test Workflow” + skills/session-bootstrap.md | TestClaudeMdMentionsAllEnvVars |
| A registered MCP tool (added/removed) | docs/src/internals/adding-mcp-tool.md + mcp/toolmeta/meta.go (name + description) | TestSkillsCoverAllMCPTools, TestManifestMCPToolsComplete |
| A new MCP action tool with field-name parameters | mcp/bind.go (add a per-tool JSON Schema builder + entry in Bind) + docs/src/internals/adding-mcp-tool.md (Schema-bound enums section) | TestMCPSchemaBinding_RemovesInvalidFields, TestMCPSchemaBinding_AllFieldsInFiltererEnum, TestMCPSchemaBinding_SampleAndFacetFieldEnum, TestMCPSchemaBinding_DedupAndSort, TestMCPSchemaBinding_NilSchema |
| A registered feature operator | skills/feature-engineering.md (operator catalog) + capability declaration in descriptor/capabilities_features.go | TestSkillsCoverAllComponents, TestManifestOperatorsComplete |
| A registered synth distribution kind | skills/synthetic-data.md (Supported distributions) + capability declaration in descriptor/capabilities_distributions.go | TestSkillsCoverAllSynthDistributions, TestManifestDistributionsComplete |
A registered statistical test (TEST_*) | skills/statistical-testing.md (Operator catalog) + types/streamability.go + types/streamability_test.go + capability declaration in descriptor/capabilities_tests.go | TestStreamability_TestsKnown, TestManifestTestsComplete |
| A registered tier-2 post-test variant | Capability declaration in descriptor/capabilities_tests.go (postTestCapabilities) | TestManifestPostTestsComplete |
| A registered aggregator/attribute/filterer/grouper/window capability metadata | Capability declaration in descriptor/capabilities_<category>.go (params, accepts_types, emits_type, streamable_hint) | TestManifestOperatorsComplete |
| A new error code | Description row in descriptor/capabilities_errors.go (errorMetaTable) | TestManifestErrorCodesComplete |
| An error code’s fixup template | Entry in errors/fixup_metadata.go (codeMetadata) — surfaced per-code via pulse_errors_lookup / pulse errors lookup CODE | TestCodesHaveFixups |
| A new operator’s streaming capability | types/streamability.go (case for the new type) + table in types/streamability_test.go | TestRegistryStreamabilityMatchesTypes, TestStreamability_*Known, TestManifestStreamableMatchesTypes |
| The default operator table | CLAUDE.md “Code Conventions → Smart defaults” + skills/session-bootstrap.md (“Smart defaults” section) | TestDefaults_Applied + reviewer enforcement |
The Update Demand applies recursively to itself: when a new trigger row is added (e.g., a new component category, a new contract), this table MUST be updated in the same PR. TestUpdateDemandTableCovers (non-skippable) parses this table and asserts every registered component category and contract type has a row.
If you find yourself wanting to defer the doc/skill update to “a follow-up PR,” stop. The follow-up PR will not happen, and the next Claude Code session will read a stale CLAUDE.md and produce wrong code. Update in the same PR or do not merge.