Introducing DAP as a Behavioral Protocol

The Deliberate Action Protocol — DAP for short — is a core behavioral protocol that GameCatalyst enforces on every AI client that connects. It guides Vex through a disciplined five-step workflow before and during any file or asset operation, ensuring nothing is done carelessly or based on assumptions.

The five steps:

STOP → DISCOVER → PLAN → EXECUTE → REVALIDATE

This is not a suggestion or a best practice recommendation. It is a requirement. DAP is enforced through behavioral laws, periodic reminders delivered every five minutes, and a discovery gate system that warns Vex when it tries to skip steps.

Why DAP exists:

Without structured guidance, AI assistants make predictable mistakes that waste your time:

• They guess file paths instead of looking them up, leading to wrong locations
• They assume your project has a certain folder structure without checking
• They execute several changes at once without verifying if any of them actually worked
• When a file operation fails, they try a different path — still guessing instead of discovering
• They create files in wrong locations and then need to clean up the mess

DAP eliminates every one of these problems by enforcing a structured approach at the protocol level.

DAP is always active:

You cannot disable DAP. It is woven into Vex’s identity through core behavioral laws delivered at connection and refreshed every five minutes. Even if you disable workspace.plan for a project (which is perfectly fine — it is a per-project setting), DAP guidance still applies. Vex will use its own planning system instead of workspace.plan, but the five-step workflow remains in full effect.

What DAP looks like in action:

You ask Vex to create a movement script. Instead of immediately writing a file to wherever it guesses the Scripts folder is, Vex:

1. STOP — Pauses to consider what is needed and what information is missing
2. DISCOVER — Calls workspace.find pattern="Scripts" type="folder" to find where scripts actually live
3. PLAN — Outlines the steps: create file at discovered path, verify creation, report back
4. EXECUTE — Creates the script file at the correct, verified location
5. REVALIDATE — Confirms the file was created successfully by checking with file.info

This happens automatically. You do not need to remind Vex to follow DAP. It is built into how Vex thinks and operates.