A simple request for something new to appear first can accidentally erase the order people already created through earlier decisions.
Put this first is not the same as reorder everything
Existing order often contains decisions people made earlier. A request to show one new item first may be reasonable, but it is not necessarily an instruction to recalculate every other priority.
Ask what the proposed change preserves, what it displaces, and whether a person arranged the current order for a reason that should survive.
Where AI fits
AI can compare a requested ordering change with the current arrangement and surface the intent that may be displaced.
The human decision
People decide which earlier ordering choices still matter and approve the rule for the new item.
The lesson
A new request should be visible without quietly erasing the intent encoded in the work already arranged.
The Build Log companion shows why the useful fix lived at the creation point instead of in a broad reorder of existing work.
AI Skills
Use this lesson with the AI assistant you already use
A new request should be visible without quietly erasing the intent encoded in the work already arranged.
Paste the prompt, share only the context needed to answer it, and treat the result as a draft for your review. Do not include confidential information or let an AI assistant make changes without your approval.
Optional: for a visual report and saved memory, run /dxdev first.
Don’t have it? Get it at dxdev.com/skills/dxdev. The prompt works without it.
dxdev LESSON · paste into your AI agent
LESSON: 2026-02-24_preserve-intent
WHAT TO SHARE:
A de-identified current order, the requested change, and any known reason the order exists.
ASK YOUR AGENT TO:
1. Separate confirmed facts from assumptions and unanswered questions.
2. Identify the new request and the current ordering rule.
3. Show which existing items or decisions would move.
4. Draft options that preserve intent while handling the new request.
RETURN:
A preserved-intent, displaced-intent, and trade-off table for human review.
BOUNDARY: Do not change records, contact anyone, route work, publish content, or act in an external system. A person must review the evidence and approve every consequential step.
