Missing-Middle Intake Path

Problem

When only two tracks exist — "ad-hoc with no trace" and "full spec workflow (plan→build→review→finalize)" — small, self-contained changes (typos, button colors, copy fixes) either disappear into untracked history or bloat the sprint board with fake "improvement" stories.

Solution

Add a third track: a quick-fix skill (/vt-c-quickfix) that:

1. Accepts a one-line description + optional screenshot
2. Creates a timestamped audit file in intake/quick-fixes/ (flat, no sub-directories)
3. Branches, applies the fix, and optionally opens a PR with a ## Quick-Fix Audit Entries section
4. Escalates to a real spec if the change crosses a complexity threshold (>50 LoC, >2 files touched, or LLM-judge determines >5 min work)

The audit file uses minimal frontmatter: id, date, trigger, reason, branch, commit, fixed_by.

Key Design Decisions

• Flat intake store, not domain sub-directories — quick fixes are inherently small; domain classification adds friction that defeats the purpose.
• Escalation heuristic, not manual routing — the skill decides complexity, not the PM.
• PR annotation as the paper trail — the ## Quick-Fix Audit Entries block in the PR body is the primary audit surface for reviewers, not a separate report.

Prevention

Apply this pattern any time a workflow has only two extremes. Ask: "What is the 10-second path for someone who is 90% sure this is trivial?" Design that path first; let the escalation path grow from it.

References

• SPEC-133 spec: specs/133-quick-fix-intake-path/spec.md
• Skill: ~/.claude/skills/vt-c-quickfix/SKILL.md
• Audit store: intake/quick-fixes/README.md