# Phase 8: Coherence Engine - Research

**Researched:** 2026-04-11
**Domain:** Artist-track alignment verification, discography tracking, cross-track analysis (emotion drift, repetition detection, narrative progression suggestions)
**Confidence:** HIGH

## Summary

Phase 8 is the final phase of AI Artiste. It builds a coherence engine that verifies every new track against the artist's identity (bible) and history (discography + existing tracks) before finalization. The engine serves as a quality gate integrated into the existing `create-track` skill workflow. There are three distinct concerns: (1) single-track alignment checks against the bible (COH-01 through COH-04), (2) discography logging enhancement (COH-05), and (3) cross-track analysis requiring reading all previous tracks (COH-06 through COH-08).

The critical insight is that this phase does NOT create a new skill or new files from scratch. Like Phase 7, it modifies existing step files in the `create-track` skill. The bible's "Regles de Coherence" section (created in Phase 2) was specifically designed as the input for this phase -- it contains negative constraints (vocal, thematic, emotional, forbidden themes) that the coherence engine must enforce. The discography template (also from Phase 2) already has the correct table structure for logging. Step 03 already updates the discography after saving. Phase 8 enhances this existing mechanism and adds the coherence verification layer.

The three roadmap plans map naturally to distinct concerns and insertion points: Plan 08-01 adds bible alignment checks to Step 03 (between Suno constraint verification and linguistic verification, or as a third subsection of the Rapport de Verification). Plan 08-02 enhances the existing discography logging in Step 03 to include richer metadata and stats. Plan 08-03 adds cross-track analysis to Step 01 (read discography + previous tracks when collecting inputs, surface warnings early) and Step 03 (formal cross-track report). This split ensures the coherence data is available early (Step 01) for creative guidance, and formally verified late (Step 03) before finalization.

**Primary recommendation:** Add coherence verification as a new subsection of the Rapport de Verification in Step 03, alongside the existing Contraintes Suno and Verification Linguistique subsections. Add cross-track analysis to Step 01 (early warnings during input collection) and Step 03 (formal report). Enhance discography logging with richer metadata. All changes are modifications to existing files -- no new files needed.

## Standard Stack

This phase produces no code -- only updated markdown skill instructions within the existing `create-track` skill, plus potential enhancements to the discography template.

### Core

| Component | Location | Purpose | Why Standard |
|-----------|----------|---------|--------------|
| Step 01 (updated) | `.claude/skills/create-track/steps/01-collect-inputs.md` | Cross-track analysis at input time: read discography + previous tracks, surface early warnings about emotion drift, repetition risk, and narrative progression opportunities | Early detection gives Claude creative guidance BEFORE writing lyrics |
| Step 03 (updated) | `.claude/skills/create-track/steps/03-verify-and-save.md` | Bible alignment checks (COH-01 to COH-04), coherence report, enhanced discography logging (COH-05) | Natural home for verification -- extends existing Rapport de Verification pattern |

### Supporting (Existing -- Read Only)

| Component | Location | Purpose | When to Use |
|-----------|----------|---------|-------------|
| Artist bible | `artists/[name]/bible.md` | Source of truth for genre, vocal style, themes, emotions, regles de coherence | Read in Step 01 (already done), used for alignment checks in Step 03 |
| Discography | `artists/[name]/discography.md` | Track history with themes and emotions per track | Read in Step 01 for cross-track analysis, updated in Step 03 after save |
| Previous track files | `artists/[name]/tracks/*.md` | Full lyrics and metadata of previous tracks | Read in Step 01 for repetition detection and narrative analysis |
| Bible template | `reference/templates/bible-template.md` | Regles de Coherence section structure | Reference for what coherence fields exist |
| Discography template | `reference/templates/discography-template.md` | Discography table and stats format | Reference for logging format |

### Alternatives Considered

| Instead of | Could Use | Tradeoff |
|------------|-----------|----------|
| Modifying existing Step 01 and Step 03 | Creating a new Step 04 "coherence check" | Adding a 4th step breaks the compact 3-step workflow established in Phase 4. Coherence verification is naturally part of Step 03 (verify and save). Cross-track context is naturally part of Step 01 (collect inputs). Keeping 3 steps is cleaner. |
| Inline coherence checks in step files | Creating a separate `reference/coherence-rules.md` | The coherence rules are already in each artist's bible (Regles de Coherence section). Creating another reference file would duplicate data. The step files should read from the bible, not from a separate reference. |
| Reading all previous track files for repetition detection | Only using discography table data | The discography table has themes and emotions but NOT full lyrics. Detecting lyrical repetition (specific phrases, images, metaphors reused) requires reading actual track files. For discographies with many tracks (10+), this could be slow, but for practical use cases (5-15 tracks per artist), reading all files is feasible for Claude. |
| Hard-blocking on coherence failures | Advisory warnings only | Coherence mismatches should be WARNINGS, not BLOCKS. The user may intentionally push boundaries (an artist exploring an unusual emotion, a deliberate style contrast). Only the bible's "Emotions Interdites" should be near-blocking (strong warning). This matches the project's creative philosophy: verification serves creativity, not bureaucracy. |

## Architecture Patterns

### What Phase 8 Modifies

```
.claude/skills/create-track/steps/
  01-collect-inputs.md         # MODIFY: add cross-track analysis (read discography + tracks)
  03-verify-and-save.md        # MODIFY: add coherence verification subsection + enhance discography logging

reference/templates/
  discography-template.md      # MODIFY: enhance stats section with emotion tracking
```

No new files. No new directories. Phase 8 modifies two existing step files and optionally enhances the discography template.

### Pattern 1: Bible Alignment Verification (Single-Track vs Bible)

**What:** A structured checklist that compares the new track's attributes against the artist bible before finalization. Covers genre (COH-01), vocal style (COH-02), theme relevance (COH-03), and emotion alignment (COH-04).

**When to use:** Every track creation, during Step 03, after Suno constraints and linguistic verification, before saving.

**How it works:**

The bible already contains all the data needed for comparison. The coherence check extracts attributes from the TRACK being created (from Step 01 inputs and Step 02 outputs) and compares them to the BIBLE fields:

```markdown
## Verification de Coherence

### 1. Alignement Genre
- **Bible :** [Genre principal] + [Sous-genres]
- **Track :** [genre tags dans le style prompt]
- **Verdict :** [OK si le style prompt contient le genre principal ou un sous-genre] / [ATTENTION si aucun match]

### 2. Coherence Vocale
- **Bible :** [Type de voix] + [Style vocal] + [Techniques preferees]
- **Track :** [delivery metatags utilises dans les lyrics]
- **Verdict :** [OK si les delivery tags correspondent aux techniques preferees] / [ATTENTION si un tag contredit le style vocal]

### 3. Pertinence Thematique
- **Bible :** [Themes recurrents]
- **Track :** [concept/mood du track + themes explores]
- **Verdict :** [OK si au moins un theme du track connecte aux themes recurrents] / [ATTENTION si aucun lien thematique]

### 4. Alignement Emotionnel
- **Bible :** [Emotions primaires] + [Emotions secondaires] + [Emotions interdites]
- **Track :** [emotion dominante du track]
- **Verdict :** [OK si emotion dans la palette] / [ATTENTION si emotion secondaire] / [ALERTE si emotion interdite ou hors palette]

### 5. Regles de Coherence
- **Bible :** [Regles de Coherence -- contraintes vocales, thematiques, emotionnelles, themes interdits]
- **Track :** [verification de chaque contrainte negative]
- **Verdict :** [OK / ALERTE pour chaque regle violee, avec detail]
```

**Key design decision:** The Regles de Coherence section of the bible is the primary input. It contains custom negative constraints written during artist creation (Phase 2, Step 06). These rules are artist-specific, not generic -- for example, LUNA/NOVA's bible says "Pas de contenu explicitement joyeux ou festif" and "La technologie est toujours ambigue." The coherence engine must read and enforce these specific rules, not just check generic genre/emotion matching.

### Pattern 2: Cross-Track Analysis (New Track vs History)

**What:** Analysis that reads the discography and previous track files to detect patterns across the artist's body of work. Covers emotion drift (COH-06), repetition detection (COH-07), and narrative progression suggestions (COH-08).

**When to use:** During Step 01 (early warnings to guide creation) and Step 03 (formal report before save).

**How it works:**

**Step 01 integration (early, advisory):**
After reading the bible and discography (already done in Step 01), add:

```markdown
## Analyse Cross-Track

### Lecture de l'historique
1. Lire `artists/[name]/discography.md` pour extraire les themes et emotions de chaque track precedent
2. SI la discographie contient >= 3 tracks : executer l'analyse de drift emotionnel
3. SI la discographie contient >= 2 tracks : executer la detection de repetition thematique
4. SI la discographie contient >= 1 track : lire le(s) fichier(s) track precedent(s) pour comparaison lyrique

### Alerte Drift Emotionnel (COH-06)
- Compter les occurrences de chaque emotion dans le tableau de la discographie
- SI une emotion apparait dans > 50% des tracks recents (3 derniers) : signaler "Les X derniers tracks explorent tous [emotion]. Envisager [autre emotion de la palette] pour varier."
- Presenter les emotions explorees vs non-explorees depuis la palette

### Alerte Repetition Thematique (COH-07)
- Comparer le concept/mood du nouveau track avec les themes des tracks precedents
- SI un theme identique est deja explore dans un track recent : signaler avec suggestion de nouvel angle

### Suggestions de Progression Narrative (COH-08)
- Lire le lore et l'arc narratif de la bible
- Lire les themes et emotions des tracks precedents en ordre chronologique
- Identifier ou en est l'artiste dans son arc narratif
- Proposer 2-3 directions narratives coherentes avec le lore et l'historique
```

**Step 03 integration (formal report):**

```markdown
### Coherence Cross-Track

| Controle | Resultat | Detail |
|----------|----------|--------|
| Drift emotionnel | [OK/ATTENTION] | [detail -- quelles emotions sur-representees] |
| Repetition thematique | [OK/ATTENTION] | [detail -- themes deja explores, similarites detectees] |
| Repetition lyrique | [OK/ATTENTION] | [detail -- phrases ou images reutilisees] |
| Progression narrative | [INFO] | [suggestion -- prochaine direction narrative] |
```

### Pattern 3: Enhanced Discography Logging (COH-05)

**What:** The discography update already exists in Step 03. Phase 8 enhances it to ensure rich metadata is logged and stats track emotional distribution.

**Current state (already implemented):**
```markdown
| [##] | [Titre] | [date] | [langue] | [themes explores] | [emotions dominantes] |
```

**Enhanced state (Phase 8):**
The table format is already correct and sufficient. The enhancement focuses on the Stats section:

```markdown
## Stats

- **Total tracks :** [count]
- **Langues utilisees :** [list]
- **Themes explores :** [list with count per theme]
- **Distribution emotionnelle :** [emotion: count for each emotion from palette]
- **Dernier theme explore :** [most recent theme]
- **Emotions non-explorees :** [emotions from palette not yet used]
```

This enriched stats section makes cross-track analysis faster -- Claude can read Stats instead of recomputing from the full table every time.

### Anti-Patterns to Avoid

- **Over-blocking on coherence:** Coherence checks should be WARNINGS (ATTENTION), not BLOCKS. The only near-blocking condition is using an emotion from the "Emotions Interdites" list, and even that should be a strong warning, not an absolute block. Creative freedom matters.
- **Checking coherence AFTER saving:** The verification must happen BEFORE the file is written to disk. This means coherence checks are part of the Rapport de Verification in Step 03, not a post-save audit.
- **Re-reading the bible in Step 03:** The bible is already read in Step 01. The data should flow through the workflow, not require re-reading. However, for verification purposes, re-reading specific sections (Regles de Coherence, Emotions Interdites) in Step 03 is acceptable to ensure accuracy.
- **Generic coherence rules:** The engine must use the ARTIST-SPECIFIC rules from the Regles de Coherence section, not generic assumptions. Each bible has custom constraints written during artist creation.
- **Ignoring empty discography:** For the first track of an artist, cross-track analysis is N/A. The engine must handle this gracefully (skip cross-track checks, suggest initial narrative direction based on lore only).

## Don't Hand-Roll

| Problem | Don't Build | Use Instead | Why |
|---------|-------------|-------------|-----|
| Emotion tracking across tracks | Custom emotion counting logic in step files | Enriched Stats section in discography.md | Pre-computed stats avoid reprocessing all tracks every time |
| Genre alignment verification | Complex genre taxonomy matching | Direct string comparison of style prompt tags against bible genre fields | The style prompt is auto-generated from the bible (Phase 7), so alignment is partially guaranteed by design. The check catches manual overrides. |
| Lyrical repetition detection | Full text similarity scoring | Claude's natural language comprehension reading previous track files | This is a markdown-only system. Claude reads the files and detects similar phrases, images, metaphors using its own understanding. No algorithm needed. |
| Narrative progression suggestions | Formal story arc engine | Claude's reading of lore + track history + creative reasoning | The lore's "Arc narratif" field describes the intended progression. Claude maps previous tracks onto this arc and suggests the next step. |

**Key insight:** The coherence engine is a VERIFICATION PROCEDURE embedded in markdown instructions, not a software system. Claude IS the engine. The step files tell Claude WHAT to verify and HOW to report findings. Claude's natural language understanding does the actual analysis. This is consistent with the project's zero-code philosophy.

## Common Pitfalls

### Pitfall 1: Coherence Theater Without Substance

**What goes wrong:** The coherence checks become superficial checkboxes that always pass. "Genre: OK. Themes: OK. Emotions: OK." without meaningful analysis.

**Why it happens:** If the check instructions are too vague ("verify genre alignment"), Claude will do a surface-level comparison and always report OK.

**How to avoid:** Make the check instructions specific and require EVIDENCE. Instead of "verify genre alignment", specify: "Compare the style prompt tags against the bible's Genre principal and Sous-genres. List which bible genres appear in the style prompt. If none appear, explain why and flag ATTENTION." Require Claude to show its work.

**Warning signs:** Reports where every check is "OK" with no detail. No ATTENTION flags ever raised.

### Pitfall 2: Cross-Track Analysis on Empty/Small Discographies

**What goes wrong:** The cross-track analysis runs on the first or second track and produces meaningless results ("0% emotion drift detected in 1 track").

**Why it happens:** Cross-track analysis is only meaningful with 3+ tracks. Running it on 1-2 tracks wastes effort and produces noise.

**How to avoid:** Use conditional thresholds:
- Emotion drift analysis (COH-06): only run with >= 3 tracks
- Thematic repetition (COH-07): only run with >= 2 tracks
- Lyrical repetition (COH-07): only run with >= 2 tracks
- Narrative progression suggestions (COH-08): always run (even with 0 tracks, based on lore alone)

For the first track, the "progression suggestion" should be based entirely on the lore and arc narratif, suggesting where to start the artist's story.

**Warning signs:** Cross-track reports on first/second tracks with empty or trivial findings.

### Pitfall 3: Discography Stats Drift

**What goes wrong:** The Stats section at the bottom of discography.md gets out of sync with the actual track table above it.

**Why it happens:** If Claude only updates the table and forgets to update the stats, or if a manual edit changes the table without updating stats.

**How to avoid:** The Step 03 instructions must explicitly state: "After adding the new row to the Tracks table, RECOMPUTE all stats from the table data. Do not increment -- recount." This prevents cumulative drift.

**Warning signs:** Stats showing "Total tracks: 3" when the table has 4 rows.

### Pitfall 4: Over-Reading Track Files Slows the Workflow

**What goes wrong:** For an artist with 15+ tracks, reading all track files in Step 01 takes significant context and slows down the creative process.

**Why it happens:** The instruction says "read all previous tracks" without a limit.

**How to avoid:** Set a practical limit: read the LAST 5 track files for lyrical repetition detection. Read the full discography TABLE (lightweight) for emotion/theme analysis. The table provides summary data; the files provide full lyrics. For most artists, 5 recent tracks is sufficient to detect repetition patterns.

**Warning signs:** Claude spending excessive time reading 20+ track files before starting creative work.

### Pitfall 5: Confusing Coherence with Creativity Suppression

**What goes wrong:** The coherence engine prevents creative exploration by flagging everything unusual as a problem.

**Why it happens:** If the engine treats ANY deviation from the bible as an error, it suppresses legitimate artistic evolution.

**How to avoid:** Use a tiered severity system:
- **OK** -- Track aligns with bible and history
- **ATTENTION** -- Potential misalignment, worth noting but not blocking (e.g., exploring a secondary emotion, a theme adjacent to defined themes)
- **ALERTE** -- Strong misalignment requiring user acknowledgment (e.g., emotion from Emotions Interdites, theme explicitly forbidden in Regles de Coherence)

Never BLOCK on coherence. Always present findings and let the user decide. The post-verification interaction pattern from Phase 7 (07-02) applies: "Le rapport de coherence a identifie les points suivants. Voulez-vous ajuster ou garder ?"

**Warning signs:** Users feeling constrained or frustrated by constant warnings. Tracks that are creatively safe but artistically bland.

### Pitfall 6: Bible Alignment Redundancy with Auto-Generation

**What goes wrong:** The coherence engine checks genre alignment on a style prompt that was AUTO-GENERATED from the bible in the same workflow run. The check is redundant by definition.

**Why it happens:** Phase 7 (07-01) auto-generates the style prompt from the bible. If the user didn't modify it, checking it against the bible is circular.

**How to avoid:** The genre and vocal alignment checks (COH-01, COH-02) should note whether the style prompt was auto-generated or user-modified:
- If auto-generated without user modification: "OK (auto-genere depuis la bible)"
- If user modified the style prompt: perform the full comparison check
- If user-provided custom concept deviates from bible themes: check theme relevance

The emotion and theme checks (COH-03, COH-04) are NEVER redundant because the track's emotional direction is chosen per-track, not auto-generated from the bible.

## Code Examples

These are markdown instruction examples -- the system is zero-code.

### Bible Alignment Check (Step 03 Addition)

```markdown
### Verification de Coherence

Verifier l'alignement entre le track produit et la bible de l'artiste. Lire `artists/[name]/bible.md` sections pertinentes.

**Tableau de coherence :**

| Controle | Bible | Track | Verdict |
|----------|-------|-------|---------|
| Genre | [Genre principal + Sous-genres] | [Tags genre dans style prompt] | [OK/ATTENTION + detail] |
| Vocal | [Type de voix + Techniques preferees] | [Delivery metatags utilises] | [OK/ATTENTION + detail] |
| Theme | [Themes recurrents] | [Concept + themes explores] | [OK/ATTENTION + detail] |
| Emotion | [Palette emotionnelle] | [Emotion dominante du track] | [OK/ATTENTION/ALERTE + detail] |
| Regles specifiques | [Regles de Coherence] | [Verification point par point] | [OK/ALERTE + detail] |

**Regles de severite :**
- **OK** : alignement confirme
- **ATTENTION** : ecart mineur, noter mais ne pas bloquer
- **ALERTE** : ecart majeur (emotion interdite, regle de coherence violee) -- presenter a l'utilisateur avec demande d'ajustement

SI une ALERTE est trouvee : presenter le rapport et demander "Le rapport de coherence signale [X]. Voulez-vous ajuster ou garder tel quel ?"
```

### Cross-Track Analysis (Step 01 Addition)

```markdown
## Analyse de l'Historique de l'Artiste

Apres la lecture de la discographie, analyser l'historique des tracks pour guider la creation.

### 1. Distribution Emotionnelle
SI la discographie contient >= 3 tracks :
- Compter les emotions dominantes des tracks precedents
- SI une emotion apparait dans > 50% des 3 derniers tracks :
  "ATTENTION : Les 3 derniers tracks explorent tous [emotion]. Les emotions [X, Y] de la palette n'ont pas encore ete explorees."
- Sinon : "Distribution emotionnelle equilibree."
SI < 3 tracks : "Pas assez d'historique pour l'analyse de drift emotionnel."

### 2. Repetition Thematique
SI la discographie contient >= 2 tracks :
- Comparer le concept du nouveau track avec les themes des tracks precedents
- SI un theme similaire existe deja : "Le theme [X] a deja ete explore dans [track ##]. Suggestion : aborder le theme sous un angle different -- [suggestion d'angle]."
- Lire les 5 derniers fichiers tracks pour comparaison lyrique (images, metaphores, phrases-cles)
- SI des phrases ou images similaires sont detectees : "Attention : l'image [X] a ete utilisee dans [track ##]. Varier le vocabulaire visuel."
SI < 2 tracks : "Premier ou deuxieme track -- pas de repetition possible."

### 3. Suggestions de Progression Narrative
- Lire `Lore > Arc narratif` depuis la bible
- Mapper les tracks existants sur l'arc narratif :
  "L'arc narratif de [artiste] prevoit [description de l'arc]. Les tracks precedents couvrent [phase de l'arc]. Le prochain track pourrait explorer [suggestion]."
- SI aucun arc narratif defini : baser les suggestions sur le lore et les themes non-explores
- Proposer 2-3 directions narratives coherentes

Presenter ces analyses dans le resume de direction creative (section existante de Step 01).
```

### Enhanced Discography Logging (Step 03 Modification)

```markdown
## Mise a Jour Discographie

### 1. Ajouter une ligne au tableau Tracks

[existant -- inchange]

### 2. Mettre a jour la section Stats

RECOMPUTER tous les stats depuis le tableau (ne pas incrementer) :

- **Total tracks :** [recompte du nombre de lignes dans le tableau]
- **Langues utilisees :** [liste dedupliquee des langues dans le tableau]
- **Themes explores :** [liste dedupliquee de tous les themes avec comptage -- ex: "solitude (3), amour (2), identite (1)"]
- **Distribution emotionnelle :** [comptage par emotion depuis le tableau -- ex: "Melancholic (3), Nostalgic (2), Sensual (1)"]
- **Emotions non-explorees :** [emotions de la palette de la bible pas encore utilisees]
- **Dernier theme :** [theme du track le plus recent]
```

## State of the Art

| Old Approach (Phase 4) | Current Approach (Phase 8) | When Changed | Impact |
|------------------------|---------------------------|--------------|--------|
| Basic bible reading in Step 01, no formal coherence check | Structured coherence verification with bible alignment table + cross-track analysis | Phase 8 | Every track is verified against identity and history before save |
| Discography logging with basic stats (total, languages, themes list) | Enhanced stats with emotion distribution, unexplored emotions, theme counts | Phase 8 | Cross-track analysis uses pre-computed stats instead of reprocessing |
| No cross-track awareness | Step 01 reads discography + recent tracks, surfaces warnings | Phase 8 | Claude has creative context about the artist's trajectory before writing |

**Existing capabilities that Phase 8 builds on:**
- Step 01 already reads the bible and discography (Phase 4)
- Step 03 already updates discography with themes and emotions (Phase 4)
- Bible already has Regles de Coherence section (Phase 2)
- Discography template already has the correct table format (Phase 2)
- Rapport de Verification already has Contraintes Suno + Verification Linguistique subsections (Phase 7)

## Open Questions

1. **Discography template update scope**
   - What we know: The discography template in `reference/templates/` has a basic Stats section. Phase 8 enhances it.
   - What's unclear: Should the template file itself be updated, or should the enhanced stats be instruction-only (Claude computes richer stats but the template stays simple)?
   - Recommendation: Update the template to include the enhanced Stats fields. This ensures new artists get the full structure from the start. Existing artists' discographies will be updated organically when their next track is created.

2. **Track file reading limit for large discographies**
   - What we know: Reading all track files is needed for lyrical repetition detection. For 5-10 tracks this is fine.
   - What's unclear: At what point does reading all files become impractical? 20 tracks? 50?
   - Recommendation: Set a practical limit of 5 most recent track files for lyrical comparison. Use the discography table (lightweight) for emotion/theme analysis across all tracks. This scales well.

3. **Interaction between auto-generated style prompt and genre coherence check**
   - What we know: Phase 7 auto-generates the style prompt from the bible. If unchanged, checking genre alignment is circular.
   - What's unclear: Should the check be skipped entirely if the style prompt was not modified?
   - Recommendation: Run the check but note "auto-genere" if unmodified. This creates a paper trail and catches edge cases where the auto-generation might have selected an unexpected sous-genre.

## Plan Structure Recommendation

The three roadmap plans map cleanly to distinct concerns:

### Plan 08-01: Bible Alignment Checks (COH-01 through COH-04)
**Files modified:** `03-verify-and-save.md`
**What it does:** Adds a "Verification de Coherence" subsection to the Rapport de Verification. Five checks: genre alignment (COH-01), vocal consistency (COH-02), theme relevance (COH-03), emotion alignment (COH-04), and Regles de Coherence enforcement (derived from all four COH requirements + bible-specific rules). Uses tiered severity (OK / ATTENTION / ALERTE). Integrates with post-verification interaction pattern from Phase 7.

### Plan 08-02: Enhanced Discography Logging (COH-05)
**Files modified:** `03-verify-and-save.md`, `reference/templates/discography-template.md`
**What it does:** Enhances the existing discography update section in Step 03 with richer stats (emotion distribution, theme counts, unexplored emotions). Updates the discography template to include the new stats fields. Adds a "recompute, don't increment" rule to prevent stats drift.

### Plan 08-03: Cross-Track Analysis (COH-06, COH-07, COH-08)
**Files modified:** `01-collect-inputs.md`, `03-verify-and-save.md`
**What it does:** Adds cross-track analysis to Step 01 (early warnings: emotion drift, thematic repetition alerts, narrative progression suggestions) and Step 03 (formal cross-track report table). Includes conditional thresholds (skip analysis when < 2-3 tracks). Reads last 5 track files for lyrical repetition. Uses lore's arc narratif for progression suggestions.

**Dependency:** Plan 08-02 should execute before 08-03, because 08-03's cross-track analysis benefits from the enriched stats computed by 08-02. Plan 08-01 can execute independently (only modifies Step 03's verification section).

## Sources

### Primary (HIGH confidence)
- `reference/templates/bible-template.md` -- Regles de Coherence section structure, bible fields available for comparison
- `reference/templates/discography-template.md` -- Current discography table format and stats section
- `.claude/skills/create-track/steps/01-collect-inputs.md` -- Current Step 01 structure, bible reading, discography reading
- `.claude/skills/create-track/steps/03-verify-and-save.md` -- Current Step 03 structure, Rapport de Verification format, discography update logic
- `.claude/skills/create-artist/examples/example-bible.md` -- LUNA/NOVA bible showing Regles de Coherence content in practice
- `.claude/skills/create-artist/steps/06-review-validate.md` -- How Regles de Coherence are auto-generated during artist creation

### Secondary (HIGH confidence -- prior phase decisions)
- `.planning/phases/07-track-enrichment-and-verification-integration/07-02-SUMMARY.md` -- Post-verification interaction pattern, two-level reporting, blocking conditions
- `.planning/phases/04-core-track-production/04-RESEARCH.md` -- Pitfall 5 documenting basic coherence reading already in Phase 4
- `.planning/STATE.md` -- All accumulated decisions affecting Phase 8

## Metadata

**Confidence breakdown:**
- Standard stack: HIGH -- no new components, only modifications to well-understood existing files
- Architecture: HIGH -- patterns follow established Phase 7 approach (modify existing step files, add verification subsection)
- Pitfalls: HIGH -- derived from deep analysis of existing workflow, prior phase decisions, and project constraints
- Cross-track analysis: MEDIUM -- the practical limits (5-file reading cap, conditional thresholds) are reasonable estimates that may need tuning based on real usage

**Research date:** 2026-04-11
**Valid until:** 2026-05-11 (stable -- no external dependencies, no moving libraries)
