Draft States

Draft states provide first-class support for intentionally incomplete content during iterative composition. See: /MRS-Specification-RFC#11-data-model

The Problem

Early-stage composition is inherently incomplete:

You know the harmony before the orchestration
You have a melody before the accompaniment
You have rhythm sketches before final pitches

Without draft states:

Forced completeness leads to hallucinated filler
Empty measures are ambiguous (rest or TBD?)
Intent is lost — an empty measure might mean “rest” or “to be filled”

Placeholder Primitives

Placeholder Region

Mark a region as intentionally incomplete:

(placeholder
  :id #uuid "..."
  :measures #uuid "..." #uuid "..."
  :instruments [violin-1 violin-2 viola cello]
  :intent accompaniment
  :description "Strings accompany flute melody")

Field	Description
`:measures`	UUID range
`:instruments`	Affected instruments
`:intent`	What kind of content is planned
`:description`	Human-readable description

Intent Types

Intent	Description
`:melody`	Melodic content TBD
`:accompaniment`	Accompaniment pattern TBD
`:countermelody`	Counter-line TBD
`:harmony`	Harmonic content TBD
`:orchestration`	Orchestration TBD
`:texture`	General texture/pad TBD
`:rhythm`	Rhythmic pattern TBD

Sketch Rhythm

Provide rhythm without final pitches:

(sketch-rhythm
  :id #uuid "..."
  :measure #uuid "..."
  :instrument flute-1
  :voice v1
  :rhythm [q e e h]
  :description "Main theme rhythm, pitches TBD")

Harmonic Sketch

Provide harmony without voicing:

(harmony-plan
  (region :measures #uuid "..." #uuid "..."
    (chord :beat 0 :symbol Cm)
    (chord :beat 2 :symbol Fm)
    (chord :beat 0 :symbol G7)))

Validation Levels

MRS supports validation levels to accommodate draft states:

Level	Allows
`strict`	No placeholders; all content complete
`permissive`	Placeholders allowed; validates what exists
`sketch`	Minimal validation; for early drafts

Strict Validation

(meta
  :validation-level strict
  ...)

All measures must have complete content. Placeholders are errors.

Permissive Validation

(meta
  :validation-level permissive
  ...)

Placeholders are valid. Validates:

Existing content is well-formed
References are valid
Placeholder intents are recognized

Sketch Validation

(meta
  :validation-level sketch
  ...)

Minimal validation for early drafts:

Basic syntax
UUID validity
No content requirements

Example: From Sketch to Complete

Stage 1: Harmony Plan Only

(mrs-s 1.0
  (meta :title "New Piece" :validation-level sketch)
  (players ...)
  (instruments ...)
  (measures
    (measure :id #uuid "..." :number 1 :beat-start 0 :time 4/4
      (placeholder :instruments [flute-1 clarinet-bb violin-1]
                   :intent orchestration
                   :description "Full orchestration TBD")))
  (spans)
  (harmony-plan
    (region :measures #uuid "..." #uuid "..."
      (chord :beat 0 :symbol Cm)
      (chord :beat 2 :symbol Fm))))

Stage 2: Melody Added

(measure :id #uuid "..." :number 1 :beat-start 0 :time 4/4
  (flute-1
    (v1
      (: 0 Eb5.q :id #uuid "...")
      (: 1 D5.q :id #uuid "...")
      (: 2 Eb5.e :id #uuid "...")
      (: 2+1/2 F5.e :id #uuid "...")
      (: 3 G5.q :id #uuid "...")))
  (placeholder :instruments [clarinet-bb violin-1]
               :intent accompaniment
               :description "Accompaniment to flute melody"))

Stage 3: Complete

(measure :id #uuid "..." :number 1 :beat-start 0 :time 4/4
  (flute-1
    (v1 (: 0 Eb5.q :id #uuid "...") ...))
  (clarinet-bb
    (v1 (: 0 G4.h :id #uuid "...") ...))
  (violin-1
    (v1 (: 0 C4.q :id #uuid "...") ...)))

Operations on Placeholders

Resolve Placeholder

Replace placeholder with actual content:

(resolve-placeholder
  :placeholder-id #uuid "..."
  :content
    ((create-event :tmp-id "e1" :measure #uuid "..." 
                   :instrument clarinet-bb :voice v1
                   :beat 0 :pitch G4 :duration h)
     ...))

Refine Placeholder

Add detail without fully resolving:

(refine-placeholder
  :placeholder-id #uuid "..."
  :add-sketch-rhythm
    (sketch-rhythm :instrument clarinet-bb :voice v1
                   :rhythm [h h]))

Checkpoints and Placeholders

Checkpoints can require placeholder resolution:

(checkpoint
  :id "orchestration-complete"
  :requires
    ((no-placeholders :scope :all)))

After this checkpoint, placeholders are validation errors.

Overview

MRS-S Format

Agent Workflows

Model & Validation

The Problem

Placeholder Primitives

Placeholder Region

Intent Types

Sketch Rhythm

Harmonic Sketch

Validation Levels

Strict Validation

Permissive Validation

Sketch Validation

Example: From Sketch to Complete

Stage 1: Harmony Plan Only

Stage 2: Melody Added

Stage 3: Complete

Operations on Placeholders

Resolve Placeholder

Refine Placeholder

Checkpoints and Placeholders

​The Problem

​Placeholder Primitives

​Placeholder Region

​Intent Types

​Sketch Rhythm

​Harmonic Sketch

​Validation Levels

​Strict Validation

​Permissive Validation

​Sketch Validation

​Example: From Sketch to Complete

​Stage 1: Harmony Plan Only

​Stage 2: Melody Added

​Stage 3: Complete

​Operations on Placeholders

​Resolve Placeholder

​Refine Placeholder

​Checkpoints and Placeholders

The Problem

Placeholder Primitives

Placeholder Region

Intent Types

Sketch Rhythm

Harmonic Sketch

Validation Levels

Strict Validation

Permissive Validation

Sketch Validation

Example: From Sketch to Complete

Stage 1: Harmony Plan Only

Stage 2: Melody Added

Stage 3: Complete

Operations on Placeholders

Resolve Placeholder

Refine Placeholder

Checkpoints and Placeholders