craft: v0 skeleton + first module (Z-set basics applied + theoretical)

docs/craft/README.md

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+# Craft — Khan-style learning substrate for Zeta + beyond
+
+**Status:** skeleton landed; multiple Zeta-track modules
+present (`zset-basics`, `retraction-intuition`,
+`operator-composition`, `semiring-basics`) plus an
+initial `production-dotnet` track. The curriculum grows
+tick-by-tick, backwards-chain from current project needs.
+**Companion curriculum** to `docs/ALIGNMENT.md` per the
+mutual-alignment (yin/yang) discipline — Craft teaches
+humans what the alignment-contract clauses mean in practice.
+
+## What Craft is
+
+A learning substrate providing Khan-style pedagogy
+(simple digestible chunks + prereqs explicit + self-
+assessment gates) for any subject someone might need to
+engage with Zeta / Frontier / Aurora and related
+projects. **Not just Zeta-docs** — a complete education
+substrate covering math / CS / physics / domain-specific
+concepts as they earn their existence in the curriculum.
+
+Named **Craft** (agent-pick; Aaron-nudge-latitude
+preserved) for the tool-use + real-world-grounding
+register — tool-mastery for purposes, not tool-
+construction for its own sake.
+
+## Two tracks — applied (default) + theoretical (opt-in)
+
+| Track | Default? | Audience | Optimises |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| **Applied** | **YES — the default** | Everyone entering Craft | Time-to-first-understanding; when / how / why to use a tool |
+| **Theoretical** | NO — explicit opt-in | Learners who really care to go deep | Time-to-verify-claim; first-principles derivation |
+
+Per the human maintainer 2026-04-23: *"applied is the
+default, theoretical is extra/opt in for those who really
+care"*.
+
+## Pedagogy principles
+
+1. **Tool-use first.** You don't need to build a hammer to
+   use a hammer. You don't need to derive a formula from
+   first principles to use a calculator button. Primary
+   content is *when / how / why* to reach for a tool.
+2. **Grounding-point discipline.** Every concept anchored
+   in a real-world object / practice the learner already
+   knows. Abstract treatment layered on after the anchor
+   is internalised.
+3. **Multi-reading-level.** Same concept at multiple
+   scaffoldings; learner picks the level that resonates.
+4. **Backwards-chain.** Start with current-project needs;
+   add prereq backstories as gaps surface. Never boil the
+   ocean.
+5. **Code-abstraction-isomorphism.** Per Aaron's Otto-23
+   meta-observation: a Craft lesson is like a code class —
+   reduce concepts-needed-in-any-one-unit; import /
+   reference the rest via well-defined prerequisites.
+
+## Structure
+
+```
+docs/craft/
+├── README.md (this file)
+└── subjects/
+    ├── zeta/
+    │   ├── zset-basics/                ← first module (loop-agent PM hat)
+    │   │   └── module.md
+    │   ├── retraction-intuition/       ← second module
+    │   │   └── module.md
+    │   ├── operator-composition/       ← third module
+    │   │   └── module.md
+    │   └── semiring-basics/            ← fourth module
+    │       └── module.md
+    ├── production-dotnet/              ← production-tier ladder v0
+    │   └── (track modules)
+    └── (future subjects …)
+```
+
+Each module carries:
+
+- **Anchor** — the real-world grounding point
+- **Applied section** — when / how / why
+- **Theoretical section (opt-in)** — first-principles
+  derivation
+- **Prerequisites** — pointer list (in-repo paths)
+- **Exercises** — Khan-style small practice
+- **Further reading** — composable cross-refs
+
+## First module — `subjects/zeta/zset-basics/`
+
+Landed with this v0 skeleton. Uses a tally-counter-at-a-
+market-stall as the anchor; teaches Z-set insertions +
+retractions as counter-tick-up / tick-down (tool-use
+before algebra-formalism). The follow-on
+`subjects/zeta/retraction-intuition/` module (undo-button
+anchor) is the suggested next step.
+
+## What Craft is NOT
+
+- **Not a Zeta-docs expansion.** `docs/GLOSSARY.md` +
+  `docs/ALIGNMENT.md` + per-module in-code docs remain
+  their own substrate. Craft is the pedagogy layer.
+- **Not a boil-the-ocean education encyclopedia.** Backwards-
+  chain from current-project needs; stop when the chain
+  reaches the substrate the linguistic seed covers.
+- **Not a conversion apparatus.** Per the human
+  maintainer's universal-welcome memory — all traditions
+  welcome; Craft's ethos is "common ground," not
+  evangelism.
+
+## Composes with
+
+- `docs/ALIGNMENT.md` — the alignment contract Craft
+  teaches in practice
+- `docs/linguistic-seed/README.md` — the minimal-axiom
+  vocabulary substrate that Craft's prereq chains ground
+  through
+- `docs/bootstrap/` — Frontier bootstrap anchors that
+  Craft's applied + theoretical modules substantiate
+  pedagogically
+- `memory/CURRENT-aaron.md` + `memory/CURRENT-amara.md`
+  — per-maintainer distillations (accessible to Craft
+  readers per the in-repo-first policy)
+- `memory/project_learning_repo_khan_style_all_subjects_all_ages_prereqs_mapped_backwards_from_what_we_need_2026_04_23.md`
+  — pedagogy + strategic-purpose spec
+- `memory/project_craft_secret_purpose_agent_continuity_via_human_maintainer_bootstrap_never_left_without_human_connection_even_teach_from_birth_2026_04_23.md`
+  — load-bearing purposes (succession + mutual-alignment)
+
+## Already-landed modules
+
+- `subjects/zeta/zset-basics/` — tally-counter anchor;
+  Z-set insertion + retraction
+- `subjects/zeta/retraction-intuition/` — undo-button
+  anchor; Z⁻¹ inverse property
+- `subjects/zeta/operator-composition/` — LEGO blocks
+  anchor; D / I / z⁻¹ / H pipelining
+- `subjects/zeta/semiring-basics/` — recipe-template
+  anchor; tropical / Boolean / counting variants
+- `subjects/production-dotnet/` — production-tier ladder
+  v0 (checked-vs-unchecked first module)
+
+## Future modules (candidate backlog)
+
+- `subjects/cs/databases/` — when to use what (DBSP vs
+  conventional DB vs event-store)
+- `subjects/cs/formal-verification/` — calculator
+  analogy; when to reach for Lean / Z3 / TLA+
+- `subjects/math/group-theory-basics/` — symmetry
+  examples; prereq for Z-set algebra theoretical track
+
+These are candidates — each earns its existence when a
+current-project need actually surfaces.
+
+## Attribution
+
+Otto (loop-agent PM hat) landed the v0 skeleton + first
+module. Iris / Bodhi / Daya / Rune audit audience-fit per
+persona roster.