A stray brace stays prose while an unusable group stays a named slot

outcome

Execute the refuse-to-guess posture where a stray brace precedes an unparsable group.

Examples

Given the step text {stepText: "a stray { then {n: maybe} line items"}
When the notation parses the step text
Then the notation finds {slotCount: 1} slot groups
Then the first group has the form {form: "malformed"} and the name {slotName: "n"}
Then the step skeleton is {skeleton: "a stray { then {n} line items"}

Verifier bindings

• test:protocol.slot-notation.refused-guess · the refusal point verifies prose braces and the unusable slot · anchored · test anchor binding present · test/self-hosting-carrier.test.ts:231

  External run evidence from test/self-hosting-carrier.test.ts

  Test anchors: test:protocol.markdown-parser.bounded-parity, test:protocol.open-question-fields.dropped-list-warns, test:protocol.slot-notation.one-literal-binding, test:protocol.slot-notation.refused-guess, test:protocol.slot-notation.typed-declaration. Specs verified by those bindings: spec:carrier.markdown-parser, spec:carrier.markdown-parser.bounded-parity, spec:carrier.slot-notation, spec:carrier.slot-notation.one-literal-binding, spec:carrier.slot-notation.refused-guess, spec:carrier.slot-notation.typed-declaration, spec:model.open-question-fields, spec:model.open-question-fields.dropped-list-warns.

  Run 1: external run evidence from vitest 4.1.10

  Build: CI 391 · Branch: cursor/media-plan-and-articles-09b1 · Commit: 076cd4f1f85640d8236e5cca1bffffa68ab79a33 · Start: 2026-10-31T15:32:20.471Z · Stop: 2026-10-31T15:34:02.073Z

  Name	Suite	Result	Duration
  executes the bound example against a fresh world	One finding class is shared while the carriers' outcomes stay their own (spec:carrier.markdown-parser.bounded-parity)	passed	27.95 ms
  executes the bound example against a fresh world	A typed declaration normalizes to the skeleton its binding shares (spec:carrier.slot-notation.typed-declaration)	passed	0.52 ms
  executes the bound example against a fresh world	A stray brace stays prose while an unusable group stays a named slot (spec:carrier.slot-notation.refused-guess)	passed	0.38 ms
  executes the bound example against a fresh world	A one-literal group in a vocabulary is a binding that declares nothing (spec:carrier.slot-notation.one-literal-binding)	passed	2.37 ms
  executes the bound example against a fresh world	A TypeScript question list that cannot be read drops whole with a warning (spec:model.open-question-fields.dropped-list-warns)	passed	8.41 ms
  drops the whole question list for a non-static question text	not recorded	passed	4.35 ms
  drops the whole question list for a non-static blocking flag	not recorded	passed	3.64 ms
  drops the whole question list for a spread in the list	not recorded	passed	6.65 ms

Requirement drawing

• Satisfying or referencing units: no recorded binding.

Decisions

No decision record named.

No implementation neighborhood recorded.

Runtime observation: not tracked.

Runtime observation: not tracked.

Build attestations: not tracked.

Deployments: not tracked.

Bills of materials: not tracked.