73 signals 14 categories benchmarked by cohort
Specimen of the field
On a Heater
A current run of high-activity weeks back to back.
On a Heater 69th · same stage, same stack
Anatomy of a signal
Every specimen carries the same seven parts, in the same order. The layout is binding.
On a Heater 3
A current run of high-activity weeks back to back. 4
streak(dev, active_weeks >= p75) 5
vs cohort 71st · same stage
Read from GitHub 7
- 1 Signal icon A lucide icon, single-weight stroke. Never an emoji.
- 2 Monogram Two letters, monospace.
- 3 Name In the display face. The name is the brand asset.
- 4 Plain sentence One sentence, voice-law, always present.
- 5 Formula Monospace. Developer-facing surfaces only.
- 6 Cohort percentile Always relative to peers, never absolute.
- 7 Provenance chip Colored by the trust taxonomy.
The fourteen plates
Each category is a plate. The mark draws its temperament; the cards below are its species.
Velocity
6 signals Pace. How much ships, and how steadily. Craft
5 signals Precision. The shape of a change and how cleanly it lands. Influence
8 signals Reach. How far the work travels through other projects. Domain
5 signals Focus. Where the work concentrates by subject. Timing
4 signals Openness. Patterns in activity that often precede a move. Originality
3 signals Source. How much of the work starts from a blank file. Proof of Ship
4 signals Shipping. Work that reached a released, runnable state. AI Question
2 signals Provenance. How much of the history predates common AI assistance. Level
11 signals Scope. The kind and seniority of the work being done. Rigor
5 signals Discipline. Review, tests, types, and response time. Engineering Maturity
7 signals Stewardship. Care taken with code across its full life. Gems
4 signals Obscurity. Quality the market has not priced yet. Trajectory
5 signals Direction. Where output and responsibility are heading. People
4 signals Context. Facts about the person behind the account. Benchmarked, not absolute
A signal reads against peers with the same language, discipline, and career stage.
Language Discipline Senior · Backend · TypeScript CI-Disciplined 13th · cohort
A 90th percentile Rigor score means more disciplined than 9 of 10 peers at the same stage
in the same stack.
What renders where
Disclosure is design law. Some parts render everywhere, some never do.
Badges and evidence Every surface
Formulas Developer-facing surfaces
Weights Never rendered
Shadow signals Never rendered
Production weights are not disclosed.