Open challenges

This folder holds active problems, not settled ones. A challenge is:

• Grounded in a real observed friction or failure mode
• Not yet resolved
• Worth multiple sessions of thinking
• Blocking progress on something upstream

The difference from Open Questions: open questions are precise and waiting for an answer. Challenges are messier — they’re the “I don’t even know how to frame this yet” pile.

Lifecycle of a challenge:

  raw friction
      │
      ▼
  zz-challenges/*.mdx  ←──  "I'm stuck on X, let me write it out"
      │
      ├─► promoted to Design/ page  (when the shape of the solution is clear)
      ├─► promoted to Concepts/ page (when it turns out to be a primitive)
      └─► demoted to Reference/open-questions (when it's crisp enough to just be a question)

Challenges accumulate; there’s no rush to resolve them. Some will sit here for weeks while the relevant concepts mature.