---
slug: "PhasedRefinement"
name: "PhasedRefinement"
type: "Protocols"
layer: "Society"
ref: "PhasedRefinement#a263"
sema_id: "sema:PhasedRefinement#mh:SHA-256:a263384b14c029d80cb3cc3c0b7a8a87b2c63f6307a55ac2c0f82ad2f86779e4"
tags: ["Society","Protocols"]
updated: 2026-11-11
mindscape: "bootstrap"
index_url: https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap.json
url: https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/PhasedRefinement/
related: ["Gate","Refine","Sequence","Aesthetics","Artifact","Reason","StructuralCoaching","StyleSpec"]
---

# PhasedRefinement

Layered, multi-pass improvement

Layer: Society · Category: Protocols

## Mechanism

A structured [Refine](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Refine.md) strategy that improves an [Artifact](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Artifact.md) through a defined [Sequence](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Sequence.md) of passes, where each pass targets a specific layer of abstraction (e.g., [Reason](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Reason.md) (logic) -> [StructuralCoaching](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/StructuralCoaching.md) (structure) -> [Aesthetics](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Aesthetics.md) (polish)). It uses a [Gate](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Gate.md) to prevent premature optimization by ensuring deep structural issues are resolved before surface-level polishing begins.

## Invariants

- Non-Regression: Modifications in Phase(N) must not violate invariants established in Phase(N-1).
- Monotonic Quality: The artifact's quality score should not decrease after a pass.

## Preconditions

- A current [Artifact](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Artifact.md) version exists

## Postconditions

- Artifact satisfies the acceptance criteria of the final phase

## Failure modes

—

## Signature

- `Refine(Artifact)`

## Builds on

- [Gate](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Gate.md) (Infrastructure; Composes with)
- [Refine](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Refine.md) (Mind; Composes with)
- [Sequence](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Sequence.md) (Infrastructure; Composes with)
- [Aesthetics](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Aesthetics.md) (Infrastructure; References)
- [Artifact](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Artifact.md) (Infrastructure; References)
- [Reason](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Reason.md) (Mind; References)
- [StructuralCoaching](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/StructuralCoaching.md) (Society; References)

## Used by

- [StyleSpec](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/StyleSpec.md) (Infrastructure; References)

## Identity

- Sema ID: `sema:PhasedRefinement#mh:SHA-256:a263384b14c029d80cb3cc3c0b7a8a87b2c63f6307a55ac2c0f82ad2f86779e4`
- Ref: `PhasedRefinement#a263`
- Supersedes:
  - `sema:PhasedRefinement#mh:SHA-256:4a907b2f7eef78e6ec51ce04c266cade4b5cbaf17c75085c5f7809a64b99b8ab`
  - `sema:PhasedRefinement#mh:SHA-256:e4d0bb624a02ea5535fc945ed9e50e46460a9aaef89b7f92106451f1767b1cf4`
  - `sema:PhasedRefinement#mh:SHA-256:56f079ec75061b35f56d543d1ab12c7c4822b1e0f5816cf342a796104756642c`
  - `sema:PhasedRefinement#mh:SHA-256:15e32d98507c6af62fd1a76e42163affa5a0e45cf54f2292f234bb40560ff9a8`

## Links

- [Pattern page](https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/PhasedRefinement/)
- [View in the interactive graph](https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/#PhasedRefinement)
- [JSON](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/PhasedRefinement.json)
- [Index of all patterns](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap.json)