# Lab Project Status Vocabulary

Every King Nuggets Lab project carries one status. Definitions:

- **CONCEPT** — The question exists. No scope, no method.
- **SPECCED** — Purpose, boundaries, and validation approach are
  written down. No indicators selected, nothing built.
- **RESEARCHING** — Inputs are being selected and justified against
  the spec.
- **TESTING** — Implementation exists and is being run against data.
- **VALIDATING** — Results are being checked against the
  pre-registered question, including for a null result.
- **CANDIDATE** — Validated. Under evaluation for production use.
- **GRADUATED** — Moved to the primary King Nuggets research product.

A project may stop at any stage. A project that fails validation is
recorded as failed, not removed.

State as of: 2026-08-29