---
name: north-star-metric-lock
description: Define one north-star metric with a frozen definition and query, report it daily, and flag any definition change. Use when a venture has no metric or its metric definition drifted.
source: Agent Coach (original), from AGENT_STUDY.md (a venture with no metric; another whose "outside accounts" definition changed between reports).
---
# North-star metric lock
1. Propose ONE north-star for the current stage (Launch: activated users; Grow: weekly active outside users; Monetize: paying accounts / MRR) and 2-3 supporting metrics.
2. Write `metrics/DEFINITIONS.md` with, for each metric: name, plain-English definition, exclusion rules (owner/test/internal accounts), exact query or API call, data source, version number, date.
3. Report daily as `metrics/daily.csv` (date, metric, value, definition_version). Values come only from running the query, never from memory.
4. If the definition must change: bump the version, keep the old query, and report BOTH series for 7 days with a one-line reason.
5. Never report a metric you could not compute today; write null and say why.