# The folder grammar and the global sequence — method

Values live in [`../foldering.json`](../foldering.json).

## Resolve the campaign root

Use the root the user supplied; never hard-code a home directory, a cloud-drive
account, or a machine path. If no root is supplied, inspect the working
directory and nearby hierarchy for the folder holding recent dated campaign
directories and numbered ad sets; if more than one plausible root remains, ask
one concise question before writing. Record the resolved absolute root in
`PROJECT_STATE.md` and the manifest.

## Lock the structure before creating it

Collect or derive: the campaign date, target language names and exact codes,
ordered source batches, expected count per batch, persona/batch description,
format and ICP fields, and whether basenames must be inherited. Ask only for
what cannot be discovered; when the source campaign and requested languages
are explicit, inherit batch order, counts, and descriptions.

## Reserve the global sequence

1. Scan the campaign parent recursively for basenames beginning `#` + four
   digits — every date, every language, **both mediums** (statics and video
   draw from one number line; scanning only one half hands out numbers the
   other half already claimed).
2. Take the global maximum and allocate one contiguous ordered block covering
   the whole request — six batches × three languages needs 18 consecutive
   numbers, one complete ordered batch range per language.
3. Write the proposed mapping into a manifest before any agent starts.
4. **Re-scan immediately before directory creation.** If another process
   claimed a reserved number, recompute the entire not-yet-created remainder
   from the new global maximum.

Never infer the next number from memory, an earlier conversation, a tracker,
or one language folder.

## Create the hierarchy

`CAMPAIGN_ROOT/YYYY.MM.DD/LANGUAGE/AD_SET_NAME`, ad-set names per the grammar.
Treat the pattern as a grammar, not a template: copy the exact recent/source
pattern and change only the sequence, the language code, and fields the new
campaign explicitly requires. For a localization clone: preserve batch order
and counts and all non-language fields, assign consecutive numbers, one
language directory per language, never two languages in one numbered folder.
Create directories only after the manifest is locked.

## Redistributing a creative library

When the requested ad-set split changes after production:

1. Inventory every final image by creative family and version before moving
   anything, and lock the requested totals first.
2. Distribute families round-robin so no family repeats in one folder until
   every other family is represented, where mathematically possible.
3. Keep each version exactly once; verify the union of destination hashes
   equals the source set before removing superseded folders.
4. Rename every destination folder so its `N Ads` token matches its final
   count, and reproduce the identical mapping in every language.

## Safety rules

- Never create a guessed count, persona, code, or root.
- Never reuse a number that exists anywhere in the scanned scope.
- If the exact destination already exists, verify and report it rather than
  creating a renamed duplicate.
- Filesystem counts are authoritative; chat and trackers may lag.