Timing: before. Pre-write the steps and make the executor follow them.
- computer: shell script, CI YAML, a hardcoded agentic loop
- social: an SOP / checklist
The weakest control against an autonomous executor — "more autonomy → scripts fail" (gatekeeper-not-driver). But the dialectic holds only globally: deterministic substeps should still use scripts. In vibe-linter it's a local option (prosthetic; expect depreciation).
Its right home: the macro skeleton — script the ordered stages, gate the boundaries, leave the execution free. That's where "script the conserved, free the volatile" lands → stages-and-gates.
Up: control-methods