Add proposed work request template

.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bounty.yml

@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 name: MRWK bounty
-description: Propose work that may receive an MRWK bounty.
+description: Draft bounty text for maintainer proposal and execution.
 title: "MRWK bounty: <amount> MRWK - <short scope>"
-labels: ["mrwk:bounty"]
 body:
   - type: markdown
     attributes:
       value: |
+        Do not add the live bounty label from this template. A GitHub issue is not claimable until the treasury proposal executes, the public bounty page exists, and maintainers post the reserved bounty comment.
+
         Use the stable bounty shape from `docs/bounty-rules.md` so humans, GitHub search, API clients, and MCP agents can parse the reward, scope, evidence, and exclusions.
         Keep public MRWK wording work-based: no price, investment, exchange, liquidity, bridge, cash-out, or fabricated payout claims.
   - type: textarea

.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/proposed-work.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+name: Proposed work request
+description: Suggest work for maintainer review before any MRWK bounty exists.
+title: "Proposed work: <short scope>"
+labels: ["proposed-work"]
+body:
+  - type: markdown
+    attributes:
+      value: |
+        This is not a live MRWK bounty. Opening this issue does not reserve MRWK, create a payout, or make work claimable.
+
+        Do not submit `/claim` for this issue unless maintainers later post a live reserved bounty comment and the public bounty page exists.
+  - type: textarea
+    id: problem
+    attributes:
+      label: Problem
+      description: Describe the bug, missing docs, confusing workflow, UX issue, test gap, or improvement opportunity.
+    validations:
+      required: true
+  - type: textarea
+    id: evidence
+    attributes:
+      label: Evidence
+      description: Link the exact page, API route, file, PR, issue, command output, screenshot, or reproduction path.
+    validations:
+      required: true
+  - type: textarea
+    id: proposed_work
+    attributes:
+      label: Proposed work
+      description: Describe the smallest useful fix, verification, documentation, or implementation work.
+    validations:
+      required: true
+  - type: textarea
+    id: expected_value
+    attributes:
+      label: Expected value
+      description: Explain who this helps and what gets easier, safer, clearer, or more reliable.
+    validations:
+      required: true
+  - type: dropdown
+    id: reference_tier
+    attributes:
+      label: Reference tier
+      description: Non-binding guidance only. Maintainers decide whether any bounty proposal is opened.
+      options:
+        - "25-100 MRWK: small docs, typo, reproduction, triage"
+        - "100-500 MRWK: useful issue, test, docs page, small bugfix"
+        - "500-2,500 MRWK: normal feature, verified bugfix, agent integration"
+        - "2,500-10,000 MRWK: security fix, major feature, infrastructure work"
+    validations:
+      required: true
+  - type: textarea
+    id: acceptance
+    attributes:
+      label: Possible acceptance criteria
+      description: List what would need to be true before maintainers could accept the work.
+    validations:
+      required: true
+  - type: textarea
+    id: tests
+    attributes:
+      label: Evidence or tests required
+      description: List commands, URLs, screenshots, logs, reproduction steps, or review evidence.
+    validations:
+      required: true
+  - type: textarea
+    id: duplicate_search
+    attributes:
+      label: Duplicate search
+      description: Link related issues or PRs and explain why this is not already covered.
+    validations:
+      required: true
+  - type: textarea
+    id: out_of_scope
+    attributes:
+      label: Out of scope
+      description: List work that should not be included.
+      placeholder: |
+        - No broad rewrites.
+        - No speculative price, liquidity, bridge, exchange, cash-out, or payout claims.
+        - No private secrets or security exploit details in public artifacts.
+    validations:
+      required: true

docs/agent-guide.md

@@ -255,6 +255,17 @@ Use this checklist before opening a PR for `mrwk:bounty` issues:
 Common rejection reasons: duplicate scope, style-only changes without user
 impact, missing evidence, or ignoring issue-specific acceptance criteria.
 
+## Proposed Work Requests
+
+Proposed work requests are intake issues, not live bounties. They may describe a
+bug, docs gap, UX issue, verification task, or possible future bounty scope, but
+they do not reserve MRWK and they do not make work claimable.
+
+Do not submit `/claim` for a proposed work request. You may add concise evidence,
+duplicate-search notes, reproduction steps, or a suggested reference tier, but
+wait for `mrwk:bounty`, a `Reserved on MergeWork` comment, and a public bounty
+page before treating the issue as bounty work.
+
 ### Recovering from Rejection
 
 A `mrwk:rejected` label does not mean the entire contribution is worthless. Use rejection as diagnostic feedback:

docs/bounty-rules.md

@@ -24,8 +24,30 @@ Accepted work can include:
 
 MRWK uses work-based tiers at launch. The project does not publish a fiat peg.
 
+## Proposed Work Requests
+
+A proposed work request is not a live MRWK bounty. It is an intake issue for
+ideas, bugs, docs gaps, verification needs, and possible future bounty scopes.
+Opening one does not reserve MRWK, create a payout, or make work claimable.
+
+The normal lifecycle is:
+
+```text
+proposed issue -> maintainer review -> optional create_bounty proposal -> 24-hour delay -> execution -> mrwk:bounty + Reserved on MergeWork -> claims open
+```
+
+Reference tiers are guidance, not entitlement. Contributors and agents may
+suggest a tier to help maintainers size the work, but maintainers decide whether
+to reject, ask for more information, point to an existing live bounty, accept
+non-bounty work, or create a public treasury proposal.
+
+Do not submit `/claim` for a proposed work request unless maintainers later make
+the issue live by executing the treasury proposal, adding `mrwk:bounty`, and
+posting the `Reserved on MergeWork` comment with the public bounty URL.
+
 ## Labels
 
+- `proposed-work`: intake issue for possible future work; not a live bounty.
 - `mrwk:bounty`: issue has a posted MRWK reward.
 - `mrwk:claimed`: someone is actively working on the issue.
 - `mrwk:submitted`: work is ready for review.

scripts/docs_smoke.py

@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@
     "docs/agent-guide.md": [
         ("Public reads such as `GET /api/v1/bounties/{id}/attempts` do not require login"),
         ("creating or releasing an attempt requires the GitHub-authenticated browser session"),
+        "Proposed work requests are intake issues, not live bounties",
+        "wait for `mrwk:bounty`",
     ],
     "docs/paid-bounties.md": [
         "This page is not manually updated for every payout.",
@@ -65,6 +67,9 @@
         "Smoke-check or bug-report claim:",
         "Discussion or decision-support claim:",
         "Do not describe work as accepted, merged, or paid until the public GitHub label",
+        "## Proposed Work Requests",
+        "proposed issue -> maintainer review -> optional create_bounty proposal",
+        "Reference tiers are guidance, not entitlement",
     ],
     "docs/api-examples.md": [
         "Internal ledger accounts use the same account response shape",
@@ -151,6 +156,7 @@ def main() -> int:
         bounty_template = bounty_issue_template.read_text(encoding="utf-8").lower()
         for phrase in [
             "mrwk bounty: <amount> mrwk - <short scope>",
+            "do not add the live bounty label from this template",
             "id: evidence",
             "evidence or tests required",
             "id: out_of_scope",
@@ -159,10 +165,32 @@ def main() -> int:
             if phrase not in bounty_template:
                 print(f"bounty issue template missing required phrase: {phrase}")
                 ok = False
+        if 'labels: ["mrwk:bounty"]' in bounty_template:
+            print("bounty issue template must not auto-apply mrwk:bounty")
+            ok = False
         for field_id in ("evidence", "out_of_scope", "duplicate_stale_rules"):
             if not _template_field_is_required(bounty_template, field_id):
                 print(f"bounty issue template {field_id} field must be required")
                 ok = False
+    proposed_work_template = ROOT / ".github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/proposed-work.yml"
+    if not proposed_work_template.exists():
+        print("missing proposed work issue template: .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/proposed-work.yml")
+        ok = False
+    else:
+        proposed_template = proposed_work_template.read_text(encoding="utf-8").lower()
+        for phrase in [
+            'title: "proposed work: <short scope>"',
+            'labels: ["proposed-work"]',
+            "not a live mrwk bounty",
+            "do not submit `/claim`",
+            "id: duplicate_search",
+        ]:
+            if phrase not in proposed_template:
+                print(f"proposed work issue template missing required phrase: {phrase}")
+                ok = False
+        if "mrwk:bounty" in proposed_template:
+            print("proposed work issue template must not mention or apply mrwk:bounty")
+            ok = False
     if ok:
         print("docs smoke ok")
         return 0

tests/test_docs_public_urls.py

@@ -114,6 +114,46 @@ def test_admin_runbook_documents_webhook_event_limit_cap() -> None:
     assert "/api/v1/admin/webhook-events?status=missing_submitter&limit=100" not in runbook
 
 
+def test_proposed_work_template_is_not_a_live_bounty_template() -> None:
+    template = Path(".github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/proposed-work.yml").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    lowered = template.lower()
+
+    assert 'title: "proposed work: <short scope>"' in lowered
+    assert 'labels: ["proposed-work"]' in lowered
+    assert "mrwk:bounty" not in lowered
+    assert "not a live mrwk bounty" in lowered
+    assert "do not submit `/claim`" in lowered
+    assert "reference tier" in lowered
+
+
+def test_bounty_issue_template_does_not_auto_mark_issue_live() -> None:
+    template = Path(".github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bounty.yml").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+
+    assert 'labels: ["mrwk:bounty"]' not in template
+    assert "Do not add the live bounty label from this template" in template
+
+
+def test_bounty_rules_document_proposed_work_lifecycle() -> None:
+    rules = Path("docs/bounty-rules.md").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    squashed = " ".join(rules.split())
+
+    assert "## Proposed Work Requests" in rules
+    assert "proposed work request is not a live MRWK bounty" in rules
+    assert (
+        "proposed issue -> maintainer review -> optional create_bounty proposal -> "
+        "24-hour delay -> execution -> mrwk:bounty"
+    ) in squashed
+    assert "Reference tiers are guidance, not entitlement" in rules
+
+
+def test_agent_guide_tells_agents_not_to_claim_proposed_work() -> None:
+    guide = Path("docs/agent-guide.md").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+
+    assert "Proposed work requests are intake issues, not live bounties" in guide
+    assert "Do not submit `/claim`" in guide
+    assert "wait for `mrwk:bounty`" in guide
+
+
 def test_api_examples_document_bounty_list_response_shape() -> None:
     examples = Path("docs/api-examples.md").read_text(encoding="utf-8")