Chapter 6 — Lvl 3-4 Variants

Bigger variants that change the prompts or the structure of a workflow. These are not auto-approved — they go through a testing phase first, then graduate on explicit user approval.

Chapter at a glance

flowchart TD
    A[Lvl 3 or<br/>Lvl 4 change] --> B[V-N+1-0-1<br/>testing]
    B --> C[V-N+1-0-2<br/>iterate]
    C --> D[V-N+1-0-N<br/>iterate]
    D --> E{Approval bar<br/>met?}
    E -->|Yes| F[Graduate to<br/>V-N+1 approved]
    E -->|No| C

Bigger variants enter a testing phase before they graduate.

What you'll learn

• What makes Lvl 3 different from Lvl 1-2 (prompt changes, not just dialogue / wardrobe)
• What makes Lvl 4 different from Lvl 3 (structural changes: add / remove / split scenes, new prehooks)
• The testing phase (V{N+1}-0-1 → V{N+1}-0-2 → ...) and why it exists
• How to iterate with the prompt-tuning skill during testing
• When to graduate from testing to V{N+1} (the approval bar)
• What lives in testing/ vs. approved/

Before this chapter

Read Chapter 5 — Quality, Testing & Prompt Tuning. You need to know how to judge a generation and how the prompt-tuning skill works before Lvl 3-4 makes sense.

Sections

1. Lvl 3: environment / camera / setting changes — bigger than wardrobe, smaller than structural
2. Lvl 4: structural changes — add / remove / split scenes, new prehook
3. The testing phase — V{N+1}-0-N iteration mechanics
4. Iterating with prompt-tuning — when to reach for it during testing
5. Graduation: when to bump to V{N+1} — the approval bar

Try this

Make a Lvl 3 environment swap on a workflow you've already shipped.

Steps:

1. Pick an approved/ workflow at V1+. Decide on a clear environment change ("move the kitchen scenes to an outdoor patio", "swap from drugstore to herb shop")
2. Tell Claude: "Make a Lvl 3 environment variant of <workflow>-V1.nbflow — switch setting from X to Y. Iterate on me before patching the file." (Lvl 3 — Environment Change)
3. Get aligned on the new direction (camera angle, lighting, composition shifts that follow the environment change) before any prompts get touched
4. Once Claude saves to testing/ at V2-0-1, run the workflow on your test account. Watch for the issues prompt-tuning would catch (Iterating with prompt-tuning)
5. Iterate the testing version (V2-0-1 → V2-0-2 → ...) until 3 of 4 candidates per scene are acceptable
6. Graduate to V2 only when the bar is met (Graduation)

If you hit:

• Claude went straight to patching before checking direction → push back; Lvl 3 needs full user guidance on direction before any prompt is touched. See Lvl 3 — Environment Change
• The new file landed under approved/ not testing/ → Claude misread it as Lvl 2. Re-state the scope ("environment change, not wardrobe")
• Testing iterations aren't converging after 4+ rounds → see "When prompt-tuning isn't enough" in Iterating with prompt-tuning
• You're tempted to graduate before all accounts have shipped → testing is per-account first. See Graduation
• You're considering adding/removing a scene → that's Lvl 4, not Lvl 3. Get explicit approval on the structural diff. See Lvl 4 — Structural Change

When you're ready

→ Next: Chapter 7 — Fan-out & Multi-account. Once you've got a workflow that works on one account, ship it to the others. The 7-step protocol, the STANDARD vs CUSTOMIZED rule, and the tracker-sync follow-up.