A Request File Should Never Be Selected by Accident
Why KodeCapture uses explicit acquisition intent instead of ambient working-directory discovery.
Scope: Engineering or methodology note based on a September 17, 2026 snapshot. Source-level behavior is not a public availability or universal compatibility claim. Any scenarios are illustrative, not customer outcomes.
A file in the current directory can be useful context. It should not silently change the acquisition a command performs.
KodeCapture’s source-level command boundary makes request selection explicit. Without a selected request file, the command creates its validated default boot request. A nearby file is not automatically discovered and promoted into acquisition authority.
Intent should be visible at invocation
An explicit --request identifies the request the operator intends to use. The request is independently verified, and its exact target URL must agree with the command. A mismatch is not resolved by choosing whichever value is more convenient.
In a synthetic workflow, an engineer may reuse a directory that contains a request for a different application. Ambient discovery could acquire the wrong target or execute a journey the operator did not intend. Explicit selection makes that mistake easier to detect before the browser starts.
Defaults still need validation
A default boot request is not an absence of policy. It is a bounded request created by the command under the current supported behavior. The source detects the installed Chromium version and validates the request before acquisition.
That makes the default path easier to explain than an implicit collection of files, environment hints, and remembered settings. A reader of the invocation can understand where the acquisition intent came from.
Do not confuse convenience with overwrite authority
The command can choose a collision-safe output directory when one is not specified. The operator should read the actual announced directory rather than assume a fixed name. An explicit output path does not grant permission to overwrite existing capture authority.
These boundaries keep a small command convenient without allowing convenience to redefine the target or destroy a previous observation.
This article describes current source behavior, not a broad public availability promise. The request schema, supported journey, browser installation, and macOS host boundary remain relevant to qualification.
For teams designing automation, the lesson is reusable: make consequential intent an explicit input. A request file can be powerful precisely because its selection is deliberate. The working directory should not become a hidden decision-maker in an evidence-producing workflow.