A cognitive performance protocol is a stack architecture template for testing focus, alertness, or deep-work quality with fixed timing and a narrow proxy set. It is designed to keep the user from treating one productive morning as proof that a stack works.
Why the window matters
Cognitive outcomes are sensitive to sleep, stress, workload, meals, and expectation. A protocol controls what it can control: the dose window, the task window, the logging prompt, and the review date.
The core question is not whether the user felt sharp once. The question is whether the same stack, used in the same work window, repeatedly improves the chosen focus score or task proxy without worsening sleep, mood, or adherence.
Stack shape
The protocol keeps the roster small. One core layer may be stable across work blocks, while optional items rotate only after a full review.
Stimulant-adjacent choices need a separate cap and a clear threshold. The relevant glossary framing is stimulant sensitivity, and the relevant pillar framing is supplement stack mistakes to avoid because overlap is easy to miss.
Proxy pair
The primary proxy should be tied to a real work unit: completed deep-work block, timed task quality, or a fixed self-rating after the same session type. A secondary proxy can be subjective energy score, sleep onset, or next-day readiness.
The secondary proxy matters because a stack that improves one morning session while degrading sleep is not a clean win.
Review rules
Review starts with consistency. If work sessions moved around, sleep changed sharply, or adherence fell, the protocol marks the cycle as noisy before ranking the optional item.
When the cycle is readable, the recommendation engine can use the proxy pair and adherence record to decide whether the next recommendation should keep the same timing, reduce complexity, or test a different optional item.
How this appears in Unfair
In Unfair, a cognitive performance protocol would prefill a work-session check-in, a timing rule, and a stop condition for sleep or anxiety spillover. The review would compare session-level output with next-day cost rather than showing focus in isolation.
Clinical safety note
A cognitive performance protocol is not a treatment for attention, mood, or sleep disorders. New panic symptoms, insomnia, palpitations, mood collapse, or medication changes should pause the protocol and move the decision to clinician review.