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Founding Phase · Private Beta. The Institute is in private beta. Any example content is labelled as such and is never presented as real.

DSI
Guide

Proposal Red Flags Library

This tool has been retired

It stays online so existing links, version history and any work you already started against it still resolve. It is no longer maintained or reviewed.

Use Proposer Questions instead
Type
Guide
Difficulty
Advanced
Time
15 min
Version
v1.0.0
Updated
7/11/2026
proposal analysissecuritytreasury

What this helps you do

A red flag is a prompt to ask a question, not evidence of bad faith. Several flags have entirely reasonable explanations once raised publicly.

Each pattern includes an anonymised worked example and the question that resolved it.

When to use this

  • You are reviewing a proposal and want a systematic pass for known weak patterns.
  • Something reads as off and you want to name the specific problem.
  • You are drafting public questions and want them precise rather than adversarial.

When NOT to use this

  • As proof of bad faith. A pattern is a prompt to ask, not a verdict.
  • As a complete list. Absence of listed flags is not a positive assessment.

What you'll need

  • The full proposal text
  • The budget and milestone schedule
  • Any endorsements or third-party claims cited

Estimated completion time

15 minutes

Working time for one governance action, assuming the inputs listed here are already to hand.

How to use it

  1. 1Read the proposal once for meaning, then again against the patterns.
  2. 2For each match, quote the exact passage rather than summarising it.
  3. 3Convert each match into a neutral, answerable public question.
  4. 4Record which flags were resolved by the proposer's answers.

The tool

Full guide - v1.0.0

Example patterns

  • Scope stated as an outcome with no deliverable attached
  • Budget lines that cite 'market rate' without a source
  • Milestones that can only be verified by the proposer
  • Third-party endorsements that cannot be independently confirmed
  • Dependencies on unbuilt infrastructure with no fallback
Fictional Example

Invented for illustration. It does not describe a real governance action, proposal, or organisation.

Fictional match

  • Pattern: budget line cites market rate with no source.
  • Passage: senior engineering at market rate, 6 months.
  • Question asked publicly: which benchmark and which day rate does this assume?
  • Outcome: proposer supplied a day rate; flag resolved and noted.

How to interpret the result

  • A matched pattern is a prompt to ask a specific question, never a verdict.
  • Several independent flags on one proposal justify a deeper review.

Limitations

  • Flags are heuristics; honest proposals routinely trigger one or two.
  • It cannot establish intent, bad faith, or fraud.

Sources and methodology

Learn this method

This tool records the work. The Training Lab teaches how to do it.

  • proposal-due-diligence · Proposal Due Diligence: From Claim to Evidence

    Proposal Due Diligence: From Claim to Evidence

    Teaches how to test a pattern rather than assume it.

    Open lesson

Downloads

  • Markdown export: the complete tool, including metadata, instructions, the template, limitations, sources and version history.

No other file formats are published for this resource. We list a format only when the file exists.

Version and governance

Current version
v1.0.0
Published
8/9/2026
Last updated
7/11/2026
Next scheduled review
1/11/2027
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Editorial status
Not yet externally reviewed

No named reviewer is shown because no external review has been completed. Attribution appears only once a verified reviewer has signed off.

Changelog

  • v1.0.0 (2026-07-11) - Migrated from the static library into the resource register.
  • v1.0.0 (2026-08-10) - Retired. Superseded by Proposer Question & Response Tracker. Kept for version history and existing member workspaces.
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