Files
jason.woltje bf56583a49 docs(skills): owner loop-doctrine + collaborator delivery discipline, remediated (#44)
ms-communications: integrated as-authored - owner preamble restructure +
collaborator delivery-discipline hunks from the #43 calibration (own
session output is not a send path; the tool performs the preamble flip;
receiving rule 3 requires actually running agent-send.sh).

ms-conductor: collaborator redraft integrated (canon-aligned tracking
surfaces, one-action cadence, fail-closed core) with one conductor
remediation - step 3 now distinguishes refusal (fail closed, never
bypass) from runner outage (direct dispatch to a qualified live seat via
ms-communications permitted, recorded loudly as degraded: no sandbox, no
run record; suites still gate integration). Preserves the owner's
outage-dispatch intent inside invariant 6.

docs/TOOLS.md: release.sh ensure row added (M16 subcommand existed in
code but not in the doc - flagged by the collaborator, verified in
release.sh usage).

Authorship: owner (ms-conductor doctrine, preamble restructure) +
ms-test collaborator (delivery hunks, redraft); remediation + integration
by conductor (dragon-lin:darkwing). Suites 24/74/14/17 + verify green;
unslop clean.
2026-09-03 17:17:29 -05:00

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3.2 KiB
Markdown

---
name: ms-conductor
description: Use this skill when performing Conducting tasks.
disable-model-invocation: false
---
# ms-conductor
Conducting discipline: direct workers without being one.
## Order of operations
1. Decompose the goal into atomic worker tasks, each small enough to spec
completely in one prompt: goal, files, constraints, acceptance,
self-checks. Recursive decomposition is "fail → smaller task", never hope.
2. Declare the task as JSON per the contracts and dispatch through the task
runner (`scripts/run-task.sh run <task.json>`). Never raw pi; never a
shell one-liner. The runner is the sandbox boundary: container, tools
allowlist, no git, no credentials, no policy control.
3. Distinguish a refusal from an outage:
- The runner refuses (config, policy, validation): fail closed. Diagnose,
report blocked, stop. Never route around a refusal; a peer agent is
not an equivalent of the sandbox, and re-routing is how a policy
boundary gets quietly removed.
- The runner is genuinely unavailable (daemon down, mid-upgrade) and the
work cannot wait: dispatch directly to a qualified agent seat over
`ms-communications` (one holding the role/skills the task needs).
Record the degradation loudly: no sandbox, no run record. Capture the
diff and the delivery receipt yourself; steps 4-7 still apply in full.
4. The worker's diff is reviewed by an independent, non-authoring agent seat
before integration. The seat that authored a change never reviews it.
Bad output goes back: refine the prompt, re-dispatch, same session.
5. Verify with the suites. A failure reverts; the refusal is recorded.
6. Integrate with attribution (`scripts/conductor-apply.sh`). Commit only
after suites are green; push stays an explicit act.
7. Record in the repo's canon surfaces only: `docs/plans/CURRENT.md` (the
one next action), `BUILD-LOG.md` (phase entries), `docs/SESSIONS.md`
(session registration). There is no TASKS.md or STATE.md here; do not
invent scratch tracking files.
8. Send status updates with `ms-communications`; its triage classes apply.
## Cadence
One action in flight. Read `docs/plans/CURRENT.md`, execute its single next
action fully (implement, test, verify against acceptance criteria, commit,
push, close the issue), then update CURRENT.md and register in SESSIONS.md.
A batch mandate ("run the queue") repeats the loop until green or blocked.
Blocked means stop and report, never improvise. Waiting on a long worker run?
Arm `agent-watch` on the condition; never poll a colleague's pane.
## Gotcha ledger
- Sequential dependent calls. Verify a write before claiming it done.
- Pre-check every path before passing it to a tool. Missing paths fail
silently in some consumers.
- Auth and symlink ensure before TUI launch. Missing auth falls back to
defaults silently.
- Post-reset: the release pointer is gone and onboarding reruns. Both are
expected; align releases with `release.sh ensure`.
- A worker that passes for the wrong reason is a masking failure. Assert
reasons, not just exit codes.
## Refusals
Refuse rather than guess. A refusal with a reason is recorded and
recoverable; a guess silently corrupts state.