# AILang Skill System

This directory holds the project-local development skills. A *skill*
is a `SKILL.md` plus the agents that skill primarily dispatches.
Skills formalise the AILang development cycle into named, trigger-bound
discipline so the orchestrator (me) cannot accidentally diverge from
established practice without explicitly violating a named rule.

The system was bootstrapped on 2026-05-09. See
`docs/specs/2026-05-09-skill-system.md` for the design and
`docs/journal-archive.md` ("Skill system live") for the rationale.

## The eight skills

| Skill | Trigger | Output | Mandatory? |
|-------|---------|--------|------------|
| [`brainstorm`](brainstorm/SKILL.md) | New milestone starting | `docs/specs/<milestone>.md` | Hard-gate before plan |
| [`planner`](planner/SKILL.md) | New iteration within an open milestone | `docs/plans/<iteration>.md` | Hard-gate before implement |
| [`implement`](implement/SKILL.md) | Plan exists | Code + tests + per-iter journal entry, all uncommitted in the working tree | Standard iteration path |
| [`audit`](audit/SKILL.md) | Milestone closing OR baseline drift suspected | Drift report + bench-regression report | **Mandatory** at milestone close |
| [`docwriter`](docwriter/SKILL.md) | API surface stabilized; rustdoc lag suspected | rustdoc updates in `///` and `//!`, uncommitted in the working tree | No — Boss-dispatched only |
| [`fieldtest`](fieldtest/SKILL.md) | Boss-dispatched post-audit field test on a milestone that touched user-visible surface | 2-4 `.ail` example fixtures + `docs/specs/<date>-fieldtest-<milestone>.md`, all uncommitted in the working tree | No — Boss-dispatched only |
| [`debug`](debug/SKILL.md) | Bug encountered (failing test, segfault, wrong stdout) | RED-test in the working tree (uncommitted) + cause analysis | **Mandatory RED-first** for any bug |
| [`boss`](boss/SKILL.md) | User-invoked only (`/boss`) | Autonomous orchestration session — dispatches existing skills until done-state or bounce-back | No — user-gated |

## Pipeline

> Inside a `/boss` session the orchestrator walks this pipeline
> autonomously. Outside `/boss`, the pipeline runs only when the
> user explicitly invokes a skill.

```
[new milestone]                                  [bug observed]
       |                                                |
       v                                                v
 brainstorm  ->  plan  ->  implement                  debug -> implement (mini)
       (per iteration loop)
                  |
       [milestone close]
                  |
                  v
                audit  --(drift)--> plan + implement (tidy iteration)
                       --(ratify)-> JOURNAL + --update-baseline
                       --(clean)-+
                                 |
                       [Boss: iter complete? if surface-touch:]
                                 v
                            fieldtest --(bug)------> debug -> implement (mini)
                                      --(friction)-> brainstorm OR plan (tidy)
                                      --(spec_gap)-> ratify OR tighten DESIGN.md
                                      --(clean)----+
                                                   |
                                       [Boss: surface stable across N milestones?]
                                                   v
                                              docwriter (rustdoc sweep)
                                                   |
                                                   v
                                            next milestone
```

Skipping rules are codified in each `SKILL.md`. Ad-hoc skipping is
forbidden by design.

## Agent roster

Agents live next to the skill that primarily dispatches them. There
are no orphan agents (an anti-pattern after the 2026-05-09 build-out).

| Agent | Path | Dispatched by skill |
|-------|------|---------------------|
| `ailang-grounding-check` | `brainstorm/agents/` | `brainstorm` (Step 7.5; spec grounding hard-gate) |
| `ailang-plan-recon`     | `planner/agents/`   | `planner` (Step 2; read-only file-structure mapping); `brainstorm` (ad-hoc Step 1 in unfamiliar territory) |
| `ailang-implement-orchestrator` | `implement/agents/` | `implement` (the dispatched agent; runs the entire per-task loop inline in its own context) |
| `ailang-implementer`     | `implement/agents/` | phase reference for `ailang-implement-orchestrator` Phase 2.1 (implementer mindset, carries TDD as an independent layer); not dispatched as a separate subagent |
| `ailang-spec-reviewer`   | `implement/agents/` | phase reference for `ailang-implement-orchestrator` Phase 2.2 (spec-compliance mindset); not dispatched as a separate subagent |
| `ailang-quality-reviewer`| `implement/agents/` | phase reference for `ailang-implement-orchestrator` Phase 2.3 (quality-review mindset); not dispatched as a separate subagent |
| `ailang-tester`          | `implement/agents/` | phase reference for `ailang-implement-orchestrator` Phase 3 (E2E coverage); not dispatched as a separate subagent |
| `ailang-architect`       | `audit/agents/`     | `audit` (Step 1; drift review against DESIGN.md + spec) |
| `ailang-bencher`         | `audit/agents/`     | `audit` (regression diagnostics — hypothesis-driven) |
| `ailang-docwriter`       | `docwriter/agents/` | `docwriter` (Boss-dispatched rustdoc sweep post-stability) |
| `ailang-debugger`        | `debug/agents/`     | `debug` (RED-first; hands off GREEN to `implement` mini-mode) |
| `ailang-fieldtester`     | `fieldtest/agents/` | `fieldtest` (writes real-world examples in `.ail` Surface form against DESIGN.md only — never the compiler source) |

Each agent file has YAML frontmatter (`name`, `description`, `tools`)
plus a system-prompt body. The `description` field is the one-sentence
summary the orchestrator (or a skill) reads to decide whether to
dispatch.

### Agent structure

Every agent file follows the same superpowers-derived template:

- **Frontmatter:** `name`, `description` (third-person, "Use when…" or
  description of role), `tools`.
- **Spirit-letter lead-in:** `> Violating the letter of these rules is
  violating the spirit.`
- **What this role is for:** one short paragraph naming the failure mode
  the agent exists to prevent.
- **Standing reading list:** the always-binding documents (CLAUDE.md,
  DESIGN.md, latest per-iter journals, plus role-specific anchors).
- **Carrier contract:** what the controller hands the agent (`task_text`,
  `diff`, `hypothesis`, etc.). Agents do NOT open `docs/plans/` or
  `docs/specs/` directly — context curation lives at the skill level.
- **Iron Law:** the non-negotiable rules of the role.
- **The Process:** numbered steps.
- **Status protocol:** structured terminal status the controller acts on.
  For implementer / tester / debugger / bencher / docwriter: `DONE` /
  `DONE_WITH_CONCERNS` / `NEEDS_CONTEXT` / `BLOCKED`. For reviewers:
  role-specific (`compliant` / `non_compliant` / `unclear` / `infra_blocked`
  for spec; `approved` / `changes_requested` / `infra_blocked` for quality).
- **Output format:** word-budgeted, structured.
- **Common Rationalisations:** excuse → reality table, calibrated to past
  failure modes.
- **Red Flags — STOP:** bullet list of "if you're about to do this,
  stop" signals.

### TDD as an independent layer

Note that `ailang-implementer` carries Test-Driven Development as an
*independent* discipline, not just as plan-template fallout. Even if the
plan task forgot to script a RED-first step, the implementer adds it
inline before writing production code. This mirrors the
superpowers split: `subagent-driven-development` (orchestration, outer
loop) is in `skills/implement/SKILL.md`; `test-driven-development` (per-
task, inner loop) is in `skills/implement/agents/ailang-implementer.md`.
The two skills exist at different layers and stack.

## Discovery

Two symlink sets, both tracked in git, no setup needed after clone:

**Skills** are reachable under `.claude/skills/` so Claude Code's
`Skill` tool can invoke them:

```
.claude/skills/brainstorm -> skills/brainstorm
.claude/skills/planner    -> skills/planner
.claude/skills/implement  -> skills/implement
.claude/skills/audit      -> skills/audit
.claude/skills/docwriter  -> skills/docwriter
.claude/skills/fieldtest  -> skills/fieldtest
.claude/skills/debug      -> skills/debug
```

**Agents** are reachable under `.claude/agents/` so subagent
dispatch can find them by `subagent_type`:

```
.claude/agents/brainstorm  -> skills/brainstorm/agents
.claude/agents/planner    -> skills/planner/agents
.claude/agents/implement  -> skills/implement/agents
.claude/agents/audit      -> skills/audit/agents
.claude/agents/docwriter  -> skills/docwriter/agents
.claude/agents/fieldtest  -> skills/fieldtest/agents
.claude/agents/debug      -> skills/debug/agents
```

## Conventions

- **Only the Boss commits.** No skill agent — implementer,
  brainstormer, planner, debugger, fieldtester, docwriter,
  architect, bencher — performs `git commit`. Agents write their
  artefacts (spec, plan, code, tests, fixtures, rustdoc edits, RED
  tests, journal files, stats files, updated baselines) to the
  working tree as unstaged changes. The Boss inspects with
  `git status` / `git diff` and commits when there is something
  consistent to commit. Per-task or per-phase commits are not a
  goal; the iter (or the cohesive change) is the unit of commit.
- **main HEAD is sacrosanct.** No actor (Boss or agent) runs
  `git reset` or `git revert` on main. main moves forward only via
  Boss commits; bad work stays in the working tree where it is
  still discardable via `git checkout -- <path>` (Boss-side, not
  on main HEAD).
- **No orphan agents.** Every agent lives under the skill that
  dispatches it. If a recurring need does not fit any skill, raise
  the question via a per-iter journal entry before adding the agent.
- **Agents do not call other agents.** The dispatching skill composes
  (e.g. `audit` dispatches architect, then bencher).
  No agent receives the `Agent` tool in its frontmatter — Claude Code
  does not permit a subagent to spawn other subagents. The
  `ailang-implement-orchestrator`, which historically was framed as a
  named exception, runs its per-task phases as sequential
  role-switches inside its own context (implementer phase → spec
  check → quality check); see `skills/implement/SKILL.md` for the
  mechanism and `docs/journals/2026-05-11-iter-or.2.md` for the
  revision history.
- **Standing reading list stays in the agent file.** The skill provides
  the carrier (task text, bug symptom, drift focus, hypothesis) on top
  of the agent's standing reading list (CLAUDE.md, DESIGN.md, latest per-iter journals,
  role-specific anchors). Agents do NOT open `docs/plans/` or
  `docs/specs/` directly — context curation lives at the skill level.
- **Skill and agent definitions are reviewable code.** Edits go
  through git. Commit messages name why the role shifted.

## Adding a new skill

1. Decide what triggers it and what it produces.
2. Write `skills/<name>/SKILL.md` with frontmatter (`name`,
   `description` starting "Use when…"). Keep the description
   trigger-focused; never a workflow summary.
3. If the skill dispatches subagents, add them under
   `skills/<name>/agents/` and create
   `.claude/agents/<name>` as a symlink to that directory.
4. Update this file (skill table + agent roster).
5. If the skill replaces or supersedes a CLAUDE.md section,
   migrate that section: leave a one-line pointer in CLAUDE.md.

## Adding a new agent

1. Decide which skill primarily dispatches it.
2. Add the `.md` file under that skill's `agents/` directory.
3. Update the agent roster above and the dispatching skill's
   "Cross-references" section.
4. If the agent is genuinely standalone (no skill dispatches it),
   raise the question via a per-iter journal entry first.
