iter 22c.live: skill system shipped, JOURNAL entry

docs/JOURNAL.md

@@ -11181,3 +11181,131 @@ Deferred to 22b.4:
 - **21'h, latency methodology, FnDef::synthetic, Boehm full
   retirement, closure-pair slab/pool, deferred richer integration
   paths.** Unchanged from 21'g.
+
+## 2026-05-09 — Skill system live (orchestration meta-iteration)
+
+The five-skill development pipeline shipped today, formalising the
+existing iter-cycle workflow as durable artefacts plus
+context-isolated subagent dispatch.
+
+**Spec:** `docs/specs/2026-05-09-skill-system.md`.
+**Plan:** `docs/plans/2026-05-09-skill-system-buildout.md`.
+
+### What landed
+
+- Five `SKILL.md` files under `skills/<name>/`:
+  - `skills/brainstorm/` — milestone spec generator (hard-gate
+    before plan)
+  - `skills/plan/` — spec → bite-sized plan (No-Placeholders rule)
+  - `skills/implement/` — plan execution with two-stage review
+    (spec compliance → code quality)
+  - `skills/audit/` — milestone-tidy with bench-regression gate
+  - `skills/debug/` — RED-first bug diagnoser, four-phase Iron Law
+- All six existing agents migrated to `skills/<name>/agents/`:
+  implementer + tester under `implement`; architect + bencher +
+  docwriter under `audit`; debugger under `debug`. `agents/`
+  retains only `README.md` (rewritten as a pointer roster).
+- `.claude/agents/{implement,audit,debug}` symlinks tracked in git
+  for subagent-type discovery on clone.
+- `CLAUDE.md` split: 294 → 245 lines. Bug-fix TDD rules,
+  iter-cycle / tidy-iter / performance-regression sections, and
+  the feature-acceptance-criterion detail moved into the relevant
+  skill files; CLAUDE.md keeps headline rules and one-line
+  pointers.
+
+### Vocabulary change
+
+New artefacts use **milestone** (formerly "family") and
+**iteration** (formerly "iter"). Legacy JOURNAL entries are NOT
+retroactively renamed — they stay in their original wording. New
+entries from this point forward use the new vocabulary; commit
+messages and JOURNAL section titles will alternate during the
+transition until the next milestone closes.
+
+### Pipeline contract
+
+```
+brainstorm  ->  docs/specs/<milestone>.md
+plan        ->  docs/plans/<iteration>.md      (per iteration)
+implement   ->  per-task commits + JOURNAL entry
+audit       ->  drift report + bench results   (mandatory at
+                                                milestone close)
+debug       ->  RED-test commit, hands to implement (mini-mode)
+```
+
+Each stage commits its artefact before handing off; this makes
+every stage independently revertable.
+
+### Skipping rules (codified)
+
+- `brainstorm` may be skipped for tidy / bug-fix / trivial-mechanic
+  iterations; **never** at milestone start.
+- `plan` may be skipped for bug fix (RED test is the plan) /
+  trivial mechanic; **never** for a standard iteration.
+- `audit` is **mandatory** at milestone close; deferral requires
+  an explicit JOURNAL entry naming reason + re-run date.
+- `debug` is **mandatory** for any observable bug; trivial bugs
+  still get RED first.
+
+### Why this exists (motivations recorded)
+
+Two concrete goals named by the user:
+
+1. **Formalisation of the development cycle.** Discipline that
+   was scattered across a 294-line CLAUDE.md, agent reading lists,
+   and the orchestrator's habits is now in named skills with
+   trigger conditions and skipping rules. Future-me cannot
+   accidentally diverge from existing practice without explicitly
+   violating a named rule.
+2. **Context relief.** Skills route work to subagents (per
+   `skills/implement` and the upstream
+   `superpowers:subagent-driven-development` pattern). Subagents
+   work in isolated context windows; the orchestrator only sees
+   their reports. Long milestones no longer have to fit a single
+   main-context window.
+
+The user remains the boss — skills are sharper tools, not a
+replacement for orchestrator judgement. The "Direction freedom"
+and "When NOT to delegate" sections of CLAUDE.md still apply.
+
+### Rationalisation tables — pressure-tested baselines
+
+The five skills were drafted from baseline pressure scenarios run
+against a general-purpose subagent without any skill loaded. The
+baseline showed strong existing discipline (the project's
+CLAUDE.md was already doing its job), so the skills' value-add is
+discoverability + context-relief + survival of the CLAUDE.md split,
+not novel rule-enforcement. The pressure-test transcripts informed
+the `Common Rationalisations` tables in each SKILL.md.
+
+VERIFY/REFACTOR subagent passes per skill were skipped on the
+build-out iteration — pragmatic, given the baselines were already
+compliant. If a real-world milestone surfaces skill bugs the
+baselines missed, those become follow-up iterations on the
+relevant skill.
+
+### Open follow-ups
+
+- **First end-to-end exercise.** The next milestone (post-22b /
+  post-22c) is the first one routed entirely through the skill
+  pipeline. Expect minor skill bugs to surface; each becomes a
+  follow-up iteration on the relevant SKILL.md.
+- **`ailang-docwriter` rare-tool check.** Now under
+  `skills/audit/agents/` but invoked rarely. If rustdoc drift
+  turns out to be its own recurring concern with its own cadence,
+  it may earn a dedicated skill (`document`?) later. For now,
+  audit owns it.
+- **22b.2 typeclass typecheck arms.** Unchanged from the 22b
+  queue — picks up after this orchestration iteration closes.
+
+### Non-goals
+
+- Renaming `iter` to `iteration` across legacy JOURNAL entries.
+  Cost > benefit; legacy stays.
+- Self-applying the new skills retroactively to in-flight 22b
+  iterations. 22b stays in its current shape; 22b.2 onwards run
+  through the new pipeline if 22b is paused; otherwise the next
+  milestone is the first consumer.
+- Per-skill TDD pressure-tests (RED + 3 GREEN/REFACTOR runs each)
+  on the build-out iteration. Deferred to a follow-up audit if the
+  first end-to-end exercise reveals gaps.