The orchestrator-agent ends its run with the worktree on
iter/<iter_id>. Step 3 previously listed 'append INDEX line' as
item 3 and 'switch+merge' as item 4 — natural reading order is
top-to-bottom, so the INDEX append (and any other Boss edit) was
landing on the iter branch by mistake. Observed three times on
2026-05-11 during the iter 23.4 family's prep iters.
Fix: explicit warning at the top of Step 3, plus reorder so the
'git switch main && git merge --ff-only' happens before any
Boss-side edit. Summary rewrites (step 2's decision) now defer to
step 5, which runs after the switch, so they also land on main.
Discussion-draft, not an approved spec. Captures today's findings:
- Repeated BLOCKEDs on iter 23.4 family were a spec-defect signal,
not a plan-defect signal.
- Today's spec-verification (brainstorm Step 7 + 8) is purely
linguistic — no code-grounded check of load-bearing assumptions.
- Spec-23's 'work the same way as 22b.3' half-sentence was the
exact load-bearing assumption that broke. Three preps spent
patching what should have been caught pre-approval.
Proposes a new agent that, with fresh context between brainstorm
Step 6 and Step 7, extracts load-bearing assumptions from the spec
draft and searches for an existing green fixture ratifying each.
Default on miss: spec discarded, blocked idea moved to roadmap with
'depends on: <missing prerequisite>'.
Eight open design questions left for the next session's brainstorm
to answer.
Claude Code categorically forbids subagents from spawning other
subagents (code.claude.com/docs/en/sub-agents and the Agent SDK
subagents page). The `or.1` architecture (and `pr.1` that ran on
top of it) presumed a named-exception for `ailang-implement-
orchestrator` to dispatch implementer / spec-reviewer / quality-
reviewer / tester per task. That exception never existed at the
platform level; the `Agent` tool was silently dropped from the
orchestrator-agent's tool set at dispatch time.
Architecture revised, doc-only:
- Per-task phases (implementer → spec-compliance check → quality
check) now run as sequential role-switches in the orchestrator-
agent's own context, not as nested subagents.
- The four role-files (implementer / spec-reviewer / quality-
reviewer / tester) become phase reference files the
orchestrator-agent consults at role-switch boundaries.
- Boss-context offload preserved; fresh-per-phase context given
up (the property that drove or.1's nested-dispatch design is
not buildable in Claude Code).
Files touched:
- skills/implement/agents/ailang-implement-orchestrator.md
(frontmatter, Iron Law, Phase 2/3 rewrite, rationalisations,
red flags)
- skills/implement/SKILL.md (frontmatter, Iron Law, sub-status
vocabulary note, cross-references)
- skills/README.md (Conventions: no more named exception; agent
roster: role-files recast as phase references)
- docs/journals/INDEX.md (or.2 entry appended)
- docs/journals/2026-05-11-iter-or.2.md (new — full rationale)
- docs/roadmap.md (P1 tool-wiring item removed; resolved as
categorically-not-fixable)
- docs/WhatsNew.md (user-facing correction entry appended)
No code changes; no bench impact; CLAUDE.md untouched (no stale
references to fix there).
The or.1 Iron Law said `git switch -c iter/<iter_id> origin/main`,
which silently presupposed that the plan-commit lives on origin/main.
The Boss commits plan+spec to local main and dispatches immediately
without pushing, so origin/main lags. The first real dispatch (pr.1)
hit this and worked around it by mid-flight ff-merging local main
into the iter branch — clean end-state but pure rationalisation
through a 'branch already exists' clause meant for repair re-dispatch.
The intent of branch-per-iter was iter-isolation from main, not
push-state coupling. Branch from local main; let push remain
orthogonal.
Touches Iron Law (twice — agent + SKILL.md), Phase 0 step
(orchestrator-agent), Boss-merge explanation (SKILL.md). Also drops
the now-obsolete `git fetch origin main` Phase 0 prelude.
Recorded in docs/journals/2026-05-11-iter-pr.1.md Boss-side addendum;
this commit closes the first follow-up item from that addendum.
Per-iter journal entry for the fieldtest run plus INDEX pointer.
Roadmap absorbs four actionable findings as P2/P3 todos (split the
merged BadCrossModuleTypeRef diagnostic, workspace subdir search,
`ail check` on `.ailx` extension, `.ailx` counterpart for the
canonical happy-path JSON exhibit). The two carry-on items
(`(import prelude)` doc-gap, the working ones) stay as notes in the
fieldtest spec only. P0 Floats milestone removed — closed
2026-05-10 and no longer load-bearing context.
No bug findings, so no debug dispatch. canonical-type-names is fully
shipped.
Brummel