# iter or.1 — orchestrator-refactor **Date:** 2026-05-11 **Branch:** iter/or.1 **Status:** DONE **Tasks completed:** 7 of 7 ## Summary This iter lands the three coupled changes from `docs/specs/2026-05-11-implement-orchestrator-agent.md`: 1. **Boss-context offload.** A new agent `skills/implement/agents/ailang-implement-orchestrator.md` owns one full `/implement` iter end-to-end — per-task implementer → spec-reviewer → quality-reviewer loop, with the canonical re-loop limits — running in its own context. The Boss now dispatches one subagent and receives a ≤500-token end-report. 2. **Iter isolation via branches.** Each `/implement` run owns a dedicated `iter/` branch, created from `origin/main` in Phase 0 of the orchestrator-agent. Integration is a Boss-side `git switch main && git merge --ff-only` after reading the end-report. 3. **Per-iter journals.** `docs/JOURNAL.md` (14k lines) is renamed to `docs/journal-archive.md` with an archived-status header. Going forward, each iter writes its own file under `docs/journals/-iter-.md`; the Boss appends a one-line pointer to `docs/journals/INDEX.md` at merge time. This file is the first such per-iter journal. The orchestrator-agent goes live on the *next* `/implement` run after this iter lands. This iter itself was executed in the pre-refactor mode (Boss dispatched workers directly) — a bootstrap necessity since the new agent did not yet exist while creating it. Model selection was unchanged: every dispatch this iter used Opus 4.7. The token savings come from token-volume relocation, not from intelligence downgrade. ## Per-task subjects - iter or.1.1: migrate JOURNAL.md to journal-archive.md + docs/journals/ - iter or.1.2: repoint top-level docs to docs/journals/ + journal-archive.md - iter or.1.2-fix: address quality-review minor + nit - iter or.1.3: repoint skill + agent reading lists to docs/journals/ - iter or.1.3-fix: address quality-review minors (architect / audit phrasing) - iter or.1.4: carrier switch task_text -> task_text_path - iter or.1.5: new agent ailang-implement-orchestrator - iter or.1.6: rewrite skills/implement/SKILL.md to delegate to orchestrator-agent - iter or.1.6-fix: correct git rebase syntax + README cross-ref wording - iter or.1.6-fix2: SKILL.md description drift + self-contained exception ref - iter or.1.7: document ailang-implement-orchestrator as named exception ## Concerns Three `DONE_WITH_CONCERNS` observations across the iter, all plan-template issues rather than scope deviations: - Task 1: the plan's Step 6 listed `git add docs/JOURNAL.md` after a `git mv`; this errors because the path is already gone from the working tree. The implementer dropped the dead path. Plan defect. - Task 4: the plan's per-step instructions enumerated only the carrier-contract row, but the plan's Step 6 verification clause (`grep -n "task_text\b" → empty`) required visiting every body-prose mention of `task_text` too. The implementer correctly expanded scope to satisfy the verification; rewrites preserved semantics. - Task 6: the plan's Step 1 verbatim content is 194 lines; Step 2's sanity check expected 110–160. Step 1 is canonical; the sanity range was my optimistic estimate when writing the plan. The implementer correctly followed Step 1. - Task 7: the plan's Step 3 grep expected 1 match for `ailang-implement-orchestrator`, but the new exception paragraph itself names the agent, so the actual count is 2. Same shape of plan-template error. None of these affect correctness; all are notes for the next plan template revision. ## Known debt - Two bare `JOURNAL` uppercase mentions remain in `CLAUDE.md` at lines 285/287 (the "answer three questions" closing paragraph). They refer conceptually to the historical log, but the surface reading is slightly stale now that JOURNAL is no longer a file. Out of scope for Task 2's enumerated sites; carry-on observation. - "Boss" / "Boss-Orchestrator" vocabulary is introduced in the new `skills/implement/SKILL.md` and `ailang-implement-orchestrator.md` to distinguish from "the orchestrator-agent". `CLAUDE.md` uses "orchestrator" throughout. The distinction is intentional, but a one-line glossary entry in `CLAUDE.md` would prevent term drift in future docs. - Verification ladder steps 1–5 (real-orchestrator-agent dispatch exercise) are deferred to the first real `/implement` run after this iter merges. Steps 6–8 (intentional-BLOCKED, intentional re-loop, manual Boss-merge replay) get checked off when those failure modes arise organically. ## Blocked detail N/A — DONE. ## Commits `1891030..92e39bb` (11 commits including 4 quality-review-fix follow-ups; the per-task pattern was DONE/DONE-WITH-CONCERNS → spec-reviewer compliant → quality-reviewer approved-or-fixed-then- approved, per the implement skill's two-stage review). ## Stats Not produced this iter — `bench/orchestrator-stats/` is a new artefact introduced by the orchestrator-agent (Phase 5 of its process). This iter was executed in pre-refactor mode by the Boss directly, so no stats file exists. The first stats file will be written by the orchestrator-agent on the next real `/implement` run. ## Audit / milestone close Audit ran post-iter (skill-system mandatory at milestone close). - **Architect drift review:** `drift_found`. Live docs and a handful of concept-noun sites still mentioned `JOURNAL.md` as if it were a current path. Highest-impact misses were `docs/WhatsNew.md` (live changelog framing-text — wrongly carved out of the Task 3 plan as "dated artifact"), `docs/roadmap.md` lines 25-27 (live convention text), and four bare `JOURNAL` mentions in `CLAUDE.md` (lines 108, 267, 285, 287). Five concept-noun spots in `skills/audit/agents/ailang-architect.md` (Iron Law line 100 was already correct; the others were process descriptions). All resolved inline via `iter or.1.tidy` (single commit, four files). Spec-vs-shipped divergences (the spec still prescribes the invalid `git rebase ... onto main` and lists 3 blocked reasons where the agent ships 5) were intentionally left as-is — specs are dated artefacts capturing design at time of writing; the per-iter journal is the running annotation. - **Bench-regression check:** `bench/check.py` 63 metrics stable (exit 0); `bench/compile_check.py` 24 metrics stable (exit 0); `bench/cross_lang.py` 25 metrics stable (exit 0). No language code changed; the green result was expected and confirms it. - **Rustdoc:** 18 pre-existing warnings (2 in `ailang-core`, 16 in `ailang-check`) about private-item links and unresolved cross-refs. None caused by this iter. Deferred to a future docwriter sweep. Milestone close: clean after `or.1.tidy`. Three roadmap follow-ups worth noting: - WhatsNew.md should NOT be carved out as "dated artifact" in any future doc-sweep plan; it is a live changelog. - A separate docwriter sweep for the 18 pre-existing rustdoc warnings. - Once a real `/implement` run goes through the new orchestrator-agent, ladders 1–5 of the verification ladder in `docs/specs/ 2026-05-11-implement-orchestrator-agent.md` are checked off.