# 2026-05-12 — iter boss: `/boss` skill — autonomous-mode discipline gated to user invocation

## What shipped

- New skill at `skills/boss/SKILL.md`. Consolidates the three
  mode-specific subsections that previously lived in `CLAUDE.md`:
  Direction freedom, Notifications, Done-state notifications:
  WhatsNew.md.
- `CLAUDE.md` refactored. Three subsections removed (~95 lines).
  Skill-system pointer paragraph extended with one sentence
  naming `/boss` as the autonomous-mode gate.
- `.claude/skills/boss` symlink created (`../../skills/boss`),
  matching the discoverability convention codified in
  `skills/README.md`.
- `skills/README.md` updated: skill table extended with a `boss`
  row, heading shifted from "seven skills" to "eight skills",
  pipeline diagram captioned with a `/boss`-wraps note.
- Two cross-references repointed: `skills/implement/SKILL.md`
  and `skills/implement/agents/ailang-implement-orchestrator.md`
  both named the "Done-state notifications" subsection of
  CLAUDE.md by sub-heading; both now point at `skills/boss/SKILL.md`.

## Why

CLAUDE.md is always loaded into context. Mixing universal facts
(agent role boundaries, commit discipline, design rationale, file
roles, TDD-for-bugs) with mode-specific autonomy rules (direction
freedom, notifications, WhatsNew procedure) was OK while
autonomous-by-default was the operating assumption — but it
conflicted with the user's intent that a fresh session should be
collaborative-interactive unless explicitly elevated.

The mode-switch needs to be explicit. `/boss` is the explicit
elevation, and only the three genuinely mode-specific subsections
move with it. Universal orchestrator discipline stays in CLAUDE.md
because it applies whether `/boss` is active or not: agents need
to know role boundaries when dispatched in any session, design
discipline applies whenever a design choice is made (including a
`brainstorm` invoked outside `/boss`), and the orchestrator can
edit skills at any time.

## Decisions

- **Tightened the move-list from seven items to three.** The
  initial spec proposed moving "My role: orchestrator", "Authority
  over skills/", "Design rationale ≠ effort", "Feature acceptance",
  "When NOT to delegate", plus the three mode-specific subsections.
  Planner recon surfaced that the first five are universal, not
  mode-specific — they apply in any session. The move-list was
  narrowed to the three genuinely mode-specific items. The
  brainstorm Step 7.5 grounding-check was re-dispatched on the
  edited spec and returned PASS.
- **No private agents under `skills/boss/agents/`.** `/boss` is an
  orchestration layer, not a worker. It dispatches the existing
  skills (and their agents). The skill table reflects this by
  listing `boss` as a meta-skill without an agent-roster row.
- **Cross-reference repoints kept tight.** Recon found 11+
  agent/skill files that reference "CLAUDE.md — orchestrator
  framing". Most of those resolve correctly to the universal
  content that stays in CLAUDE.md. Only two files name the moved
  subsections by sub-heading (`implement/SKILL.md` and the
  orchestrator-agent's standing reading list); only those two
  were repointed.

## Status

Iter closed. No bench regressions to check (markdown-only change,
no compiler touch). No audit needed (single-iter milestone, no
DESIGN.md change). Acceptance criteria from the spec all met.