feat(workflows): tier the standing reading for schema-bound stages

The anonymous script stages received the full standing-reading
instruction (project CLAUDE.md + git log -10 --format=full) although
a tree-footprint or text-extraction stage consumes none of it and a
verify stage needs only the build/test commands — re-executed on
every dispatch including tight repair rounds, at ~40k+ real tokens
per freshly-primed context.

Two slim variants in both workflow scripts: STANDING_FACTS
(verify-type stages — mini-verify, standard end-verify,
compiler-driven build/suite verify: project-facts build/test commands
only) and STANDING_NONE (tree/extraction stages — preflight,
plan-index, plan-extract[-all], snapshot: nothing beyond their own
instructions). Judgment roles (implementer, spec/quality reviewers,
tester/e2e, compiler-driven edit stage) keep the full read.
conventions.md § Standing reading and agent-template.md § Standing
reading list carry the tiering sentence; the precedent is the
narrowed per-role reading the named agents already practise
(tester -3, plan-recon/grounding-check -5, fieldtester -8,
docwriter --oneline).

closes #31

docs/agent-template.md

@@ -201,6 +201,12 @@ the per-role standing reading the project lists in its CLAUDE.md project
 facts. The agent's body says, prosaically: "Read everything in the
 standing reading list before doing anything else."
 
+The always list binds every *role* (agent file). The anonymous
+schema-bound stages inside `implement/workflows/*.js` are tiered
+below it (issue #31): verify-type stages read only the project-facts
+build/test commands, tree/extraction stages read nothing — see
+`conventions.md` § Standing reading.
+
 When the project's CLAUDE.md project facts name a glossary path, that
 glossary is implicitly part of the always list, so every role reads the
 project glossary without a per-role entry.

docs/conventions.md

@@ -122,6 +122,19 @@ project facts (`standing reading`). If the project declares a
 glossary, that file is implicitly standing reading for every role
 too.
 
+**Schema-bound workflow stages are tiered down** (issue #31). The
+anonymous script stages in `implement/workflows/*.js` have no agent
+file and author no code, and a freshly-primed context costs ~40k+ real
+tokens regardless of task size — so they do not take the full read:
+verify-type stages (mini-verify, the standard end-verify, the
+compiler-driven build/suite verify) read only the project-facts
+build/test commands; tree/extraction stages (preflight, plan-index,
+plan-extract[-all], snapshot) read nothing beyond their own
+instructions. This extends the narrowed per-role standing reading the
+named agents already practise (`tester` reads `git log -3`,
+`plan-recon`/`grounding-check` `-5`, `fieldtester` `-8`, `docwriter`
+`--oneline`); judgment roles keep the full convention.
+
 ## Git discipline
 
 - **Only the orchestrator commits.** No skill agent runs `git commit`.

implement/workflows/compiler-driven-edit.js

@@ -113,6 +113,15 @@ const STANDING =
   '(its "## Skills plugin: project facts" name the build and test commands) and ' +
   '`git log -10 --format=full`. Resolve the build/test commands from those facts.'
 
+// Standing-reading tiering (issue #31): the verify stage is a schema-bound
+// check that only needs the build/test commands — no git log, no full
+// CLAUDE.md read. The edit stage keeps the full standing read (it authors
+// code and must match project idiom).
+const STANDING_FACTS =
+  'Project facts first: read ONLY the "## Skills plugin: project facts" section of the project\'s CLAUDE.md for ' +
+  'the build and test commands — no other standing reading (no git log). This is a schema-bound check stage; ' +
+  'do not assume a toolchain.'
+
 // Working-directory anchor (issue #25): same defect class as implement-loop —
 // in a worktree session a dispatched agent's cwd can resolve to the primary
 // checkout and verify the wrong (clean) tree. Carrier-supplied only here (two
@@ -225,7 +234,7 @@ if (!edit.applied_changes) {
 // ---- Phase 2 — verify (the independently-invokable phase) ---------------
 phase('Verify')
 const verify = await agent(
-  `${STANDING}${ANCHOR}\n\nVerify the edit is behaviour-preserving WITHOUT changing any code or test. Run the project build ` +
+  `${STANDING_FACTS}${ANCHOR}\n\nVerify the edit is behaviour-preserving WITHOUT changing any code or test. Run the project build ` +
     'and the full test suite. Report whether the build is clean and whether the suite is green AND UNCHANGED — i.e. ' +
     'every test passes and NO test was added, removed, or weakened versus the pre-edit baseline (compare `git diff ' +
     'HEAD` for test-file changes). Also report working_tree_dirty — whether `git status --porcelain` / `git diff HEAD` ' +

implement/workflows/implement-loop.js

@@ -199,6 +199,24 @@ const STANDING =
   'design ledger) and `git log -10 --format=full`. Resolve the build/test commands ' +
   'from those facts — do not assume a toolchain.'
 
+// Standing-reading tiering (issue #31): the full standing read primes the
+// judgment roles (implementer, reviewers, tester), but a schema-bound check
+// stage consumes none of it — at ~40k+ real tokens per freshly-primed context
+// the blanket read was pure priming tax on the highest-volume dispatches.
+// Two slim variants, extending the narrowed per-role standing reading the
+// named agents already practise (conventions.md § Standing reading):
+//   STANDING_FACTS — verify-type stages that run the suite: only the
+//     project-facts build/test commands, no git log.
+//   STANDING_NONE — tree/extraction stages (preflight, plan-index,
+//     plan-extract[-all], snapshot): nothing beyond their own instructions.
+const STANDING_FACTS =
+  'Project facts first: read ONLY the "## Skills plugin: project facts" section of the project\'s CLAUDE.md for ' +
+  'the build and test commands — no other standing reading (no git log). This is a schema-bound check stage; ' +
+  'do not assume a toolchain.'
+const STANDING_NONE =
+  'Schema-bound mechanical stage: NO standing reading (no CLAUDE.md, no git log) — do exactly what is instructed ' +
+  'below, nothing else.'
+
 // Working-directory anchor (issue #25): in worktree sessions a dispatched
 // agent's cwd can resolve to the PRIMARY checkout instead of the worktree the
 // loop operates on — observed as a per-dispatch race producing false
@@ -516,7 +534,7 @@ let startSha = null
 if (mode === 'mini') {
   phase('Preflight')
   const pre = await agent(
-    `${STANDING}${ANCHOR}\n\nYou are the clean-tree preflight for an implement iteration. ` +
+    `${STANDING_NONE}${ANCHOR}\n\nYou are the clean-tree preflight for an implement iteration. ` +
       'Run `git status --porcelain`, `git rev-parse HEAD`, `git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD`, and ' +
       '`git rev-parse --show-toplevel`. ' +
       'Report whether the tree is clean (no porcelain output), the HEAD sha, the branch, the repo_root, and any ' +
@@ -584,7 +602,7 @@ if (mode === 'mini') {
   // narrower than the closed across-tasks vector and rests on the planner's
   // bite-sized-task invariant; it is the one truncation slice left open here.
   const index = await agent(
-    `${STANDING}${ANCHOR}\n\nFIRST the folded clean-tree preflight: run \`git status --porcelain\`, \`git rev-parse HEAD\`, ` +
+    `${STANDING_NONE}${ANCHOR}\n\nFIRST the folded clean-tree preflight: run \`git status --porcelain\`, \`git rev-parse HEAD\`, ` +
       '`git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD`, and `git rev-parse --show-toplevel`; report `clean` (no porcelain output), ' +
       '`head_sha`, `branch`, `repo_root`, and any ' +
       '`dirty_paths`. The HEAD sha is an informational anchor only — never a reset target. If the tree is DIRTY, ' +
@@ -707,7 +725,7 @@ if (mode === 'mini') {
   let extractedTasks = null
   if (expectedIds.length > 1 && totalApprox !== null && totalApprox <= EXTRACT_ALL_BYTE_CEILING) {
     const all = await agent(
-      `${STANDING}${ANCHOR}\n\nRead the plan at ${plan_path}. Extract EXACTLY these tasks (1-based ids): ${expectedIds.join(', ')} — ` +
+      `${STANDING_NONE}${ANCHOR}\n\nRead the plan at ${plan_path}. Extract EXACTLY these tasks (1-based ids): ${expectedIds.join(', ')} — ` +
         'EACH as its VERBATIM block: the full task text as written, including any code blocks. Do not summarise, ' +
         'truncate, reorder, or merge tasks into each other. Return exactly those tasks, nothing else. Do not edit anything.',
       { model: 'sonnet', effort: 'medium', label: 'plan-extract-all', phase: 'Per-task loop', schema: TASK_TEXTS_SCHEMA },
@@ -725,7 +743,7 @@ if (mode === 'mini') {
     extractedTasks = await parallel(
       expectedIds.map((id) => () =>
         agent(
-          `${STANDING}${ANCHOR}\n\nRead the plan at ${plan_path}. Extract EXACTLY task ${id} (1-based) as its VERBATIM block — ` +
+          `${STANDING_NONE}${ANCHOR}\n\nRead the plan at ${plan_path}. Extract EXACTLY task ${id} (1-based) as its VERBATIM block — ` +
             'the full task text as written, including any code blocks. Do not summarise, truncate, reorder, or merge in ' +
             'any other task. Return that one task only. Do not edit anything.',
           { model: 'sonnet', effort: 'medium', label: `plan-extract:${id}`, phase: 'Per-task loop', schema: TASK_TEXT_SCHEMA },
@@ -992,7 +1010,7 @@ for (const task of tasks) {
   results.push(r)
   if (tasks.length > 1) {
     const snap = await agent(
-      `${STANDING}${ANCHOR}\n\nRecord a working-tree snapshot boundary WITHOUT changing anything. Run exactly these two ` +
+      `${STANDING_NONE}${ANCHOR}\n\nRecord a working-tree snapshot boundary WITHOUT changing anything. Run exactly these two ` +
         'commands and report their output:\n' +
         `1. \`git stash create "iter ${iter_id} post-task ${task.id}"\` — prints a sha (a dangling commit; it ` +
         'touches neither HEAD, nor the index, nor the working tree). Report it as snapshot_sha; empty string if ' +
@@ -1077,7 +1095,7 @@ let treeState = null
 if (mode === 'mini' && outcome === 'DONE') {
   phase('Verify')
   miniVerify = await agent(
-    `${STANDING}${ANCHOR}\n\nVerify a bug/feature fix WITHOUT changing any code or test. The fix was meant to drive this ` +
+    `${STANDING_FACTS}${ANCHOR}\n\nVerify a bug/feature fix WITHOUT changing any code or test. The fix was meant to drive this ` +
       `RED test to GREEN: ${red_test_path}\n\nRun that test by name and confirm it now PASSES (it was RED before the ` +
       'fix). Then run the full suite and confirm it is green (no regression). Also report working_tree_dirty — ' +
       'whether `git status --porcelain` (NOT `git diff HEAD`, which misses new untracked files) shows any change at ' +
@@ -1105,7 +1123,7 @@ if (mode === 'mini' && outcome === 'DONE') {
 } else if (mode === 'standard' && outcome === 'DONE') {
   phase('Verify')
   treeState = await agent(
-    `${STANDING}${ANCHOR}\n\nEnd-verify an implement iteration WITHOUT changing any code or test. Two independent checks:\n` +
+    `${STANDING_FACTS}${ANCHOR}\n\nEnd-verify an implement iteration WITHOUT changing any code or test. Two independent checks:\n` +
       '1. Run `git status --porcelain` and report files_touched = its line count (every changed, added, or ' +
       'untracked path). Use `git status --porcelain`, NOT `git diff`, so brand-new untracked files are counted.\n' +
       '2. Run the FULL project suite (the test command from the CLAUDE.md project facts) and report suite_green — ' +