Let /boss file skill-system deficiencies to the plugin's own tracker #9

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2026-06-19T18:39:11+02:00

Brummel commented

2026-06-19 18:39:11 +02:00

Motivation

A /boss run executes through the skill system, so the orchestrator is the
one actor positioned to notice when the plugin itself — a SKILL body, an
agent, a convention, the pipeline/cascade — is the thing that is broken,
rather than the project it is working on. Before this, such an observation
had nowhere durable to go: the orchestrator worked around it and the
shortcoming recurred on the next run. The forward-queue discipline that
governs a project should govern the plugin too.

What changed

boss/SKILL.md gains a ## Skill-system feedback section: under /boss
only, when the orchestrator hits a durable plugin deficiency mid-run it
files an issue against the plugin's own tracker and continues.

Trigger — a fault that is the plugin's (not the project's) AND would
recur. Positive triggers: a self-contradictory/ambiguous skill or
convention; a gate/agent verdict wrong due to an instruction gap; a
missing pipeline/cascade path; a missing/dangling agent-template field or
cross-reference. Evidence gate: no citable path:line inside the plugin
means it is not plugin feedback (route as debug or drop).
Provenance — marked by a body block (no new label): "Filed
autonomously by the /boss orchestrator while running on project X. No
human was in the loop", followed by ## Motivation and ## Problem. The
fixed label vocabulary (BLOCKER/feature/bug/idea/in-progress) is left
untouched; the work-type label is assigned as normal.
Mechanics — written through issue/SKILL.md; targets the plugin
tracker via --repo <plugin-slug> (slug from the plugin checkout's git
remote); dedupe-as-gate against open and recently-closed issues (a
wontfix close means do not re-file); file immediately, then continue.
Discipline — not a notify event (captured, not surfaced); never a
substitute for a due bounce-back (if a bounce-back trigger also fires,
bounce AND file); /boss-only.

Touched: boss/SKILL.md (new section plus a Common-Rationalisation row, two
Red-Flags, a Notifications line, a Cross-reference), issue/SKILL.md (boss
added to the issue-filing callers), docs/conventions.md (the Issue-tracker
pointer). The missing standard labels (idea, BLOCKER, in-progress)
were created in this repo so the work-type recommendation is executable.

Design decisions

Provenance is a body block, not a label (user decision). Keeps the
fixed label vocabulary intact (convention-over-config); the trade-off is
that the feedback is not filterable by label, only by full-text search.
/boss-only. In interactive mode the user is present, so a noticed
shortcoming is just surfaced in chat — there is no autonomous filing to
govern.
Not a notify event / never substitutes a bounce-back. Filing carries
no decision, so it neither pings the user mid-run nor stands in for a
bounce-back that the four named triggers independently require.
Self-run is a non-issue by construction. The skills meta-repo is not
driven through /boss (no project-facts queue; edited directly), so the
plugin tracker and a project tracker never coincide.

## Motivation A `/boss` run executes through the skill system, so the orchestrator is the one actor positioned to notice when the plugin itself — a SKILL body, an agent, a convention, the pipeline/cascade — is the thing that is broken, rather than the project it is working on. Before this, such an observation had nowhere durable to go: the orchestrator worked around it and the shortcoming recurred on the next run. The forward-queue discipline that governs a project should govern the plugin too. ## What changed `boss/SKILL.md` gains a `## Skill-system feedback` section: under `/boss` only, when the orchestrator hits a *durable plugin* deficiency mid-run it files an issue against the plugin's own tracker and continues. - **Trigger** — a fault that is the plugin's (not the project's) AND would recur. Positive triggers: a self-contradictory/ambiguous skill or convention; a gate/agent verdict wrong due to an instruction gap; a missing pipeline/cascade path; a missing/dangling agent-template field or cross-reference. Evidence gate: no citable `path:line` inside the plugin means it is not plugin feedback (route as `debug` or drop). - **Provenance** — marked by a body block (no new label): "Filed autonomously by the `/boss` orchestrator while running on project X. No human was in the loop", followed by `## Motivation` and `## Problem`. The fixed label vocabulary (BLOCKER/feature/bug/idea/in-progress) is left untouched; the work-type label is assigned as normal. - **Mechanics** — written through `issue/SKILL.md`; targets the plugin tracker via `--repo <plugin-slug>` (slug from the plugin checkout's git remote); dedupe-as-gate against open and recently-closed issues (a wontfix close means do not re-file); file immediately, then continue. - **Discipline** — not a notify event (captured, not surfaced); never a substitute for a due bounce-back (if a bounce-back trigger also fires, bounce AND file); `/boss`-only. Touched: `boss/SKILL.md` (new section plus a Common-Rationalisation row, two Red-Flags, a Notifications line, a Cross-reference), `issue/SKILL.md` (boss added to the issue-filing callers), `docs/conventions.md` (the Issue-tracker pointer). The missing standard labels (`idea`, `BLOCKER`, `in-progress`) were created in this repo so the work-type recommendation is executable. ## Design decisions - **Provenance is a body block, not a label** (user decision). Keeps the fixed label vocabulary intact (convention-over-config); the trade-off is that the feedback is not filterable by label, only by full-text search. - **`/boss`-only.** In interactive mode the user is present, so a noticed shortcoming is just surfaced in chat — there is no autonomous filing to govern. - **Not a notify event / never substitutes a bounce-back.** Filing carries no decision, so it neither pings the user mid-run nor stands in for a bounce-back that the four named triggers independently require. - **Self-run is a non-issue by construction.** The skills meta-repo is not driven through `/boss` (no project-facts queue; edited directly), so the plugin tracker and a project tracker never coincide.

Brummel added the feature label 2026-06-19 18:39:11 +02:00

Brummel referenced this issue from a commit

2026-06-19 18:41:52 +02:00

feat(boss): file skill-system deficiencies to the plugin's own tracker

Brummel closed this issue

2026-06-19 18:41:52 +02:00

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Reference: Brummel/Skills#9