# Operating Rhythm

> Status: v0 — 2026-07-16 (BINKY-WP-0002-T05). The cadence that keeps the
> control plane honest. Blue lane: agents run it; the founder consumes it.

## Daily brief

One brief per active day, written by whichever agent closes the day's work,
stored in `briefs/YYYY-MM-DD-daily-brief.md`. Hard cap: one screen. Format:

```markdown
# Daily Brief — <date>

## Decide now          (0–3 items, each linked to DecisionQueue)
## Progress            (what moved, milestone-relevant only)
## Risks               (changes to RiskRegister only — no restating)
## Best next hour      (single highest-leverage founder action)
```

Rules:
- **Decide now** only lists prepared decision packages. Never raw questions.
- **Best next hour** is one item. If nothing needs the founder, say so —
  "no founder action needed today" is a valid and desirable outcome.
- Anything that can't fit the cap goes into a queue, not the brief.

## Queue hygiene (every agent session touching this repo)

1. `DecisionQueue.md` — resolved items moved to the log; nothing older than
   14 days without escalation (RISK-003 rule).
2. `OfficeHourQueue.md` — every queued item has prepared material before the
   next command day; stale items pruned.
3. `AutopilotWorkQueue.md` — never empty; agents with idle capacity pull from
   the top.
4. Workplan files match hub state (fix-consistency covers drift).

## Bridge scheduler (workstation cron)

**Status: installed 2026-07-16** (founder-approved; agents may not install
their own persistence). Runs weekdays 08:23 local:
`scripts/rhythm-session.sh` runs a headless, lane-restricted Claude Code
session that does queue hygiene, writes the daily brief, and pulls one
autopilot item (agent name `agt-rhythm-bridge`; flock guard, logs to
`~/.cache/binky-control/rhythm/cron.log`).

**Installed line:**
```
23 8 * * 1-5 /home/worsch/binky-control/scripts/rhythm-session.sh # binky rhythm bridge
```

**Disable:** `crontab -e` and delete the `binky rhythm bridge` line.
**Health check:** `tail ~/.cache/binky-control/rhythm/cron.log` — every run
appends a finish line; a silent weekday morning means the bridge failed.

This is explicitly a **bridge**: once activity-core definitions (T05) and an
llm-connect executor (T06 follow-up) are live, the cron line is removed and
scheduling moves to the sanctioned coordination layer.

Guardrails baked into the script: Green/Blue lane only, allowed tools limited
to file edits + git add/commit, no push, no network, one-run-at-a-time lock,
bounded "maintenance pass" prompt.

## Weekly review (founder, ~15 min)

Read the newest brief + `SuccessMilestones.md`. One question: did anything
move a milestone? If two consecutive weeks show activity without milestone
movement, RISK-005 escalates.