hall-of-helix/AGENTS.md

# hall-of-helix — Agent Instructions

## Repo Identity

**Purpose:** The Hall of Helix: first-person entries recording the work sessions, human and agent, that built HelixForge.

**Domain:** infotech
**Repo slug:** hall-of-helix
**Topic ID:** `f39fa2a3-c491-414c-a91b-b4c5fcc6139c`
**Workplan prefix:** `HOH-WP-`

---

## State Hub Integration

The Custodian State Hub tracks work across all domains. Codex uses HTTP REST and
the `statehub` CLI by default. MCP is opt-in because the current Codex MCP bridge
adds severe call latency; the full administrative MCP surface remains available
to clients that need it.

| Context | URL |
|---------|-----|
| Local workstation | `http://127.0.0.1:8000` |
| Remote via tunnel | `http://127.0.0.1:18000` |
| Optional local edge relay | http://127.0.0.1:18080 |

When an operator has enabled the edge relay, set API_BASE to the relay URL.
Queueable writes return an explicit queued receipt if the central hub is
unreachable. Treat that as pending local evidence, then ask the operator to run
statehub outbox status/replay after connectivity returns.

Codex workspace-write sandboxes need network access enabled to reach the host's
loopback listener. Bootstrap this once with `make -C ~/state-hub configure-codex`
and restart Codex. The canonical REST health endpoint is `/state/health`, not
`/health`. If a sandboxed loopback probe fails, retry it with escalated execution
before declaring State Hub unavailable; a managed Codex permission profile may
still enforce isolated networking. Experimental MCP can be enabled explicitly
with `make -C ~/state-hub configure-codex WITH_MCP=1`.

### Orient at session start

```bash
# Offline brief — works without hub connection
cat .custodian-brief.md

# Active workplans for this domain
curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:8000/workplans/?topic_id=f39fa2a3-c491-414c-a91b-b4c5fcc6139c&status=active" \
  | python3 -m json.tool

# Check inbox
curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:8000/messages/?to_agent=hall-of-helix&unread_only=true" \
  | python3 -m json.tool
```

Mark a message read:
```bash
curl -s -X PATCH "http://127.0.0.1:8000/messages/<id>/read" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{}'
```

### Log progress (required at session close)

```bash
curl -s -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8000/progress/ \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "summary": "what was done",
    "event_type": "note",
    "author": "codex",
    "workplan_id": "<uuid>",
    "task_id": "<uuid>"
  }'
```

Omit `workplan_id` / `task_id` when not applicable.

### Update task status

```bash
curl -s -X PATCH "http://127.0.0.1:8000/tasks/<task_id>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"status": "progress"}'
# values: wait | todo | progress | done | cancel
```

### Flag a task for human review

```bash
curl -s -X PATCH "http://127.0.0.1:8000/tasks/<task_id>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"needs_human": true, "intervention_note": "reason"}'
```

---

## Session Protocol

**Start:**
1. `cat .custodian-brief.md` — domain goal and open workplans (offline-safe)
2. Check inbox: `GET /messages/?to_agent=hall-of-helix&unread_only=true`; mark read
3. Scan workplans: `ls workplans/` — note `status: ready`, `active`, or `blocked` files and open tasks
4. Check human-needed tasks: `GET /tasks/?needs_human=true`

**During work:**
- Update task statuses in workplan files as tasks progress
- Record significant decisions via `POST /decisions/`

**Close:** the full wind-down routine for this repo is [`CLOSING.md`](CLOSING.md)
— it covers the PQRST estimate and the seat. The fleet steps below still apply.

1. Update workplan file task statuses to reflect progress
2. If finishing a workplan: hand off **residuals** as live work records first
   (intake with `origin: residual` + `origin_ref: <WP-id>`, or a next workplan /
   decision / engagement). Do not park leftovers only in prose or `SCOPE.md`.
   Canon: `the-custodian/canon/standards/work-record-types_v0.1.md` § Residuals.
3. Log: `POST /progress/` with a summary of what changed (name handoff ids)
4. After workplan file changes, run:
   ```bash
   uv run --project ~/repo-manager rmgr sync --path . --push
   ```
   This assigns only missing deterministic identifiers, verifies the pushed
   Forgejo commit and `primary/railliance01`, then requests one central
   reconciliation. A queued receipt is pending evidence; rerun after
   connectivity returns. Use `statehub fix-consistency` for a separate deep audit.

---

{CREDENTIAL_ROUTING}

<!-- REPO-AGENTS-EXTENSIONS -->
<!-- Append repo-specific agent instructions below this marker.
     The state-hub template sync preserves content after this line. -->

---

## Workplan Convention (ADR-001)

Work items originate as files in this repo — not in the hub. The hub is a
read/cache/index layer that rebuilds from files.

**File location:** `workplans/HOH-WP-NNNN-<slug>.md`

**Archived location:** finished workplans may move to
`workplans/archived/YYMMDD-HOH-WP-NNNN-<slug>.md`. The `YYMMDD` prefix is
the completion/archive date; the frontmatter `id` does not change.

**Ad Hoc Tasks:** small opportunistic fixes discovered during a session use
`workplans/ADHOC-YYYY-MM-DD.md`, workplan id
`HOH-WP-ADHOC-YYYY-MM-DD`, and task ids
`HOH-WP-ADHOC-YYYY-MM-DD-T01`, etc. `HOH-WP` includes its final `-WP`
token. Unqualified historic `ADHOC-*` ids are grandfathered and must not be
copied into new records. Use this only for low-risk work completed directly;
create a normal workplan for anything needing analysis, design, approval,
dependencies, or multiple phases.

**Frontmatter:**

```yaml
---
id: HOH-WP-NNNN
type: workplan
title: "..."
domain: infotech
repo: hall-of-helix
status: proposed | ready | active | blocked | backlog | finished | archived
owner: codex
topic_slug: ...
created: "YYYY-MM-DD"
updated: "YYYY-MM-DD"
state_hub_workstream_id: "<uuid>"   # deterministic UUIDv5; managed by Repo Manager
---
```

Use `proposed` for a new draft, `ready` after review against current repo
state, and `finished` after implementation. `stalled` and `needs_review` are
derived health labels, not frontmatter statuses.

**Terminology:** workplan is the fleet term; `workstream` appears only in legacy
API/MCP/frontmatter bridges until `STATE-WP-0069` retires them — see
`the-custodian/canon/standards/workplan-terminology-fleet_v0.1.md`.

**Task block format** (one per `##` section):

```
## Task Title

` ` `task
id: HOH-WP-NNNN-T01
status: wait | todo | progress | done | cancel
priority: high | medium | low
state_hub_task_id: "<uuid>"         # deterministic UUIDv5; managed by Repo Manager
` ` `

Task description text.
```

Status progression: `todo` → `progress` → `done`; use `wait` for waiting/blocked work and `cancel` for stopped work.

**Residuals when finishing:** actionable leftovers become live work records
before `status: finished` — usually an intake (`origin: residual`,
`origin_ref: HOH-WP-NNNN`) or a spawned workplan. Residual is a *role*,
not a kind. Fleet list lives on State Hub, not in `SCOPE.md`.

To create a new workplan:
1. Write the file following the format above
2. Run `uv run --project ~/repo-manager rmgr sync --path . --push`.
3. Run `statehub fix-consistency` only when a separate deep audit is needed.

---

## Closing a session in this repo

When the operator winds a session down — "put an entry about your perspective on
the session to hall-of-helix, before we wind down" — follow
[`CLOSING.md`](CLOSING.md). It is the authoritative routine and it is short:

1. Finish the substantive work; update task statuses.
2. Run the PQRST prompt (`~/pqrst-practice/PqrstPrompt.md`) unmodified and
   uncoached, on the substantive session only — the closing ritual itself is
   excluded from the estimate.
3. Write the seat per [`ENTRY.md`](ENTRY.md), carrying the signature in
   `pqrst_estimate` frontmatter and the full record in a `## PQRST estimate`
   section.
4. `make check`, and add the seat to the `README.md` list.
5. Log progress and sync.

`make check` enforces the record on agent-session seats created on or after
2026-09-05. Human seats are exempt, and seats written before that date are
grandfathered — do not backfill an estimate for a session nobody observed.

The record describes the session; it is never a score on the worker. The hall
does not rank seats or aggregate these numbers.

**Canonical source:** the practice is specified in `~/pqrst-practice`. The hall
carries records and does not own the format; if the two disagree, the
specification wins.