f01b765668
Updated by fix-consistency on 2026-09-04: - update .custodian-brief.md for rein-aharness Assistant: codex Assistant-Model: gpt-5.6-sol Assistant-Session: 01a06ba0-10aa-7ea0-b20a-4f3fac39efe9
83 lines
4.3 KiB
Markdown
83 lines
4.3 KiB
Markdown
# INTENT
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> This file explains why agent-harness (repo renamed `rein-aharness`, see
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> glas-harness ADR-001) exists — the problem it solves, the principle that
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> governs its boundaries, and what it must never become. Established by
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> DEC-2026-002 (binky-control DecisionQueue, resolved 2026-07-17) and
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> ADR-001 in this repo.
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>
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> **Naming note (post-rename):** this repo is one of possibly several
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> **reins** — concrete harness implementations for different operating
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> circumstances, analogous to how "rails" name different workload
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> operations models. glas-harness is the meta-framework that routes
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> between reins; `rein-aharness` is the Claude-Code-CLI-based rein for
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> governed, unattended/scheduled tenant work. See
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> `../glas-harness/docs/adr/ADR-001-rein-harness-family.md`.
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## Why it exists
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Agentic work in the ecosystem requires combining many rapidly evolving
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ingredients: agent blueprints (kaizen-agentic), LLM compute (llm-connect),
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scheduling (activity-core), credentials (OpenBao/ops-warden), policy gates
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(net-kingdom/flex-auth), memory (phase-memory, `.kaizen/` state), and
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reporting (Custodian State Hub). Without a shared runtime, every project
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that wants unattended agents must re-wire all of this — and every base-
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technology shift multiplies into N project upgrades. The first concrete
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casualty: binky-control's daily rhythm depended on a workstation cron
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bridge because no workstation-independent runtime existed.
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agent-harness exists so that **any project can run governed, unattended
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agent instances by committing a small declarative manifest — while all the
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fast-evolving wiring lives, evolves, and is enforced in exactly one
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place.**
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## The governing principle: three layers
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1. **Blueprint (class)** — owned by kaizen-agentic. Versioned, reusable,
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centrally improved agent definitions.
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2. **Instance** — owned by the consuming repo. Declarative state only:
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which blueprints run, cadence, autonomy lane, named tool profile,
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budget, plus `.kaizen/` memory and metrics. Never code, never
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credentials, never tool wiring.
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3. **Harness (runtime)** — this repo. The single shared, multi-tenant
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runtime: consumes tasks emitted by activity-core, loads the blueprint
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(ADR-005 `schedule prepare`), binds instance state, acquires
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credentials, runs the bounded agentic session via llm-connect,
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verifies the local commit, reports to the State Hub and to the
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instance's kaizen metrics.
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Among tenant repositories, blueprints, and scheduling records, only the
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selected rein may receive session credential material, and it holds that
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material only for the bounded session (ADR-002). The harness is the
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**repository-transaction and rein-local tool-policy enforcement point**
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inside a chained grant — not the only credential holder or the only
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policy enforcement point in the estate. Queue, profile, sandbox,
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credential custody/authorization, and provider boundaries enforce their
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own grants; this runtime must not weaken them. Instances declare policy
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and pin a harness major version; upgrades happen centrally.
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## Strategic role
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This is the "federated execution" half of the hub-and-spoke AgentOps
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model (agentic-resources intent): central standards and runtime, per-repo
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instances. It closes the gap the other repos deliberately leave open —
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activity-core answers when/what/where and *does not execute*;
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kaizen-agentic declares and prepares and *does not invoke LLMs*;
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llm-connect abstracts providers and *does not orchestrate*.
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## What it must never become
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- **Not a scheduler.** Triggering and task emission stay in
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activity-core. The harness only consumes.
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- **Not a blueprint author.** Agent definitions, measurement conventions,
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and improvement loops stay in kaizen-agentic.
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- **Not a per-project logic container.** Anything specific to one tenant
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belongs in that tenant's manifest or blueprint — the harness stays
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generic or the instance model has failed.
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- **Not an LLM abstraction.** Provider handling stays in llm-connect.
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- **Not a state store.** Run history, task lifecycle, and decisions live
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in the State Hub; agent memory lives with the instance (and later
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phase-memory profiles).
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- **Not autonomous beyond its grant.** Sessions run under named tool
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profiles with hard allow-lists; the harness never pushes beyond the
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target repo grant and never widens its own permissions.
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