help

name	help
description	Show KERNEL help. The unified skill system, state operations, agents, current plugin status. Triggers: help, how, what, skills, commands.
user-invocable	true
allowed-tools	Read, Bash, Grep, Glob
kernel	{"kind":"methodology","version":1,"side_effects":"none","confirmation":"none"}

Quick reference for KERNEL v9.2.1. One primitive: skills (methodology, workflows, state transitions, validators, operators). Agents, manifests, philosophy, and current plugin status.

<host_invocation> Claude Code invokes skills as /kernel:<name>. Codex invokes them as $kernel:<name>. Tables below use Claude Code syntax; Codex users replace the leading slash with a dollar sign. </host_invocation>

<on_start> Before showing help, check the actual state of the plugin as loaded in your context:

1. Is the session-start hook output visible? (Look for "# KERNEL" at conversation start)
2. Which profile is active? (local, github, github-oss, github-production)
3. Are there active contracts or pending reviews in AgentDB?
4. Report what you see, don't just recite docs.

agentdb recall "<feature> <subsystem> <files/symbols> <error/outcome>" --global

</on_start>

<getting_started>

What you want	What to type
Set up a new project	/kernel:init
Start working on anything	/kernel:ingest + describe task
Run autonomously overnight	/kernel:forge + describe goal
Explore approaches creatively	/kernel:dream + describe problem
Debug something broken	/kernel:diagnose + describe symptom
Save progress before stopping	/kernel:handoff
</getting_started>

<skills_reference>

Core Workflow (kind: workflow)

Skill	Purpose	When to use
/kernel:ingest	Guided entry, classify, scope, execute	Default for any task. Human confirms each phase.
/kernel:forge	Autonomous engine, heat/hammer/quench/anneal	Run overnight. Iterates until antifragile or reports why not.
/kernel:dream	Creative exploration, 3 perspectives + stress test	When you need competing approaches before committing.
/kernel:diagnose	Systematic debugging + refactor analysis	Bugs, regressions, or before refactoring. Diagnosis before prescription.

Quality & Review (kind: validator)

Skill	Purpose	When to use
/kernel:validate	Pre-commit gates, build, lint, test, security	Before every commit. Blocks on failure.
/kernel:tearitapart	Critical pre-implementation review	Before tier 2+ work. Verdict: PROCEED/REVISE/RETHINK.
/kernel:review	Code review for PRs or staged changes	Before merging. >80% confidence threshold.

Learning & Observability

Skill	Purpose	When to use
/kernel:retrospective	Cross-session learning synthesis	When 5+ learnings accumulated. Clusters, deduplicates, promotes patterns into project hooks/agents/skills.
/kernel:metrics	Observability dashboard	Check session stats, agent success rates, hook health, learning utilization.

State Operations (kind: state_transition) — json-first

Skill	Emits	When to use
/kernel:handoff	kernel.handoff/v1 json manifest	Ending a session. Pins provenance, decisions, phases, context policy + budget.
/kernel:checkpoint	kernel.checkpoint/v1 json manifest	MID-task save: safe context reset without full handoff ceremony.
/kernel:retrospective	kernel.retrospective-result/v1 mutation record	5+ learnings accumulated; promotes via artifact ladder.
/kernel:ingest (resume)	kernel.context-receipt/v1	Resuming: validates the manifest, checks divergence, compiles bounded context.

Manifest CLI: orchestration/manifest/kernel-manifest (validate | latest | divergence | preflight | compile | resume | activate | deactivate). Context policies: sealed (hook-blocked forbidden globs) | bounded (extra loads ledgered) | advisory. Details: docs/MIGRATION-8.md.

Setup

Skill	Purpose	When to use
/kernel:init	Confirm Vaults, create missing data dirs and three safe helper links	Once per machine, or helper-link recovery.
/kernel:help	This help	When you need a reminder.
</skills_reference>

<flow_examples> Typical flows, skills chain together:

New feature: ingest → (dream if complex) → tearitapart → execute → validate → review → handoff

Bug fix: diagnose → ingest (with diagnosis) → validate → review

Overnight autonomous: forge (runs heat/hammer/quench/anneal loop, ships when antifragile)

End of session: retrospective (if learnings accumulated) → handoff

Long task, context filling up: checkpoint → /clear → ingest (auto-discovers the checkpoint, resumes bounded) </flow_examples>

Tier by reversibility x silence x blast radius; file count is only a weak hint.

Tier	Risk profile	Your Role	Skills involved
1	easy to undo, loud if wrong	Execute directly	ingest → validate
2	persistent or moderately quiet	Orchestrate, spawn surgeon	ingest → tearitapart → validate → review
3	hard to undo, quiet, wide blast	Orchestrate, surgeon + adversary	ingest → tearitapart → validate → review

These are Claude Code agent definitions. Codex does not register the files as native agents; KERNEL applies the role contracts to available Codex subagents.

Agent	Role
Surgeon	Minimal diff implementation. Only touches contract-listed files.
Adversary	QA, assumes broken, finds edge cases, proves with evidence.
Reviewer	Code review with APPROVE/REQUEST CHANGES/COMMENT verdict.
Researcher	Finds proven solutions and anti-patterns before coding.
Scout	Codebase reconnaissance, maps structure, detects tooling.
Validator	Pre-commit quality gate, build, types, lint, tests, security.
Dreamer	Multi-perspective debate, minimalist/maximalist/pragmatist.

Claude Code runs the full declared plugin lifecycle. Codex runs supported synchronous events, including SessionStart and write guards, but skips asynchronous command hooks and has no plugin SessionEnd event. In Codex, use `$kernel:handoff` explicitly when durable end-of-session state is required. Research anti-patterns before solutions. Most problems are already solved. Define success before coding. Tests before implementation. Recall task context before acting. Recall again as the task changes. Write at end. Big 5: input validation, edge cases, error handling, duplication, complexity. Built-in beats library. Library beats custom. Prove you need complexity. - **Be specific**: "Add rate limiting to /api/upload" > "make it more secure" - **Use the right skill**: diagnose for bugs, dream for design, ingest for everything else - **Check metrics**: `/kernel:metrics` shows if learnings are being used or ignored - **Save deliberately**: `/kernel:checkpoint` mid-task or `/kernel:handoff` before a session boundary - **Run retrospective**: After several sessions, synthesize what you've learned