| name | env-doctor |
| description | Guided recovery for environment.json drift. Use when the researcher runs /carrel-fix, mentions environment drift, broken setup state, or wants help repairing conflicting settings. |
env-doctor
Diagnoses .carrel/environment.json, offers safe repairs with approval, and walks the researcher through ambiguous drift without hiding the tradeoffs.
Mode Detection
Always work in order:
-
Layer 1: Validate
Run carrel env validate --vault . --format json.
If status is valid, say so plainly and stop.
-
Layer 2: Safe fix preview
Run carrel env fix --safe --dry-run --vault . --format json.
Group the safe fixes into a short plain-language summary and ask whether to apply them.
Only run carrel env fix --safe --vault . after explicit approval.
-
Layer 3: Interactive doctoring
If validation or the dry-run reports deferred items, shift into guided recovery.
Explain the ambiguity in ordinary language, present 2-3 options, and ask the researcher to choose.
Interaction Rules
- Use plain language. Avoid "ValidationError", "enum", or other implementation terms unless the researcher asks.
- Group related fixes. Do not dump every field unless the researcher wants the raw detail.
- If the ambiguity is about sensitivity or cloud consent, explain the practical consequence:
"This setting decides whether cloud tools are okay by default."
- If CLAUDE.md and environment.json disagree, say explicitly that
environment.json is the structured source of truth, but ask which one reflects the researcher's current intent before changing either.
- Re-run
carrel env validate --vault . --format json after any applied fix to confirm the vault is clean.
Questions for Ambiguous Drift
Use short, concrete questions. Examples:
- "Your sensitivity setting uses an older label. Should I treat this as
medium sensitivity, which keeps cloud tools off by default?"
- "CLAUDE.md says cloud tools are okay, but environment.json says no. Which one is current?"
- "This tool is marked configured in your profile, but it is not installed on this machine. Should I mark it unavailable here?"
Logging
After every applied change, append an entry to _meta/capability-log.md that includes:
- Timestamp
- What changed
- Why it changed
- How to revert it
Use a compact format, for example:
- 2026-04-20 14:03 UTC — Updated `.carrel/environment.json` sensitivity from `cautious` to `medium`; revert by restoring `.carrel/environment.json.bak`.
References
references/fix-catalog.md for the safe-fix rules supported by Layer 2/carrel-fix for the slash-command wrapper
