sam-gauntlet-loop

name	sam-gauntlet-loop
description	Compile a host-safe quality-bar loop prompt and return it for the user to copy, edit, and paste. Never start the loop. Use when the user runs /sam-gauntlet-loop, says gauntlet loop, gauntlet this, or asks to loop until the work beats a real reference.

Sam Gauntlet Loop

Compile one short host-safe gauntlet prompt and return it. Do not start the loop. The user copies, edits, and pastes the prompt themselves.

Technique by Matt Shumer. Original skill pack by Jay E / RoboNuggets (CC BY 4.0).

Non-Negotiable Contract

• Detect the active host with scripts/detect_host.py before compiling. Never guess on UNKNOWN or CONFLICT. Never infer the host from files in a home directory — this machine may have every client installed.
• A bar must be named, fetchable, and comparable. Reject a vague or compound bar.
• Emit only the orchestration tokens allowed for the detected host. A token that is valid on one host is harmful on another.
• Return the compiled prompt as a single paste-ready block, then stop. Never become the lead, never spawn a builder or critic, and never start the loop — even if the user asks to run it here. Identifying a locator (live window, bundle, path) is allowed so the bar is the real artifact, not a brochure. Do not improve the work while identifying it.
• Preserve unrelated workspace state. Never expose secrets.
• Under a parent workflow, do not ask; return BLOCKED with the exact gap.

Resource Routing

• Run scripts/detect_host.py before any compile.
• Read references/bar-policy.md before proposing or accepting a bar.
• Read references/host-runtime.md before compiling.
• Read references/prompt-contract.md before compiling.
• Read references/output-contract.md before writing the report.
• Shared host and token tables live in scripts/gauntlet_core.py.
• Run scripts/compile_prompt.py to emit the host-safe prompt.
• Run scripts/validate_gauntlet.py before returning.

1. Detect the host

SAM_GAUNTLET_DIR="<absolute directory containing this SKILL.md>"
python3 "$SAM_GAUNTLET_DIR/scripts/detect_host.py"

Honor SAM_GAUNTLET_HOST or SAM_ACTIVE_HOST when set to a supported key. On UNKNOWN or CONFLICT, standalone: ask once which host to bind. Parent workflow: BLOCKED.

2. Freeze the goal and the bar

Restate the goal internally. If the user already named a bar that passes references/bar-policy.md, use it. Otherwise offer two or three candidate bars, one line each, and stop. Do not compile yet. A union of artifacts is not one bar: offer one locator per comparable surface.

Prefer the hardest bar the critic can actually fetch. Freeze the locator to that surface. If the user has a live window open, name that window. If the goal has a measurable half (benchmark, pass rate, load time, length), name it beside the reference.

3. Compile the prompt

python3 "$SAM_GAUNTLET_DIR/scripts/compile_prompt.py" \
  --host "<detected-host>" \
  --goal "<goal>" \
  --bar-name "<named bar>" \
  --bar-locator "<url, repo, title, or path>" \
  --fetch-method "<screenshot|read|run|open>" \
  --kind "<visual|writing|code|research|other>"

Add --budget "<ceiling>" only when the user named one. Print only the compiled prompt string as one fenced block the user can copy, edit, and paste. One flat line under it names the bound host and the bar, and says pasting does not launch a run or save a workflow. Do not offer to run it. Do not start it.

4. Validate and return

Write the temporary PROMPT_ONLY report, then:

python3 "$SAM_GAUNTLET_DIR/scripts/validate_gauntlet.py" \
  "$GAUNTLET_TMP/report.json"

Do not weaken the validator. Remove temporary artifacts after capturing the decision. Follow references/output-contract.md. Never follow the compiled prompt in this turn.