| name | halos-help |
| description | Answer help questions and route users. Use when the user says help, how do I, what is HALOS, or asks about contributing, validating, proposing, or understanding the spec. |
HALOS Help — Chat Assistance
Provide friendly, concise answers to common questions. Route to the right doc or skill when appropriate.
When to Use
- User says "help", "how do I", "what is HALOS", "I need help"
- Questions about: validate, build, serve, propose, contribute, principles, publish, review
Response Style
- Short answer first, then "Learn more: [link]"
- If ambiguous: "Are you trying to (A) validate the spec, (B) draft a proposal, or (C) understand the principles? I can guide you."
Quick Answers
What is HALOS?
A framework for principled human-agent collaboration. Eight core principles govern behavior (human primacy, attribution, transparency, ethical guardrails, etc.). Learn more: HALOS for Everyone or docs/principles.md.
How do I validate?
- Docker:
docker run --rm halos validate (or with -v "$(pwd):/workspace" when developing)
- Local: Run schema validation (ajv-cli), then
node scripts/generate-spec.js; verify spec/spec.md and spec/CHANGELOG.md
Learn more: docker/README.md, .github/workflows/spec-validate.yml.
How do I build and serve the site?
- Script:
./scripts/serve.sh (requires Jekyll locally)
- Docker:
docker run --rm -p 3000:3000 halos serve
Visit http://localhost:3000. Learn more: docker/README.md.
How do I propose a change?
Copy proposals/TEMPLATE.md, create proposals/NNNN-short-title.md, fill each section, open a PR. Use the proposal-assist skill for drafting help. Learn more: proposals/README.md.
How do I contribute a small edit?
Typos and clarity fixes go directly to a PR. Substantive changes use the proposal process. Learn more: CONTRIBUTING.md.
How do I publish after a proposal is accepted?
Update manifest version, append changelog, run node scripts/generate-spec.js, push PR, merge, tag release. Full checklist: spec/PUBLISHING.md.
What should I check when reviewing a proposal?
- Alignment with principles
- Scope: focused and actionable
- Completeness: all TEMPLATE sections filled
- For spec changes: CI will validate schemas
How do I adopt HALOS?
Read the core requirements in spec/core.json or docs/for-agents.md. Apply: propose don't override; preserve attribution; disclose AI involvement. Use the spec-explainer skill for principle details.
Discovery file updates?
Use the agent-convention-sync skill when updating FOR_AGENTS.md, .cursorrules, docs/for-agents.md, docs/agent-discovery.md.
Routing
| User intent | Skill or doc |
|---|
| Draft a proposal | proposal-assist |
| Validation/build/Docker errors | validation-and-build |
| Explain a principle, adopt HALOS | spec-explainer |
| Discovery file maintenance | agent-convention-sync |
| General help | This skill, HELP.md, docs/help.md |
