sam-codex-advisor

name

sam-codex-advisor

description

Consult Codex as a read-only advisor for a focused assumption, tradeoff, architecture question, security concern, difficult diagnosis, or high-risk decision. The calling agent binds model and reasoning effort from the sam-orchestrate host-runtime-matrix advisor row (or the user's exact override). Use when the user requests a Codex second opinion or when another AI agent needs a bounded independent advisory pass.

Sam Codex Advisor

Obtain one independent advisory answer. Keep the calling agent responsible for the final decision, implementation, and proof.

Non-Negotiable Contract

• Bind model and effort in the calling agent. Prefer the advisor row for the Codex host in ../sam-orchestrate/references/host-runtime-matrix.md. Do not hardcode a model or invent one outside that matrix and an explicit user override.
• If the user supplies an effort (low, medium, high, xhigh, or max), use that value exactly. Otherwise use the matrix advisor effort for Codex.
• Do not infer a lower effort from urgency, simplicity, cost, or latency.
• Run the advisor read-only and ephemerally. Do not let it edit files, spawn subagents, publish, commit, push, or perform external writes.
• Ask one focused question. Do not delegate the whole task or request implementation.
• Pass only the minimum context required and exclude secrets or credentials.
• Do not silently fall back when the CLI, model, effort, or authentication is unavailable.
• Treat the advisor response as analysis, not proof. Verify material claims before acting.
• Token Saver inheritance: when the host provides RC_TOKEN_SAVER_EXECUTION_RECEIPT_V1, preserve it and the authorized capability/lane environment in every child process. Never reconstruct or widen admission. A missing, malformed, denied, cross-user, or provider-mismatched receipt is raw fail-open input. Skills, exact-output commands, prompts, transcripts, secrets, and the full advisor response stay lossless and out of the receipt. Do not claim billing or quota savings.
• Subagents telemetry: when this advisor is a controlled nested lifetime, bracket the real invocation with the provider-neutral bridge, preserving the returned run id:

telemetry_command="${REMOTE_CODE_SUBAGENT_TELEMETRY_COMMAND:-distill}"
child_run="$("$telemetry_command" subagent begin --node '<stable-advisor-node-id>')"
# run the bounded advisor
"$telemetry_command" subagent end --run-id "$child_run" --status completed

Use failed or cancelled on the corresponding terminal path. Bridge unavailability means raw execution plus an explicit Subagents proof gap — never invent a Done row. Do not require Distill to process Skill bodies or exact output.

Subordinate mode (parent workflow active)

When a parent workflow (sam-task, sam-work, sam-orchestrate, or any other skill) invoked this consult, the parent's contract stays in force and this skill is a step inside it, not the run:

• If the caller already supplied model and effort, use them exactly and do not open the host runtime matrix. The parent owns that binding.
• Return the ## Output fields as an inline consult record to the caller. Do not emit a terminal workflow report, do not close the parent's phase, and do not replace the parent's final response format.
• Never ask the user anything. On failure, hand the exact blocker back to the caller as a residual and let the parent decide.
• Do not restate, renegotiate, or override the parent's phases, gates, or evidence requirements.

1. Freeze the Advisory Request

Record:

• Focused question or decision.
• Relevant facts and evidence.
• Constraints and no-go surfaces.
• Current hypothesis, if any.
• Desired output: recommendation, risks, and strongest verification path.
• Selected model and effort (matrix advisor binding, or user override) and whether effort was user-specified.

2. Resolve the Invocation

Run the deterministic resolver before invoking the advisor. Both flags are required:

SAM_CODEX_ADVISOR_DIR="<absolute directory containing this SKILL.md>"
python3 "$SAM_CODEX_ADVISOR_DIR/scripts/resolve_advisor.py" \
  --model "<caller-selected-model>" \
  --effort "<caller-selected-effort>"

The resolver returns an argv array fixed to Codex, the selected model and effort, ephemeral execution, and read-only sandboxing. It does not invent defaults.

3. Invoke Safely

Execute the returned argv directly without a shell. Send the advisory request through stdin because the final - tells codex exec to read the prompt there. Do not interpolate the question into a command string or expose it in process arguments.

Require the advisor prompt to say:

• Act only as an advisor.
• Do not edit files or spawn subagents.
• Answer the focused question.
• Return a recommendation, key risks, hard assumptions, and verification path.
• Separate confirmed evidence from inference.

Wait for completion. If invocation fails, return the exact blocker and do not retry with another model or effort.

4. Reconcile

Check the response against supplied evidence. Reject unsupported claims, scope expansion, invented facts, and implementation work. Resolve disagreement using direct evidence or present the tradeoff to the user; do not defer blindly.

Output

Return:

• Advisor: Codex with the selected model.
• Effort: selected effort and whether it was matrix-default or user-specified.
• Recommendation: concise advisory conclusion.
• Risks: material risks and hard assumptions.
• Verification: strongest next proof.
• Caller decision: accepted, rejected, or unresolved, with reason.

Do not claim the advisor ran unless the invocation completed successfully.