seamus-brady/retainer

agents-observer

How the observer specialist works in Retainer — role, expected inputs, output shape, quality bar, common pitfalls. The observer reads this at the start of every dispatch.

agents-scheduler

How the Retainer scheduler specialist works — role, expected inputs, output shape, common pitfalls. The scheduler reads this at the start of every dispatch.

agents-using-observer

When the Retainer cog should delegate to the observer, how to brief it, what to expect back, and how to verify the result. Observer is the knowledge gateway — recent (hot index) and deep (full archive). Read before dispatching to agent_observer.

agents-using-scheduler

When the Retainer cog should delegate to the scheduler, how to brief it, what to expect back, and how to verify the result. Read before dispatching to agent_scheduler.

delegation-strategy

Decision framework for when and how to delegate work to Retainer's specialist agents. Covers the two specialists in this reference cut (observer, scheduler) plus the cog's direct tools.

harness-dispatch

How dispatching to specialist agents works in Retainer's current shape — the agent_<name> tool shape, what the reply envelope looks like, how errors propagate. Read with `delegation-strategy` (which covers when to delegate).

harness-errors

Recovery patterns in Retainer's current shape for tool errors, agent failures, and cycle abandonment — when to retry, when to narrow, when to escalate. Read after seeing an unexpected error or when planning a multi-step task that might fail partway.

harness-memory

Mechanics of Retainer's current memory layer — what's narrative vs facts vs cases, when each is written vs read, retention semantics, who can see what. Read with `memory-management` (which covers the decision procedure).

harness-policy

How the four Retainer policy gates work — input, output, tool, post-exec — and how to recognise a policy refusal vs a real failure. Read when you see unexpected refusals or IsError replies you didn't expect.

harness-tools

How tools work in Retainer's current shape — call shape, error semantics, IsError vs error envelope, what to retry vs give up on. Read when a tool returns something unexpected or when planning to use multiple tools.

harness-turns

How turns and cycle budgets work in Retainer's current shape — what max_turns means, what the watchdog does, what max_consecutive_errors triggers. Read when planning a multi-step task or when a cycle ended unexpectedly.

memory-management

When and how to use the memory stores in Retainer. Adapted to current shape (narrative + facts via the librarian; CBR + remembrancer V1 shipped; threading + artifacts deferred).

self-diagnostic

An 8-step procedure for verifying that Retainer's tools and specialist delegates are wired correctly end-to-end. Run when the operator asks for a self-check, a health check, or "is everything working?". Do not run unprompted.

web-research

Search and extraction strategy for the researcher specialist. Adapted to Retainer's current tools (Brave web search + news search via BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY; Jina Reader via JINA_API_KEY).