consult-fable

name	consult-fable
description	Bounded advisory consult of Claude Fable 5 from inside the aragora repo. Use when you are stuck on prioritization ("what should I work on next?"), need a second opinion on a design or a reviewer deadlock, want a plan sanity-checked, or were asked to "ask Claude / Fable" something. Runs scripts/consult_claude.py with a per-attempt timeout and a derived total timeout, strict empty MCP config for CLI calls, and fail-closed backend attempts. Advice is input, not authority — it cannot approve merges, settle quorum, or override gates.
license	MIT
compatibility	Works with Codex (.agents/skills), Claude Code (.claude/skills), and any Agent Skills platform. Requires python3; uses the local `claude` CLI by default, supports an explicitly selected local VibeProxy for exact Claude models, and uses paid APIs only when explicitly requested.
metadata	{"author":"Synaptent (aragora)","version":"1.1.0","argument-hint":"The question to ask, or a path to a prompt file."}

Consult Fable (bounded Claude Fable 5 advisory)

Ask Claude Fable 5 a question and get an answer back through bounded backend attempts. This replaces ad-hoc timeout 120 claude -p "..." calls, which hang or expire with no output. The default backend order is claude-fable-5 then claude-opus-5 through the local claude CLI. CLI attempts pass the prompt via stdin and use an empty MCP configuration. Explicit ARAGORA_MODEL_TRANSPORT=vibeproxy-prefer tries those exact models through VibeProxy before the CLI; vibeproxy-required fails closed instead of using CLI or paid API fallbacks.

--timeout is the maximum for one backend attempt. By default, the total consult budget is derived from every enabled attempt, so a full-timeout VibeProxy attempt cannot consume the CLI fallback budget. Pass --overall-timeout to set an explicit cap shared across all attempts. Prompts from inline args, --prompt-file, and stdin are capped at 512 KiB and are rejected before any backend attempt, so oversized context cannot silently burn API tokens when --api-fallback is enabled. The cap also applies to programmatic consult() calls after any --system/system preamble is combined with the user prompt.

API fallback is off by default because it can consume Anthropic API credits or billing when ANTHROPIC_API_KEY or aragora secrets are configured. Use --api-fallback only when paid API fallback is acceptable; unsupported CLI-only model ids such as claude-fable-5 are skipped for direct API calls. If no API key is available, the API backend records a normal failed attempt in the JSON envelope instead of being omitted.

How to invoke

From the repo root (any worktree):

# Inline question, defaults: model claude-fable-5, timeout 600s per attempt
# Default total budget is timeout multiplied by enabled backend attempts.
python3 scripts/consult_claude.py "One-paragraph question with the live state inlined."

# Long prompt from a file, machine-readable result
python3 scripts/consult_claude.py --prompt-file /tmp/question.md --json

# Require the local proxy and prohibit transport fallback
ARAGORA_MODEL_TRANSPORT=vibeproxy-required \
  python3 scripts/consult_claude.py --json "Reply with exactly READY"

# Prefer the local proxy, then fall back to the default CLI path
ARAGORA_MODEL_TRANSPORT=vibeproxy-prefer \
  python3 scripts/consult_claude.py --json "Reply with exactly READY"

# Bigger total budget for a hard question
python3 scripts/consult_claude.py --timeout 300 --overall-timeout 1200 --prompt-file /tmp/question.md

# Explicit paid API fallback after CLI attempts fail
python3 scripts/consult_claude.py --api-fallback --prompt-file /tmp/question.md

--json returns {ok, model, backend, elapsed_s, text, attempts}. Exit codes: 0 ok, 2 timed out, 3 no prompt, 4 all backends failed or the explicit overall budget was exhausted before all fallback attempts could run, 64 usage/config error. In JSON, budget exhaustion is reported as budget_exhausted: true, distinct from backend timed_out: true.

If scripts/consult_claude.py does not exist in your checkout yet, use an installed user skill copy such as ~/.codex/skills/consult-fable/consult_claude.py. The tracked repo skill itself expects the tracked repo script.

Writing a good consult prompt

Fable has no access to your session state. Inline everything it needs:

• The decision you are facing and the 2-4 options you see.
• Live facts, verified this cycle: PR numbers with head SHAs, gate/quorum state, dissent findings, owner state. Never paste stale transcript claims.
• Constraints that bind you (operating contract tier limits, no --admin, shared-root read-only, anti-treadmill rules).
• Ask for a single recommendation with reasoning, not a survey.

For "what should I work on next?" consults, a good shape is: list the candidate progress units with one line of live state each, state the anti-treadmill rules that apply, and ask Fable to pick exactly one and say why.

Hard rules

1. Advisory only. The answer is one input to your decision. It is never authority to merge, settle, post evidence, or bypass a gate. Verify any factual claim in the answer against live repo state before acting on it. VibeProxy does not create a reviewer family, and this skill's output is not countable merge-quorum evidence.
2. One consult per decision. Do not loop consults on the same question; if the answer doesn't unblock you, the blocker is information, not advice.
3. Bounded always. Keep the default 600s per-attempt timeout or raise it explicitly; never wrap this tool in an outer retry loop.
4. No secrets in prompts. Inline repo state, not credentials or tokens.

Failure handling

• Exit 2 (timeout) or 4 (all backends failed): report the consult as unavailable and proceed with your own judgment. Do not retry more than once.
• Exit 64 is a usage or configuration error. Correct the invalid argument or ARAGORA_MODEL_TRANSPORT value before retrying; do not treat it as backend unavailability.
• In vibeproxy-prefer, proxy unavailability is recorded in attempts before the CLI fallback runs. In vibeproxy-required, it is the final failure.
• If only the API backend fails with a missing-key error, the local claude CLI is the expected path; check which claude before concluding anything.