| name | automation-shape-routing |
| description | Front door for agent automation: choose inline, bounded fanout, reusable skill/workflow/gate, persistent agent-native workers, or explicit Gas City. Triggers: "build automation", "which orchestration shape", "should this use NTM". |
| practices | ["hexagonal-architecture","team-topologies","pragmatic-programmer"] |
| hexagonal_role | supporting |
| consumes | ["task-intent"] |
| produces | ["automation-shape-verdict"] |
| context_rel | [{"kind":"supplier-to","with":"skill-builder"},{"kind":"supplier-to","with":"workflow-builder"},{"kind":"supplier-to","with":"agent-native"},{"kind":"supplier-to","with":"using-gc"},{"kind":"supplier-to","with":"operationalize"}] |
| skill_api_version | 1 |
| context | {"window":"inherit","intent":{"mode":"task"},"intel_scope":"none"} |
| metadata | {"capabilities":["automation_shape_routing"],"effects":[],"canonical_status":"canonical","disposition":"keep_optional_adapter","tier":"meta","dependencies":[]} |
| output_contract | a one-line routing verdict naming the shape and deciding axis |
Automation Shape Routing
Choose the smallest execution shape that preserves the required evidence and
control. This skill routes; it does not build or start a substrate.
Ordered routing works because each rung is strictly cheaper to operate than the
next: if the smallest shape truly preserves the evidence and control the task
needs, every larger shape can only add coordination cost, never correctness.
Named failure mode — substrate romance: routing to persistent workers
because the topology is interesting, not because any deciding axis demands it.
Anti-pattern: starting the chosen substrate as part of routing "to save a
step". Corrective: return the one-line verdict and let the owner start under
its own authority.
Critical Constraints
- Route only; do not start a substrate. Why: choosing an execution shape is
a judgment step, while launching NTM, Agent Mail, or Gas City changes runtime
state and requires separate operator authority.
- Prefer the smallest shape that preserves evidence. Why: persistence and
coordination add recovery and ownership costs that one-shot work cannot repay.
- Partition write scopes before choosing concurrency. Why: a larger worker
topology cannot make overlapping production writes safe.
Route in order
- One deliverable? Do it inline. Use a small in-session fresh-context
fanout only when independent perspectives are the product. Do not create a
reusable artifact for a one-off task.
- Reusable sequential procedure? Use
skill-builder.
- Must-never-regress constraint? Route through
operationalize to a gate.
- Fixed typed DAG, headless, no attach/steer? Use
workflow-builder only
where that runtime is explicitly selected and available.
- Persistent, attachable roles over caller-supplied packets? Use
agent-native. NTM is the pane adapter; Agent Mail coordinates only
explicitly selected live actors.
- Durable city of quests with GC-native supervision/store? Route to
using-gc only when the operator explicitly selects Gas City. GC is not an
automatic fallback or an ao runtime enum.
Deciding axes
| Axis | Lightweight choice | Escalated choice |
|---|
| lifetime | current turn |
