| name | shared |
| description | Shared AgentOps skill contracts. Triggers: "shared", "shared agentops skill contracts.", "shared skill". |
| practices | ["design-by-contract","pragmatic-programmer","twelve-factor-app"] |
| hexagonal_role | domain |
| consumes | [] |
| produces | ["stdout"] |
| context_rel | [] |
| skill_api_version | 1 |
| user-invocable | false |
| context | {"window":"isolated","intent":{"mode":"none"},"sections":{"exclude":["HISTORY","INTEL","TASK"]},"intel_scope":"none"} |
| metadata | {"tier":"library","internal":true} |
| output_contract | reference documents (loaded JIT) |
Shared References
This directory contains shared reference documents used by multiple skills:
validation-contract.md - Verification requirements for accepting spawned workreferences/claude-code-latest-features.md - Claude Code feature contract (slash commands, agent isolation, hooks, settings)references/backend-claude-teams.md - Concrete examples for Claude native teams (TeamCreate + SendMessage)references/backend-codex-subagents.md - Concrete examples for Codex CLI and Codex sub-agentsreferences/backend-background-tasks.md - Fallback: Task(run_in_background=true)references/backend-inline.md - Default single-agent mode (no spawn) — the baseline, not a degradationreferences/claude-cli-verified-commands.md - Verified Claude CLI command shapes and caveatsreferences/codex-cli-verified-commands.md - Verified Codex CLI command shapes and caveatsreferences/cli-command-failures-2026-02-26.md - Dated failure log and mitigations from live runs
These are not directly invocable skills. They are loaded by other skills (council, crank, swarm, research, implement) when needed.
Critical Constraints
- Treat these files as contracts loaded just in time, not as permission to start a runtime, substrate, tracker, or external CLI. Why: a shared reference explains a capability; the consuming skill and operator still own authorization.
- Default to the current agent and local shell. Use runtime-native subagents only for an explicitly multi-agent workflow, and start NTM, Agent Mail, managed agents, or Gas City only when the operator explicitly selects that substrate. Why: capability detection must not silently broaden execution shape.
- Resolve repository truth in source precedence order and report stale shared prose instead of routing around executable or declared behavior. Why: this library is lower authority than live commands and skill contracts.
- Keep backend-specific call shapes in references and preserve the backend-neutral contract in this file. Why: shared policy should remain portable across Codex, Claude, OpenCode, and future harnesses.
WARN|FAIL|REFUTED -> AUTO-REDO: consult the pawl, repair the reference, selection, or fallback mismatch, then rerun the same validator. Why: an ordinary contract mismatch is recovery evidence, not a human andon.BREAKER -> HOLD -> ONE-HELPER; HELPER-UNSTUCK -> AUTO-REDO. Hold dispatch and use one bounded local-shell helper to inspect the missing capability or contradictory contract. Why: one recovery pass can distinguish stale documentation from a genuine unavailable boundary.HELPER-ESCALATE -> HUMAN; REFUSAL-LANE|EXPLICIT-JUDGMENT|EXHAUSTED-BUDGET -> HUMAN. Why: runtime selection, authority expansion, unresolved refusal, or exhausted recovery belongs to the operator.
CLI Availability Pattern
All skills that reference external CLIs MUST degrade gracefully when those CLIs are absent.
Check Pattern
if command -v br &>/dev/null; then
else
echo "Note: br CLI not installed. Using plain text tracking."
fi
Fallback Table
| Capability | When Missing | Fallback Behavior |
|---|
br | Issue tracking unavailable | Use TaskList for tracking. Note "install br for persistent issue tracking" |
ao | Knowledge flywheel unavailable | Write learnings to .agents/learnings/ directly. Skip flywheel metrics |
out-of-session substrate (ntm / ao agent) | Always-on orchestration unavailable | Run the loop in-session (/rpi, /evolve). A substrate (an NTM tmux swarm or managed-agents via ao agent) only adds always-on dispatch of whole operating-loop or /evolve skill runs — see agent-native and docs/3.0.md |
gt | Workspace management unavailable | Work in current directory. Skip convoy/sling operations |
gh | PR/CI automation unavailable | Open PRs via the web UI; skip automated PR status/merge steps |
go | Build-from-source unavailable | Install a prebuilt ao (Homebrew / install script / release binary); no Go needed |
codex | CLI missing or model unavailable | Fall back to runtime-native agents. Council pre-flight checks CLI presence (which codex) and model availability for --mixed mode. |
cass | Session search unavailable | Skip transcript search. Note "install cass for session history" |
jq | JSON parsing unavailable | Read --json output manually or use non-JSON output modes |
rg (ripgrep) | Fast search unavailable | Fall back to grep / git grep (slower) |
| Model tier config | .agentops/config.yaml missing | Use built-in defaults (quality=opus, balanced=sonnet, budget=haiku). Tier resolution falls through to "balanced". |
Full per-tool purpose, required-vs-optional, and fallback detail: docs/dependencies.md. The README "Requirements" section summarizes; this doc page is the canonical detail.
Required Multi-Agent Capabilities
Council, swarm, and crank require a runtime that provides these capabilities. If a capability is missing, the corresponding feature degrades.
| Capability | What it does | If missing |
|---|
| Spawn subagent | Create a parallel agent with a prompt | Cannot run multi-agent. Fall back to --quick (inline single-agent). |
| Agent-to-agent messaging | Send a message to a specific agent | No debate R2. Workers run fire-and-forget. |
| Broadcast | Message all agents at once | Per-agent messaging fallback. |
| Graceful shutdown | Request an agent to terminate | Agents terminate on their own when done. |
| Shared task list | Agents see shared work state | Lead tracks manually. |
Every runtime maps these capabilities to its own API. Skills describe WHAT to do, not WHICH tool to call.
After detecting your backend (see Backend Detection below), load the matching reference for concrete tool call examples:
| Backend | Reference |
|---|
| Claude feature contract | skills/shared/references/claude-code-latest-features.md |
| Claude Native Teams | skills/shared/references/backend-claude-teams.md |
| Codex Sub-Agents / CLI | skills/shared/references/backend-codex-subagents.md |
| Background Tasks (fallback) | skills/shared/references/backend-background-tasks.md |
| Inline (no spawn) | skills/shared/references/backend-inline.md |
Backend Detection
Use capability detection at runtime, not hardcoded tool names. The same skill must work across any agent harness that provides multi-agent primitives. If no multi-agent capability is detected, degrade to single-agent inline mode (--quick).
Selection policy (operator choice > runtime-native > inline floor):
Global opt-out first: if AGENTOPS_ORCHESTRATION=off is set, skip all spawn backends and degrade to the inline floor (single-agent inline / --quick; persistent work may still be tracked through br). This mirrors the AGENTOPS_HOOKS_DISABLED=1 convention. Otherwise, select in this order:
- Explicit substrate choice. When the operator explicitly requests NTM, capability-probe it with
ntm --robot-capabilities and use it only when the probe confirms the required primitives. Agent Mail and managed agents are likewise opt-in components of that substrate.
- Runtime-native. For an explicitly multi-agent workflow with no external substrate selected, use the current runtime's native agents: Claude Native Teams in Claude, Codex sub-agents in Codex, or OpenCode subagents in OpenCode. Do not choose a cross-vendor runtime merely because it is installed.
- Inline floor. If multi-agent execution was not requested or the required capability is unavailable, degrade to single-agent inline mode (
--quick) and report the missing capability.
Gas City is a separate, coexisting substrate. Generic backend detection never auto-selects it. When the operator explicitly chooses city-shaped work, enter through using-gc; its membrane and bd/Dolt substrate contracts remain separate from this runtime-native backend table.
Output-contract parity is unchanged across all tiers: workers write results to .agents/swarm/results/*.json, and the lead verifies-then-trusts those artifacts. This invariant holds whether the backend is NTM, a runtime-native team, or the beads floor.
| Operation | Codex Sub-Agents | Claude Native Teams | OpenCode Subagents | Inline Fallback |
|---|
| Spawn | spawn_agent(message=...) | TeamCreate + Task(team_name=...) | task(subagent_type="general", prompt=...) | Execute inline |
| Spawn (read-only) | spawn_agent(message=...) | Task(subagent_type="Explore") | task(subagent_type="explore", prompt=...) | Execute inline |
| Wait | wait(ids=[...]) | Completion via SendMessage | Task returns result directly | N/A |
| Retry/follow-up | send_input(id=..., message=...) | SendMessage(type="message", ...) | task(task_id="<prior>", prompt=...) | N/A |
| Cleanup | close_agent(id=...) | shutdown_request + TeamDelete() | None (sub-sessions auto-terminate) | N/A |
| Inter-agent messaging | send_input | SendMessage | Not available | N/A |
| Debate (R2) | Supported | Supported | Not supported (no messaging) | N/A |
OpenCode limitations:
- No inter-agent messaging — workers run as independent sub-sessions
- No debate mode (
--debate) — requires messaging between judges
--quick (inline) mode works identically across all backends
Backend Capabilities Matrix
Prefer native teams over background tasks. Native teams provide messaging, redirect, and graceful shutdown. Background tasks are fire-and-forget with no steering — only a speedometer and emergency brake.
| Capability | Codex Sub-Agents | Claude Native Teams | Background Tasks |
|---|
| Observe output | wait() result | SendMessage delivery | TaskOutput (tail) |
| Send message mid-flight | send_input | SendMessage | NO |
| Pause / resume | NO | Idle → wake via SendMessage | NO |
| Graceful stop | close_agent | shutdown_request | TaskStop (lossy) |
| Redirect to different task | send_input | SendMessage | NO |
| Adjust scope mid-flight | send_input | SendMessage | NO |
| File conflict prevention | Manual git worktree routing | Native isolation: worktree + lead-only commits | None |
| Process isolation | YES (sub-process) | Shared worktree | Shared worktree |
When to use each:
| Scenario | Backend |
|---|
| Quick parallel tasks, coordination needed | Claude Native Teams |
| Codex-specific execution | Codex Sub-Agents |
| No team APIs available (last resort) | Background Tasks |
Skill Invocation Across Runtimes
Skills that chain to other skills (e.g., /rpi calls /research, /validate calls /council) MUST handle runtime differences:
| Runtime | Tool | Behavior | Pattern |
|---|
| Claude Code | Skill(skill="X", args="...") | Executable — skill runs as a sub-invocation | Skill(skill="council", args="--quick validate recent") |
| Codex | N/A | Skills not available — inline the logic or skip | Check if Skill tool exists before calling |
| OpenCode | skill tool (read-only) | Load-only — returns <skill_content> blocks into context | Call skill(skill="council"), then follow the loaded instructions inline |
OpenCode skill chaining rules:
- Call the
skill tool to load the target skill's content into context
- Read and follow the loaded instructions directly — do NOT expect automatic execution
- NEVER use slashcommand syntax (e.g.,
/council) in OpenCode — it triggers a command lookup, not skill loading
- If the loaded skill references tools by Claude Code names, use OpenCode equivalents (see tool mapping below)
Cross-runtime tool mapping:
| Claude Code | OpenCode | Notes |
|---|
Task(subagent_type="...") | task(subagent_type="...") | Same semantics, different casing |
Skill(skill="X") | skill tool (read-only) | Load content, then follow inline |
AskUserQuestion | question | Same purpose, different name |
TaskCreate, TaskUpdate, TaskList, TaskGet | todo | Task tracking (Claude uses 4 tools, OpenCode uses 1) |
Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Glob, Grep | Same names | Identical across runtimes |
Rules
- Never crash — missing CLI = skip or fallback, not error
- Always inform — tell the user what was skipped and how to enable it
- Preserve core function — the skill's primary purpose must still work without optional CLIs
- Progressive enhancement — CLIs add capabilities, their absence removes them cleanly
Output Specification
Artifact directory: no runtime artifact is created by shared; canonical reference outputs live under skills/shared/, with backend-specific documents under skills/shared/references/.
Filename convention: SKILL.md owns backend-neutral policy, validation-contract.md owns spawned-work acceptance, and references/<topic>.md owns one bounded backend or cross-skill contract.
Serialization/schema format: Markdown contracts with repository-relative links; command examples must match the named runtime and preserve the backend-neutral capability semantics in this file.
Validator command: run bash skills/shared/scripts/validate.sh, then bash scripts/audit-codex-parity.sh --skill shared after source or Codex projection changes.
Downstream handoff: pass the exact reference path loaded, detected capabilities, operator-selected execution shape, chosen fallback, skipped capabilities, and validator results to the consuming skill.
Quality Checklist
Reference Documents
