| name | l-01-session-job-lifecycle |
| description | The session job lifecycle the coordinator routes every session into: request -> context/trust checkpoint -> developer-agreed reframe -> deeper research -> decide build mode -> build -> close. Owns research-only exits, the build-mode decision (chat build vs durable w-02-light-task-workflow task), and the job lens (bug/feature/triage/research). Supersedes the retired chat workflow by migrating and modernizing its doctrine. |
l-01-session-job-lifecycle Session Job Lifecycle
The l-01-session-job-lifecycle skill is the canvas the coordinator routes into at the start of every session.
It is not a task format. A task format is one outcome of a single step inside it.
The lifecycle is one shared spine with thin per-job lenses. Its front half is a
developer/model collaboration loop: the developer states the request, the model
runs mandatory MCP grounding checks, the model presents an evidence-backed
reframe, and the developer agrees or revises that reframe before deeper research
or build-mode decisions proceed.
0 Request developer states the request; model infers the target repo and reports ambiguity
1 Trust resolve via context_packet(include_providers=true, include_drift=true); handle drift and providers before relying on memory
2 Frame gather c-04 evidence, reframe through tasks/AGENTS.md, get developer agreement, then do deeper research with proof
3 Decide changes code? no -> research-only exit · yes -> ALWAYS a c-09-git-worktree-manager worktree; then pick the build mode
4 Build implement in the worktree; refresh onboarding per completed plan-section; checks green per commit
5 Close worktree closeout -> land per system/git-workflow.md -> cleanup -> c-11-memory-carryover-from-branch carryover (commit-gated)
Research-only answers, investigations, and code questions can exit after the
reframe/research phase without opening a worktree or entering closeout.
Companion Files
lifecycle.md — the spine in detail: what each phase does, the doctrine it carries, and its gates.job-variants.md — the four thin job lenses (bug / feature / triage / research).
When To Use
Every session. The coordinator routes here first; classify the job as a lens during frame, not as a
gate. The lifecycle owns the whole arc from a developer's first statement to a landed change (or a
research-only answer). It does not replace the memory/core skills it calls (the c-02-memory-quality-control,
c-04-retrieval-strategy-router, c-05-create-or-update-onboarding-files, c-08-ar-coordination-context-resolver,
c-09-git-worktree-manager, and c-11-memory-carryover-from-branch skills); it sequences them.
The Build-Mode Decision (the only task-format call)
Format routing is no longer a top-level choice. It is the decide step of this lifecycle:
- Research-only exit — the job answers a question or assesses something and changes no code. No
worktree, no task artifact, no closeout. May spawn a build job later.
- Chat build — a code change small enough to carry inline this session. Worktree-backed, no
durable task artifact. (This path is the one the retired chat workflow used to own.)
- Durable task build — hand off to
w-02-light-task-workflow: a task.md artifact, checklist,
decision log, and proposed code examples. Escalate to a master + light sub-task series when the
work outgrows a single-page plan.
Build always means a worktree. The git-landing decision (direct vs PR-gated) is deferred to the
repo's system/git-workflow.md.
Invariants
- Every session enters the
l-01-session-job-lifecycle skill; the job type is a lens, re-pickable, never a gate.
- The model runs
context_packet(repo_id="<repo-id>", include_providers=true, include_drift=true)
before trusting onboarding, providers, task files, or source interpretation.
- Clean-source onboarding drift is a developer choice point: refresh through
c-05-create-or-update-onboarding-files before proceeding, or proceed with
that onboarding explicitly marked untrusted. Dirty-source drift is reported as
active work-in-progress and is not taken over unless the developer says so.
- Degraded providers are handled with the matching MCP provider/runtime
operations and then re-checked; ready providers are reported before evidence
gathering continues.
- Retrieval routes through
c-04-retrieval-strategy-router (Semantics / Relationship / Intent), not a
blanket "read all onboarding."
- The model reframes the developer request through
tasks/AGENTS.md, presents
the reframe, and waits for developer agreement or revision before deeper
research proceeds.
- Deeper research reports list the onboarding docs read, semantic queries,
code graph queries, source files inspected, and remaining truth gaps.
build => worktree. durable task => worktree + task.md. chat build => worktree, no artifact.
research-only => no worktree.- No implementation begins before explicit developer approval (the
frame plan gate).
- Implementation approval is not commit approval. Closeout is a separate, explicit commit gate
after a preview.
- Onboarding is refreshed live, per completed plan-section during
build, never deferred to the
end of the job.
- Checks from the
c-08-ar-coordination-context-resolver resolved system/tools.md run green before each incremental commit; the
pre-commit/pre-push hooks enforce it.
- The agent never pushes a protected branch on its own authority; landing follows
system/git-workflow.md and its gates.
- The
l-01-session-job-lifecycle skill covers everything the retired chat
workflow did — task-start trust control, paired source+onboarding reads, the
approval gate, and c-09-git-worktree-manager closeout — plus the job lens,
developer-agreed reframe, proof-bearing research, and the research-only exit. No
regression of the default path.
Relationship To Other Instructions
This skill extends the coordinator AGENTS.md and the repository memory layer; it does not replace
them. Read lifecycle.md for phase behavior and job-variants.md for the per-job lenses.
