repo-orientation

name	repo-orientation
description	Use at the start of work in any BES repo to build a current, cited map of instructions, repo state, verification gates, active plans, and likely risk before editing.
license	internal-only
compatibility	["copilot","claude","bes-fleet"]
allowed-tools	[]
metadata	{"bes_provenance":{"origin":"internal","source_urls":[],"borrowed_from":[],"upstream_status":"not-applicable","last_audited":"2026-06-05T00:00:00.000Z","audit_cadence":"annual","adoption_status":"bes-native","security_review":"not-required","notes":"BES fleet-native skill."},"bes_tool_surface":{"scripts":"none","network":false,"dependencies":[],"secrets":[],"allowed_tools":[],"risk_notes":"No skill-local executable helper scripts."}}

Repo Orientation

Use this before planning or editing.

Steps

1. Read the nearest AGENTS.md.
2. If present, read CLAUDE.md, STATUS.md, .agents/DOCUMENTATION_GUIDE.md, and the docs linked by AGENTS.md. WORKFLOW.md is the per-repo engagement contract; read its Section 1 (Universal) — it is the whole contract for every agent.
3. Read SESSION_JOURNAL.md at the repo root (last 3 entries). It tells you what the previous agent did, what was left dirty, and what to pick up. If absent, copy from agents/templates/SESSION_JOURNAL.template.md (or the propagated .agents/templates/SESSION_JOURNAL.template.md in a child repo).
4. Before dispatch, delegation, model-specific work, or multi-agent review, read agents/MODEL_ROUTING.md or the propagated .agents/MODEL_ROUTING.md.
5. Check git state with git status --short --branch.
6. Identify the active branch, tracking branch, untracked files, and unrelated local changes.
7. Identify the repo's verification gate and any hook setup requirements.
8. Locate the task's likely files with rg and rg --files.
9. If the area is unfamiliar, zoom out one abstraction layer: map the relevant modules, callers, data flow, and docs before choosing edit points.
10. Report only verified facts. Cite files or command output.

Output

• Target repo and branch.
• Source-of-truth docs read.
• Model-routing source read when delegation or model selection is in scope.
• Relevant files or directories.
• One-layer-up module/caller map when the area is unfamiliar.
• Verification commands.
• Documentation placement constraints for this task.
• Local changes that must be preserved — REAL content changes only. A stat-dirty file (mtime touched, identical to HEAD) is clean; say nothing.
• Open questions — only a genuine owner DECISION that blocks the task. If none, say "none" and proceed. Do not manufacture questions to fill the slot.

Hard Rules

• Do not edit during orientation.
• Do not rely on memory when repo docs can answer the question.
• If instructions conflict, stop and report the conflict.
• A clean tree with nothing owed is the success state, not a prompt to find something to flag. Report it in one line and move to the task (agents/OPERATING_MODEL.md "Standing Autonomy and Concision").