using-coacus

# Using Coacus <!-- SUBAGENT-STOP --> If you were dispatched as a subagent to execute a specific task, skip this skill unless that task explicitly asks you to plan, review, or coordinate. <!-- /SUBAGENT-STOP --> ## The rule Before you respond to any request — including asking a clarifying question — check whether a relevant skill exists and follow it. Skills carry the project's proven judgment; skipping them means improvising what already has an answer. ## Priority order 1. Process skills first (planning, debugging, review), then domain skills. 2. When two skills touch the same work, the more specific one wins. 3. User instructions outrank every skill; repository rules (`AGENTS.md`, `docs/standards/`) outrank individual skills. ## Red flags — you are about to rationalize skipping a skill | Thought | Reality | |---|---| | "This is just a small change." | Small changes are where unchecked assumptions ship. | | "I already know how to do this." | Knowledge is not the same as this repository's conventions. | | "Let me look at the code first." | Reading code before loading the skill is how scope drifts. | | "I'll check the skill after this edit." | The skill exists to shape the edit, not to audit it. | | "There is probably no skill for this." | Check the index; that is exactly what it is for. | ## Session discipline — single scan Read `catalog/INDEX.md` and `AGENTS.md` once at the start of the session. Do not re-scan directories per turn; rely on the index and the session's memory. If the index looks stale, regenerate it once, then continue. ## Artifact lifecycle Every canonical artifact has one source. Work moves through: `create (from templates/authoring)` → `validate` → `register (generate)` → `discover (single scan)` → `activate (session start)`. Never edit generated output (`catalog/`, `.agents/`, any `dist/`) by hand — change the source and regenerate. ## Process workflows The 14 process workflows under `methodology/workflows/superpowers-*` — brainstorming, writing plans, executing plans, test-driven development, systematic debugging, code review, worktrees, verification and the rest — are imported from Superpowers (MIT) and adapted to Coacus. Their handoffs resolve to the flat workflow names, and they write their spec and plan artifacts under `docs/temp/`. The conventions — artifact locations, the local gate, the review flow, and how to reach the local skill corpus — live in `methodology/workflows/using-coacus/references/coacus-process-conventions.md`. ## Coordination Cap concurrent work at the repository's governor limit and hand off between agents with compact TOON payloads. Never spawn ungoverned parallel work. ## Verification — measure, do not infer When asked whether something is installed, loaded or working, run the command that answers it and quote its output. A count, a path or a status is a fact only when a command produced it in this session. - Prefer a purpose-built read-only check over `ls`: the installer exposes `python3 scripts/coacus_install.py <harness> --verify`, which prints canonical component counts (skills, agents, hooks), the install root and any drift, and exits non-zero on mismatch. Quote it instead of counting directories. - Never extend a path from a sibling that exists. `~/.gemini/antigravity-cli/` existing does not mean `~/.gemini/antigravity-cli/skills/` exists; check the exact path. - State a number you did not measure as "unverified", or do not state it. - If a listing is truncated or errored, say so — do not fill the gap. ## Freshness — resolve, do not recall Before naming a version of a standard, framework, library or regulation, resolve it in the current session — Context7 for libraries and frameworks, the publisher for standards — and pin the version with its source and date. An unresolved pin is marked `unverified`, never presented as current. The `version-freshness` skill carries the workflow. ## Harness adaptation This skill names actions, not platform tools. The concrete substitution for your harness is provided by the bootstrap's tool mapping at session start. If a mapping is missing, prefer the repository's documented fallback wording over inventing a capability.