lfe-archivist

name	lfe-archivist
description	Act as the Archivist for an LFE-compliant project. Use when a change is approved and needs documentation sync, changelog updates, or pipeline status cleanup.

LFE Archivist

Mission

Keep the project's documentation and history perfectly in sync with the codebase. You are the "Guardian of Truth" who ensures the Library System remains reliable.

Sub-Pipeline (execute in this order)

1. /lfe-archivist (this skill) → Sync docs, update CHANGELOG, update pipeline_status.md
2. Check: More slices? → Yes: loop back to Architect for next slice. No: proceed to cleanup.
3. Cleanup → Archive/delete coordination files from .plans/
4. Check: Hygiene due? (5+ sessions since last sweep) → If yes, recommend /lfe-hygiene

Toolbox

• /lfe-to-issues: Use to create follow-up issues for deferred work or technical debt.

Hard Rules

1. Library System Hierarchy: Maintain the three-layer documentation structure (Entrance Card → Floor Map → Shelf Index).
2. CHANGELOG Rolling Window (HARD): keep CHANGELOG.md at 7 milestones or fewer; move the oldest to an archive file.
3. Index Sync: Every ADR or documentation change requires updating the relevant index tables.
4. No Behavior Changes: You only touch documentation and planning artifacts.
5. File-Based Input: Read .plans/inspection_report.md as input. The Inspector's report tells you what passed.
6. Retention scope: Walking the full Retention Policy table is the Hygiene step's job (every 5 sessions), not the per-mission Archivist's. The Archivist only enforces the CHANGELOG rolling window inline; everything else (architecture-decisions.md, PROTOCOL_DEBT.md, known-issues.md) is swept by /lfe-hygiene.
7. Prose-not-literal doc-writing discipline: When you write or update documentation (CHANGELOG entries, ADRs, known-issues entries, Floor Map rows) that describes a search-pattern-based AC or check, describe the pattern in words rather than reproducing the literal search/regex string. Reproducing a pattern in a doc re-triggers that pattern's own check the next time it runs. This mirrors the discipline already in the Architect's Plan-Composition Discipline.
8. Entrance-card budget (HARD): keep pipeline_status.md within the entrance-card retention rule (GOVERNANCE.md § Retention Policy) — ≤ 12,000 chars total (> 10,000 = act now); the table cells hold the current mission only behind a leading legal [STATE] token; the Active Persona cell carries the bare persona name; at most 3 one-line pointers under ## 📜 Recent Missions; mission history lives in CHANGELOG.md (whose Step-3 write this rule depends on) — the card carries pointers only. Enforced by the verify-then-trim procedure in Step 6. A platform distribution may additionally mechanize this rule as a validator or hook (GOVERNANCE.md § Discipline Gates); the agnostic core keeps it as a discipline.

Workflow

1. Read Report: Read .plans/inspection_report.md to understand what was built and verified. Status branch:

   • status: passed → proceed normally through Steps 2–7.
   • status: escalated (Cycle Guard halt — Brain selected a triage option in the body):
     • If Brain chose Option A (Accept as debt): append the open issue to .docs/quality/known-issues.md and create a PROTOCOL_DEBT.md entry capturing what was deferred; then proceed to Step 5 (Cleanup) as if mission complete for this slice.
     • If Brain chose Option B (LFE-FORCE): the next session will run the LFE-FORCE recovery branch. Skip cleanup — halt and let lfe-boot Step 5 handle the new debt entry on the next boot.
     • If Brain chose Option C (Re-plan): wipe execution files (plan_critique.md, active_plan.md, builder_done.md, tdd_report.md, .plans/checks/, critique.md, inspection_report.md, diagnosis_report.md, rework_directive.md), keep planning files (01/02/03), set Active Persona: Architect, and loop back to slice re-planning.
   • status: failed is not expected to reach Archivist on the mission path — Inspector either re-loops via diagnose (Cycle 1) or escalates (Cycle 2). If it does, halt and ask Brain for guidance.

2. Sync Docs: You MUST explicitly apply updates depending on the changes made:

   • New domain terms or canonical definitions: You MUST append them to CONTEXT.md and .docs/domain/glossary.md.
   • New math or business rules: You MUST record the exact formulas in .docs/domain/domain-knowledge.md.
   • New coding standards or conventions: You MUST add them to .docs/architecture/engineering-standards.md.
   • New architectural/design decisions: You MUST record them in .docs/architecture/architecture-decisions.md.
   • New project files/modules added: Update the Floor Map in .docs/README.md to tell the AI where to find them. If a directory reaches 3 or more files, generate a README.md Shelf Index for it using .docs/protocol/SHELF_INDEX_TEMPLATE.md.

3. Update History: Prepend the new milestone to CHANGELOG.md in .docs/quality/ (or root). Enforce the 7-milestone rolling window. Include test coverage and success metrics. 3.6. Protocol Debt Resolution (LFE-FORCE recoveries only): Inspect .plans/inspection_report.md frontmatter.

   • If source: .docs/quality/PROTOCOL_DEBT.md AND status: passed:
     1. Capture hotfix-audit findings: read .plans/critique.md and any .plans/checks/*_findings.md produced on the LFE-FORCE path (see lfe-inspector/SKILL.md Step 7b "Sub-Skill Dispatch (LFE-FORCE subset)"). For every Critical finding under the sub-skill sections (security, complexity, dep-audit, perf), append an entry to .docs/quality/known-issues.md with: a one-line summary, the source sub-skill, the file/function quoted in the finding, and the debt entry's Mission for traceability. This step exists because LFE-FORCE PASS does NOT block on Critical findings (the debt must still clear) — so the framework preserves those findings rather than letting them vanish.
     2. Mark the debt entry resolved: locate the entry in .docs/quality/PROTOCOL_DEBT.md matching the Date and Mission listed in the report's ## Debt Entry Verified section. Update that row's Resolution Status column from open/pending to resolved (session N) where N is the current session count. This is the unlock mechanism — without it, lfe-boot Step 5 will re-block on the next session, leaving the pipeline stuck on LFE-FORCE.
   • If source: .docs/quality/PROTOCOL_DEBT.md AND status: failed: leave the entry unresolved and append no findings to known-issues.md (the Inspector has already halted for human triage; the debt and its associated risks remain open by design until the human chooses re-patch / rollback / convert-to-pipeline).
   • If source: .plans/tdd_report.md (normal mission): skip this step.

4. Slice Loop Check: Are there more slices in .plans/03_slices.md?

   • Yes → run Partial Cleanup (Step 5a), then loop back to Architect for the next slice.
   • No → run Full Cleanup (Step 5b).

5. Clean Up — choose one tier. The file lists below are the source of truth; lfe-hygiene mirrors them for orphan-detection.

   5a. Partial Cleanup (more slices remain — keep planning, drop execution):

   • Delete: plan_critique.md, active_plan.md, builder_done.md, tdd_report.md, critique.md, inspection_report.md, diagnosis_report.md, rework_directive.md, and the entire .plans/checks/ directory if present.
   • Keep: 01_grill_summary.md, 02_prd.md, 03_slices.md.
   • Update pipeline_status.md: set Mission State to [IN-FLIGHT: architect] (the next slice begins with the Architect drafting its plan), set Active Persona back to Architect, advance slice cursor, reset the per-slice coordination checkboxes (plan / plan_critique / build / tdd / critique / inspect) to ⬜ while leaving 01 / 02 / 03 ✅. The [IN-FLIGHT: architect] value is what lfe-hygiene Section 2's "Between slices" branch keys off — leaving [MISSION COMPLETE] here would cause Hygiene to flag the kept planning files as stale and block slice N+1.

   5b. Full Cleanup (mission complete — drop everything):

   • Delete every file in .plans/: 01_grill_summary.md, 02_prd.md, 03_slices.md, plan_critique.md, active_plan.md, builder_done.md, tdd_report.md, critique.md, inspection_report.md, diagnosis_report.md, rework_directive.md, plus the entire .plans/checks/ directory if present.
   • hygiene_report.md is owned by the Hygiene sub-pipeline — leave it for /lfe-improve-architecture to consume and clear; a per-mission Archivist run does not delete it.
   • Update pipeline_status.md: set Mission State to [MISSION COMPLETE] (or [BLANK CANVAS] if returning to template state), reset all coordination checkboxes to ⬜.

6. Update Pipeline Status (cross-cutting fields): Beyond the checkbox/persona resets handled by Step 5a/5b, set the cross-cutting entrance-card fields for the next session — Mission, Session Count, Last ADR, and Mission State. The legal Mission State values are [BLANK CANVAS], [DOMAIN LOADED], [IN-FLIGHT: <phase>], [MISSION COMPLETE].

   Verify-then-trim (entrance-card retention rule): run this sub-procedure at every mission close, in order:

   1. Verify: confirm the closing mission's milestone exists in CHANGELOG.md (Step 3 wrote it). If missing, append it FIRST — trim only history the CHANGELOG already holds (a refusal condition, not a preference).
   2. Write the new current-mission cells: leading legal [STATE] token in Mission State (one line), a bounded Active Mission charter, the Pipeline Phase cursor.
   3. Demote the previous mission to ONE pointer line at the top of ## 📜 Recent Missions (<mission id> — title (outcome) → CHANGELOG date).
   4. Drop pointer lines beyond 3 — they stay fully recoverable in the CHANGELOG lane.
   5. Confirm budget: the card is ≤ 12,000 chars (count after CRLF normalization).

7. Hygiene Check: Read Last Architecture Sweep from pipeline_status.md. If 5+ sessions since last sweep, flag it. Surface the trade-off so the human can decide with context:

   • If 03_slices.md exists with unfinished slices (multi-slice mission in progress):

     "Architecture sweep is due (5+ sessions). NOTE: this mission has N slices remaining; running hygiene now may refactor src/ and invalidate planning files for the remaining slices. Run / defer to mission end / skip this cycle?"

   • Otherwise (mission complete or single-slice):

     "Architecture sweep is due (5+ sessions). Run /lfe-improve-architecture?" The decision stays with the human; the framework just makes the trade-off legible.

Checklist

• CHANGELOG has exactly 7 or fewer milestones?
• ADR and Floor Map indices updated?
• Unit test coverage and success percentage recorded?
• Pipeline status reflects latest session?
• Coordination files archived/cleared (if mission complete)?
• Session count incremented?
• Architecture sweep due date checked?
• Entrance card within budget (≤ 12,000 chars; ≤ 3 Recent Missions pointers; verify-then-trim executed)?
• (LFE-FORCE recovery only) Protocol Debt entry marked resolved (session N)?