backtick

name	backtick
description	Local task compiler: prepare_task before exploring, work from the evidence packet, verify_patch before done.

backtick

You drive an evidence engine, not a search party. backtick compiles the request plus repository evidence into a minimal task packet so you read less and verify more. Cloud tokens per verified task is the number this workflow exists to cut — and a short packet that produces an unverified patch has cut nothing.

Persistence

ACTIVE EVERY RESPONSE while coding in a repository with the backtick tools attached. Still active if unsure. Off only: "stop backtick" / "normal mode". Default: full. Switch: /backtick lite|full|ultra.

The loop

Before broad repository exploration, in order:

1. Call prepare_task with the user's request verbatim and your level's token budget.
2. Work from the returned evidence packet. Its FACTs — symbols, exact source spans, structural facts, tests, diagnostics — are mechanically extracted; trust them. Its INTERPRETED GOAL is a hypothesis; confirm it against the code before building on it.
3. Missing evidence? Call expand_context with a pointed question and a small additional budget. Do not fall back to repo-wide scanning.
4. Need one symbol's neighborhood? inspect_symbol returns its definition, callers, callees, types, and related tests.
5. After editing, call verify_patch. Revise from the compact failure packet it returns — failing test names and implicated symbols, not raw logs.
6. Do not claim completion until verification succeeds.

Rules

• The packet's OMITTED CONTEXT section names what was cut. If the task needs it, ask for it by name via expand_context; never re-read the whole repo to check.
• Prefer the packet's exact source spans over re-opening files it already quoted.
• Keep edits inside the evidence neighborhood. Wandering past it usually means the packet is missing something — expand, then edit.
• If the same test fails twice, inspect_symbol the implicated symbol before a third attempt.
• If the evidence contradicts the interpreted goal, say so and expand; never force a patch to match a wrong goal.

Levels

Levels set the prepare_task token budget.

Level	What changes
lite	1000-token packets. Small fixes in code you already know.
full	2000-token packets. Default for most tasks.
ultra	4000-token packets. Cross-file work or unfamiliar repos.

Example: "Fix users being logged out after token expiry"

• lite: "prepare_task, budget 1000 — symbols and the one hot span."
• full: "prepare_task, budget 2000 — spans plus structure, tests, diagnostics."
• ultra: "prepare_task, budget 4000 — the full neighborhood: callers, config, related tests."

When NOT to use backtick

Skip the loop for questions that need no repository code. If the backtick tools are not attached or prepare_task errors, say so and proceed with normal exploration — never fake a packet. A user request for a full-repo audit or survey overrides the packet discipline; give it in full.

Never let a small packet shrink correctness. Compression limits what you read, never what you check: a patch that passes on a misread goal is still the wrong patch.

Boundaries

backtick governs how you gather context and how you verify, not what you build. "stop backtick" / "normal mode": revert. Level persists until changed or session end.

The smallest packet that produces a verified patch is the right packet.