athena-pause

name	athena-pause
description	Use when the user wants to temporarily disable Athena workflow routing and gates — pauses all auto-triggers and skill checks until /athena-resume is invoked

Athena Pause — Circuit Breaker

Temporarily disables all Athena workflow enforcement. Hooks stop firing, athena-init stops routing, gates stop blocking. Use when the user needs to do quick ad-hoc work without ceremony.

Process

Step 1: Confirm

Ask once:

"Pausing Athena — skill routing, verification gates, and auto-triggers will be disabled. Resume with /athena-resume. Pause now?"

If the user confirms (or invoked /athena-pause directly), proceed.

Step 2: Update State

Write to .athena-state.json in the project root:

{
  "paused": true,
  "pausedAt": "2025-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  "pausedBy": "user"
}

Preserve any existing fields in the state file — only set paused, pausedAt, and pausedBy.

Step 3: Report

Athena PAUSED
══════════════
Disabled: skill routing, verification gates, auto-trigger hooks
Resume:   /athena-resume

What Gets Disabled

• athena-init — stops checking for matching skills before responses
• Auto-trigger hooks — PostToolUse and PreToolUse hooks exit early when paused
• athena-ship gates — warns about paused state but doesn't hard-block
• Edit burst tracking — stops counting edits

What Stays Active

• Skills invoked directly — if the user explicitly calls /athena-verify, it still works
• State file — .athena-state.json continues tracking (so resume knows where you left off)
• Git operations — nothing changes about git behavior

State Reset

If the user asks to reset Athena state (e.g., "reset athena", "clear athena state", "start fresh"), or if state appears wedged (stuck in a phase that no longer applies):

1. Confirm: "This will clear all pipeline state (phase, wave progress, verification history). Proceed?"
2. Back up the current state to .athena-state.pre-reset.json
3. Write a fresh .athena-state.json with only {} (or { "paused": true } if also pausing)
4. Delete .athena-edit-burst.json if it exists
5. Report:

   Athena State RESET
   ════════════════════
   Previous state backed up to .athena-state.pre-reset.json
   Pipeline:  cleared
   Phase:     none
   Ready for: /athena-plan or /athena-brainstorm
   

Rules

• Always confirm before pausing — even if the user seems sure
• Never auto-pause — only the user can trigger this
• Preserve existing state — don't wipe pipeline progress when pausing (unless explicit reset requested)
• Remind about resume — always mention /athena-resume in the confirmation