capafy-publisher

name

capafy-publisher

description

Publish, update, or re-ship an Agent/Skill on the Capafy platform. Triggers include publish, list, upload, ship, package, Capafy, agent_id, review_url, log in, switch account, earnings / payout, statistics, refund, certification / KYC, relist, delist, delete-draft. Covers the full publish-init / publish-configure / publish-ship chain plus login, earnings queries, refund handling, and KYC certification. Supports Claude Code, Codex, OpenClaw, and Hermes hosts.

capafy-publisher

This file keeps only the run entries and the rules the host LLM must follow. Publishing is driven by the CLI's JSON output; internal details such as target, mode, scan, stage, package, and validate are handled by the code.

Run Prerequisites

• Run scripts in this directory with python3.
• Python >= 3.8; Python 3.11+ uses the stdlib tomllib, 3.8-3.10 uses the built-in TOML fallback shipped with this skill.
• The host must allow python3 execution inside this skill's directory. Claude Code needs Bash(python3:*) allowed in its permission settings.

Self-Update

Run this before each use:

python3 self_update.py --check

Handle the response:

• up_to_date: continue.
• update_available: tell the creator and ask; on agreement run python3 self_update.py, then restart from the beginning after the update finishes.
• check_failed: continue using the current version; if a later platform response header carries X-Skill-Version-Status: outdated|deprecated, remind the creator at the next human-confirmation point.

self_update.py downloads a zip per the install manifest; the manifest must carry sha256, and the digest is verified before extraction. When the update bundle carries requirements.txt, Python dependencies are installed after the zip update; otherwise dependency installation is skipped. The Windows install mode first copies the updater into the system temp directory and lets an external runner replace the live skill directory, so the running script does not lock its own directory.

Read Order

Runtime reads only:

• SKILL.md
• publish-workflow.md
• api-docs/index.json
• api-docs/00_overview.md

Do not read Markdown under .temp/, .pytest_cache/, dist/, or docs/.

Public Commands

login-init
login-verify
login-token
publish-init
publish-configure
publish-ship
publish-status
publish-remote-status
publish-refresh-url
publish-list

publish-status only reads the local .temp/ working state and does not reflect platform review / listing status; its JSON includes status_scope: local_only and does_not_include_remote_review_status: true. For platform review / listing status, use publish-remote-status --agent-id <agent_id>. To find the creator's Agent IDs, use publish-list.

Login:

• Not logged in: login-init → login-verify
• Before email-OTP login the host must complete the compliance-consent gate: take the current platform base_url, strip the trailing /api to get web_base, show the creator web_base/terms-of-service and web_base/privacy-policy, and require explicit consent to both the terms of service and the privacy policy. Vague replies (e.g. "ok", "go", "continue", "next") do not count as explicit consent; do not run login-init until explicit consent is given. This rule applies only to email-OTP login; CAPAFY_ACCESS_TOKEN, the local config.json, and login-token use the post-issuance auth path and do not re-prompt for consent.
• When the creator pastes a token directly, or asks to switch the platform account / user: login-token --access-token <token> is the only entry. It must first call GET /agent/account with that token to validate against the platform; only when the HTTP call succeeds and the account response is valid is the token written to the local config.json (the file under the capafy-publisher root) as the new local fallback account. This does not touch the user skill's account file — the user skill has its own swap logic.
• When login-token validation fails, halt and report; do not write or overwrite the local config.json (under the capafy-publisher root), and do not echo back the token the creator pasted.
• Token priority: CAPAFY_ACCESS_TOKEN → local config.json (under the capafy-publisher root). If CAPAFY_ACCESS_TOKEN is set in the current process, it still overrides whatever login-token wrote locally; to let the new local account take effect, remove or replace that environment variable.
• base_url only reads the explicit argument, CAPAFY_PLATFORM_BASE_URL, and the code default; it is not read from the local config.json.
• publish-init first validates the platform login state; when not logged in or the token is invalid it returns a structured login error and does not enter candidate discovery.

Publish Main Chain

publish-init → web confirmation → publish-configure → handle per JSON output → publish-ship → web confirmation

The three web confirmation pages are: after publish-init, confirm the file contents to upload; after publish-configure, confirm the keys / environment variables etc. to be hosted; after publish-ship, final confirmation and submit for review.

What comes next after publish-configure / publish-ship is decided entirely by the structured payload: status, review_url, developer_next_steps, blocking_category, failed_step, and similar fields take precedence over this document.

CLI exit codes only separate true command failures from normal workflow pauses. States that require the host LLM or creator to act, such as candidate selection or deep scan, exit 0 and return ok: true, requires_action: true, and an action_type. True errors exit 1 and return ok: false, status: error; parse the JSON payload before deciding how to report the result.

Core Iron Rules

Always talk to the creator in plain language: CLI parameters, JSON fields, and internal state names exist only between you (the host LLM) and the code; do not speak them directly to the creator. Translate quoted phrases for the creator using this table:

Program field / parameter	What to say to the creator
--skill-dir	"skill directory" / "skill source directory"
--runtime-dir	"project root" / "workspace path"
--env	"target runtime environment"
--selections-file	"selections file"
--reset-local-state	"discard the local draft and start over"
--deep-scan	"deep scan"
--dispositions-file	"dispositions file"
agent_id	"Agent ID"
agent_version_id	"Version ID"
agentType / agent_type	"publishing mode"
agentType: run_online / agent_type: run_online	"Run Online mode"
agentType: download / agent_type: download	"Download mode"
selections / selection_groups / workflowInfo.selection_groups	"the skill selection for this release"
Phase A / discover_units	"local scan"
manifest / .temp/ working state	"local draft"
review_url	Paste the link verbatim plus a one-line note about what the page is for; differentiate by source: publish-init = "confirm the file contents to upload", publish-configure = "confirm the keys / environment variables etc. to be hosted", publish-ship = "final confirmation and submit for review"
publish-init / publish-configure / publish-ship	"publish step one / configure / submit for review", or just speak the command name

Translate fields not in this table by the same principle; when uncertain, prefer plain language describing what it does instead of inventing new terminology.

When reporting credentials after publish-configure, keep the credential buckets separate:

• url_proxy means cloud-hosted LLM provider configuration: model API key plus endpoint / base URL.
• generic means other standalone secrets or sensitive configuration values.
• env_var means runtime environment variables required by the Agent.

Never say "no API key is needed" only because generic: 0 and env_var: 0. If url_proxy > 0, say the Agent has no extra third-party service keys, but still needs cloud LLM provider configuration to be confirmed. If the CLI response includes credential_summary.creator_message, use that message as the source of truth for user-facing wording.

Configuration confirmation belongs on the platform web page, not in chat, and only in the run_online configure flow. Do not introduce cloud endpoint reachability checks in download / buyout, publish-init, or publish-ship. Do not inspect, judge, or ask the creator to manually edit LLM provider entries in chat because an endpoint is localhost / LAN / private-network / otherwise likely unavailable from the cloud. Do not generate or recommend an alternate provider such as OpenRouter as a chat-side fallback for a local endpoint. Submit the discovered provider key and endpoint candidates to the Run Online configuration confirmation page; the creator confirms, removes, or edits them there.

When explaining a discovered credential, only state a source that is present in the CLI payload or reviewed scan metadata. Do not infer that a key came from .hermes/config.yaml just because it was paired with a Hermes provider. Hermes keys may come from config, .env, auth profiles, credentials/oauth caches, or process/OS environment fallback; if the exact source is not visible, say it is a discovered configuration candidate and direct the creator to the web confirmation page.

No matter which step of the main chain you are on, or which error has interrupted you, the rules below do not change:

1. Anything that needs creator action: send a visible message first, then pause. When the CLI JSON returns a review_url, paste it to the creator verbatim (all of them if multiple) along with a note about what the page is for; questions to the creator (deep-scan consent / agent_id confirmation / skill reselection / whether to abandon the agent, etc.) follow the same rule — send a top-level chat message, do not silently wait inside a thinking / processing block. review_url is valid for one hour and then expires: if some time later the creator says "continue publishing / try again" or anything that requires opening a web page, do not re-paste an old review_url from earlier in the session — run publish-refresh-url --agent-id <agent_id> --step <init|configure|ship> first, then paste the fresh URL. Do not rerun publish-init / publish-configure / publish-ship solely to refresh an expired link.
   • review_url returned by publish-init: the creator should confirm the file contents to upload.
   • review_url returned by publish-configure: the creator should confirm the keys / environment variables etc. to be hosted (filled in on the web page; do not let the creator send secrets in chat).
   • review_url returned by publish-ship: the creator should make the final confirmation and submit for review. status: shipped only means the package has been uploaded to the platform and the final-page URL has been issued; the actual "submit for review" action must be performed by the creator on the final page. Until the creator explicitly tells you the final page has been clicked through, never say "submitted / under review / approved" or anything else carrying "submitted for review / review process started" semantics.
2. After a web page, you must reconcile with the platform. When the creator returns from a web page with a signal like "confirm / done / fixed / price set", first call capafy_platform.api.get_latest_version_raw(agent_id) and read the returned agentType / status / agentVersionId before answering — do not infer from the local manifest. When you need to check whether the confirmation page already has selected skills, do not look at the raw response's top-level selectionGroups; that field may be empty. Look only at workflowInfo.selection_groups, or the selection_groups exposed by packaging._shared.platform.get_latest_version() in code. After the web confirmation page, the platform is the source of truth.
3. Review status comes from the platform only. Questions like "how far has the review gone / did it pass / is it listed?" must call publish-remote-status --agent-id <agent_id> or get_latest_version_raw(agent_id). publish-status only reads the local .temp/; publish-ship's status: shipped only means the package has been uploaded — it does not mean submitted for review, under review, or approved. The full chain is: shipped → the creator clicks submit on the final page → platform latest-version readback actually shows "under review" → only then does the platform progress to "approved / rejected". Until every link has been satisfied, do not say "submitted / under review / approved" in chat. status and auditStatus are both states of the latest version, not aggregates across the whole agent history; do not mix them up: status is the agent lifecycle state of the latest version overall (draft → review → listed → delisted, the main axis); auditStatus is only the review sub-state during the "under review" segment of status (automated / manual / passed / failed). Real meaning of the two 0 values: status: 0 = draft (not submitted), auditStatus: 0 = review not started; when you see these two 0s you must report "draft / review not started" and never misread them as "submitted / under review / approved". Full enums (status 0=draft / 1=under review / 2=review failed / 3=review passed pending listing / 4=listed / 5=expired / 6=delisted; auditStatus 0=not started / 1=auto review in progress / 2=manual review in progress / 3=review failed / 4=review passed) are in api-docs/00_overview.md.
4. agentType mismatch = local state invalidated. When the platform agentType differs from the local manifest's agent_type (typical: the creator toggled run_online ↔ download on the web page), the platform has already rolled the version back to draft and cleared the confirmed skill selection. Return to publish-configure --agent-id <agent_id> so the code re-stages / re-scans / re-packages under the new agentType; do not report "submitted for review" based on the stale manifest.
5. Source of agent_id. It must come from explicit creator confirmation or from capafy_platform.api.list_agents_raw(). Do not invent it from .temp/ manifest, the previous session, or anywhere else.
6. Blocks do not justify a new agent. Once an agent_id has been obtained, any block defaults to resume (publish-status → publish-configure / publish-ship / wait for the creator to finish the review_url); do not return to publish-init and rebuild. --reset-local-state only clears local staging — it does not tell the platform to abandon the agent; use it only when the creator explicitly says "scrap this and ship a new one", and recap that decision in chat before running. Resubmitting a rejected version is also a block, not an agent swap: when the creator wants to "fix the rejected version / resubmit for review", rerun the main chain publish-init → publish-configure (re-scan + re-package) → publish-ship (re-upload) — the selections payload of publish-init must carry the original agent_id at the top level, so the code goes through create_version_from_draft to create a new version on the same Agent; omitting agent_id makes the code go through create_agent_from_draft and create a brand-new Agent, which is wrong and leaves an orphan listing on the platform. In chat with the creator, frame it as "running the scan / package / submit-for-review flow again on the same Agent"; never say things like "running the whole pipeline again / the previous flow has ended / generated a new draft version" that imply an agent swap.
7. No making things up — and also no filtering out candidates. Before constructing --selections, you must have already run publish-init (without --selections) in this session with the same --env / --runtime-dir / --skill-dir and obtained candidates, or you must have passed --skill-dir to lock down a single skill. skills[].path / .name etc. must correspond one-to-one to Phase A candidates; the moment you catch yourself thinking "I remember / should be / usually there is...", stop and rescan. The converse is equally forbidden: do not filter Phase A candidates yourself by exact match against the Agent Card's Name / Description — the code-level discover_units does not filter by agent name, and "no candidate exactly matches the Agent Card name" does not equal "no files / no skill in the workspace". In that case, you must read all candidates verbatim to the creator and ask in plain language per the translation table, e.g.: "I scanned N skills locally, but none of them exactly matches your Agent Card name <name> — do you want to publish one of them? Or switch the skill directory? Or update the Agent Card name?" Never reply with "not found / no files / no skill".
8. For continued publishing, reconcile history first. Before updating an existing Agent (selections carries agent_id), you must call get_latest_version_raw(agent_id), read the previous version's skill name / description / purpose from workflowInfo.selection_groups, and match them against local Phase A candidates by name (first priority) then description (second priority); ask the creator about anything that does not match — do not copy from last time or guess. Do not treat historical paths as local paths: workflowInfo.selection_groups.skills[].path is the logical path the platform saved for the previous version (relative to that run's --runtime-dir), not the current file location on this machine. Whether the creator picks "reuse" or "switch", you must first confirm the current package directory on this machine (project root + skill directory) with the creator in plain language per the field table, and run Phase A with those confirmed real paths — do not pass the historical path directly as --skill-dir / --runtime-dir.
9. Only one publish main chain at a time; no parallel / auto-batch. At any moment only one publish main chain (publish-init → publish-configure → publish-ship) can be in progress; while the current chain has not finished, you may not start another main chain in parallel or nested to publish a different Agent, and you may not auto-loop through a directory running init→ship on every skill in turn.
   • Allowed: bundling multiple skills inside a single Agent's skills[] and shipping them together — this is the normal one-Agent-many-skills usage, not batch.
   • Allowed: after a publish-ship has finished, if the creator wants to publish another Agent in the same session, you may start a new publish main chain in sequence, starting normally from publish-init; confirm each step of each chain — do not auto-chain multiple together.
   • Not allowed: treating multiple skills as separate Agents and having the publisher "batch publish" them at once — you may not run through N publish main chains for the creator in a single prompt.
   • Does not affect version updates: a version update on the same agent_id is itself one publish main chain — proceed normally.
   • Triggers and handling: a. If the creator opens with "ship these skills for me / publish all skills in this directory / do them one by one", pause first and confirm intent in plain language per the table — is this one Agent containing multiple skills (a bundle), or multiple independent Agents? If bundle, proceed normally to publish-init; if independent Agents, tell the creator explicitly that they will be processed one chain at a time, sequentially (no auto-loop), and have the creator pick which one to publish this time — the others will be handled as separate chains afterward. b. After a publish-ship has finished and the creator wants to publish another Agent, start a new publish main chain to handle it — there is no need to open a new session; but still run only this one chain — do not roll later ones into it "for convenience".

publish-init

Before running, confirm with the creator whether this is a brand-new publish or a continue / version update:

• Brand-new publish: when the creator has not said what to publish, ask about scope first; when they have given only the runtime / project root and no skill, run Phase A directly and read the candidates to the creator for selection.
• Continue / version update: obtain agent_id per Core Iron Rule #5, and reconcile historical selections per Core Iron Rule #8.

Once an agent_id has been obtained in this session, any block defaults to resume — do not rebuild the agent:

• Any error from publish-configure / publish-ship: first read the payload's developer_next_steps / failed_step / blocking_category, then decide whether to retry the same step, run the supplementary sensitive-info scan, or wait for the creator to finish the review_url web confirmation. Do not rerun publish-init to recreate just because something failed.
• If publish-configure reads the platform back and finds the first page (the file-contents confirmation) had skills[] empty after confirmation, the creator removed all skills on the web page. Halt; have the creator return to the first page and pick at least one skill, or rerun the publish first step with the correct project root / skill directory. Do not continue to configure / ship.
• Web confirmation page will not open / is stuck / the creator is offline: pause and wait for the creator. Do not rerun publish-init.
• Seeing the existing_local_publish_state blocking error: this is a guard, not an error. The first choice is publish-status to inspect local state, then publish-configure / publish-ship to continue — not straight to --reset-local-state.
• publish-init --reset-local-state only clears local .temp/ staging; it does not tell the platform "abandon the previous agent". Unless the creator explicitly says "I want to ship a new agent, not the old one", do not use --reset-local-state, and certainly do not use it to "fix" upload errors.
• When the creator explicitly wants to switch runtime / switch skill set and publish-init needs to be rerun, the selections must carry the original agent_id, going through the "continue / version update" branch; only when the creator explicitly wants a brand-new agent may agent_id be omitted, and the decision to abandon the old agent must be recapped to the creator in chat before running.

publish-init must be given an explicit target runtime environment and the project root of the creator's current host session:

python3 packager.py publish-init --env <env_id> --runtime-dir <absolute_path>

• --env <env_id>: target runtime; values are claude_code / codex / openclaw / hermes. If the object being published is a metadata.openclaw skill, you must use openclaw.
• --runtime-dir <absolute_path>: the project root / workspace root the host session has open; do not derive this value from the source path of the skill being published, a parent skills directory, or the publisher skill root.
• --skill-dir <single_skill_dir>: optional; pass it only when the creator explicitly specifies a single local skill source directory. It must point at a single skill root containing SKILL.md; it cannot be a parent skills directory, and it does not replace --runtime-dir.
• Claude Code / Codex: pass the project root opened when starting claude / codex, i.e. the current session working directory.
• OpenClaw: pass the current OpenClaw workspace directory, e.g. /home/admin_wsl/.openclaw/workspace_xxx; do not pass a regular project root, user home, $LIFE_MANAGER_STATE_HOME, $LIFE_MANAGER_REPO/skills, or a single skill directory.
• Hermes: pass the project root opened when starting the host session, and set --env hermes. The publisher stages the active Hermes home selected by HERMES_HOME, then ~/.hermes/active_profile, then default ~/.hermes; there is no publish-init --profile option.
• On Windows native, C:\Users\me\project is fine; on WSL / Linux, pass a path the current system can actually access, e.g. /mnt/c/Users/me/project — do not expect the publisher to auto-translate Windows paths.
• dot-agent targets do not auto-detect the host environment and do not check whether runtime_dir is reasonable; OpenClaw targets validate that it must be a real workspace.

Example: when Codex is currently running at /home/admin_wsl/sunnet/project/agent_store and the skill being published lives at /home/admin_wsl/.agents/skills/skill-vetter, pass:

python3 packager.py publish-init --env codex --runtime-dir /home/admin_wsl/sunnet/project/agent_store --skill-dir /home/admin_wsl/.agents/skills/skill-vetter

publish-init copy-pastable examples

Prefer --selections-file; do not stuff multi-line JSON into a shell string. The first run must be Phase A without --selections, to obtain real candidates:

python3 packager.py publish-init --env codex --runtime-dir /home/admin_wsl/sunnet/project/agent_store --skill-dir /home/admin_wsl/.agents/skills/skill-vetter

Then write .temp/confirmed-selections.json based on the Phase A candidates. skills[].path / name must be verbatim from the candidates; purpose is the use-description the creator has confirmed:

{
  "title": "Skill Security Review",
  "description": "Automatically reviews third-party skill source for security issues; flags red-flag patterns and permission boundaries",
  "skills": [
    {
      "path": ".agents/skills/skill-vetter",
      "name": "skill-vetter",
      "purpose": "Reviews skill source for credential leaks, network exfiltration, permission overreach, and other security risks"
    }
  ],
  "plugins": [],
  "crons": []
}

When submitting the first-page draft, you must reuse the same --env / --runtime-dir / --skill-dir:

python3 packager.py publish-init --env codex --runtime-dir /home/admin_wsl/sunnet/project/agent_store --skill-dir /home/admin_wsl/.agents/skills/skill-vetter --selections-file .temp/confirmed-selections.json

When updating an existing Agent, the request body simply adds agent_id at the top level; agent_id must come from explicit creator confirmation or list_agents_raw():

{
  "agent_id": "agt_xxx",
  "title": "Skill Security Review",
  "description": "Automatically reviews third-party skill source for security issues; flags red-flag patterns and permission boundaries",
  "skills": [
    {
      "path": ".agents/skills/skill-vetter",
      "name": "skill-vetter",
      "purpose": "Reviews skill source for credential leaks, network exfiltration, permission overreach, and other security risks"
    }
  ],
  "plugins": [],
  "crons": []
}

When publish-init is run without --selections, it returns the top-level skills / plugins / crons candidate arrays directly; when --skill-dir is given, the candidates only include that explicit skill. Candidate entries do not carry a selection field — they only count as "selected" once they appear in the --selections of the second submission. The host LLM combines candidates with user context to produce title, description, and a per-unit purpose, confirms with the creator, then submits.

This Phase A response is a soft action: the command exits 0, status is needs_selection, and requires_action is true. Do not report it as an error just because the workflow paused for candidate selection.

For large workspaces, pass --brief --title "<Agent Card name>" --description "<Agent Card description>" on Phase A. Brief mode keeps candidate output compact (path / name / one-line description plus minimal flags), filters out the publisher skill itself, suppresses nested child skill copies when the parent skill is already a candidate, and may mark the best text match with suggested: true. This is only a publisher-side suggestion and sort order; it does not authorize the host LLM to hide other candidates from the creator.

Hermes Runtime Notes

Hermes support targets Hermes Agent v0.14+ and stages .hermes/config.yaml, .hermes/.env, .hermes/SOUL.md, and .hermes/skills. It supports the main model, auxiliary.*, delegation, fallback_providers[], and custom_providers[] provider blocks.

Hermes OAuth/cache state is scan-only: .hermes/credentials, .hermes/oauth, Hermes-managed Claude login state at .hermes/.anthropic_oauth.json, and Google Gemini CLI login state at .hermes/auth/google_oauth.json may be read to materialize platform-managed provider keys, but they must not be included in the final package. Runtime state such as sessions, memories, logs, credentials, oauth, auth, and worktrees is excluded from packaged Hermes trees.

Supported hosted provider keys include Anthropic, OpenAI, Google/Gemini, Nous, DeepSeek, xAI, Z.AI, Moonshot/Kimi, MiniMax, and OpenRouter. During configure, Hermes provider blocks are normalized to the most general Hermes form: custom_providers[] owns the hosted api_key, base_url, api_mode, credential pool, and provider model value, while model, auxiliary.*, delegation, and fallback_providers[] reference it with provider: custom:<name>. Bare official provider blocks such as provider: openai, provider: anthropic, provider: gemini, and provider: openrouter are converted to stable publisher_<provider>_official custom provider definitions with the official base URL filled in when missing. Custom providers are preserved as user-managed endpoints; if they carry api_key, base_url, or model fields, those values are replaced with platform-managed placeholders during configure.

Hermes api_mode uses Hermes-local values. For example, OpenAI Responses-compatible local config uses api_mode: codex_responses, while the platform-facing url_proxy.api_format remains openai-responses; confirmation rewrite maps the platform value back to the Hermes-local api_mode.

Hermes custom provider references are supported. If model, auxiliary.*, delegation, or fallback_providers[] uses provider: custom:<name> or a bare custom provider name and custom_providers[].name defines that provider, the referencing block is treated as a pure reference and does not create a duplicate url_proxy; the custom_providers[] definition owns the hosted key and endpoint. If a referencing block also defines inline api_key, base_url, or credential_pool, the configuration is ambiguous and configure will block; ask the creator to choose either a pure custom provider reference or a standalone inline provider block. Bare official provider names such as openai, anthropic, gemini, and openrouter remain official providers even if a custom provider is unfortunately named the same.

Before shipping Hermes in Run Online mode, tell the creator to select the intended profile (HERMES_HOME or ~/.hermes/active_profile) and stop any local gateway if it writes runtime state into .hermes. Do not ask for API keys or OAuth tokens in chat; the configure web page is where hosted keys are confirmed.

When updating an existing Agent, do not just ask "do you want to pick a new skill?". First ask the creator whether to switch the skill directory, then split the choice into two options:

1. Use the historical selection and flow. Continue with the historical selection returned by the platform; workflowInfo.selection_groups only represents the skill selection already confirmed by the previous version — it is not a fresh discovery result.
2. Use new skills and a new flow. Return to Phase A, rescan for candidates, reconfirm skills[] against the new skill directory, then submit.

Explain both options clearly first, then let the creator choose. If the creator says "just changing the old skill's contents", the default is to continue with the current skill — do not reselect. Settle this judgment inside publish-init; do not defer it to publish-configure.

Whether option 1 or option 2, you must first confirm the current package directory on this machine (project root + skill directory) with the creator in plain language per the field table, and pass those confirmed real paths as --runtime-dir / --skill-dir to Phase A — see Core Iron Rule #8 "Do not treat historical paths as local paths". workflowInfo.selection_groups.skills[].path is the platform logical path of the previous version (relative to that run's --runtime-dir); it does not represent the actual current file location on this machine, and the creator may have moved or renamed files since. Passing the historical path directly as --skill-dir / --runtime-dir will cause staging / bundle to write to the wrong path, and the validator will report cycles downstream.

• Continue with the current skill: this run is just updating the contents of the same skill — reuse the existing skills[] and continue directly to the downstream draft / scan / submit.
• Switch to a different skill: this run is changing the publish target — return to Phase A, rescan, then reconfirm skills[].

If Phase A returns an empty skills[], or none of the candidates match the creator's intent, do not enter the next step and do not submit an empty skills. Read the candidates to the creator and have them confirm the actual project root / skill directory in plain language per the table, or confirm whether to publish one of the other discovered skills this time. publish-init --selections requires at least one selected skill; without a skill there is no way to request creating a platform draft.

Two hard rules — break either and stop right away to rerun Phase A or ask the creator:

• Phase A is mandatory: before constructing --selections, you must have already executed publish-init (without --selections) in this session with the same --env / --runtime-dir / --skill-dir and obtained a candidate JSON; or you must have passed --skill-dir to lock down a single skill. If neither is satisfied, you may not construct selections from memory, previous sessions, or guesses.
• No making things up: every skills[].path, skills[].name, plugins[].path, and crons[].id in --selections must correspond item-by-item to a Phase A candidate (or to the explicit skill from --skill-dir). Any path / name / description / purpose of unknown origin must go back to Phase A for a rescan, or be asked to the creator first. The moment you find yourself thinking "I remember there is...", "there should be...", "there is usually one...", stop.

--selections must not be wrapped in selection_groups, and must not carry workflow_intent / step index structures; when updating an existing Agent, add agent_id at the top level (source per Core Iron Rule #5).

Sensitive Information Deep Scan

Consent step before the first entry to publish-configure (Run Online mode only): after the creator completes the first page (confirm the file contents to upload), reconcile per Core Iron Rule #2 with get_latest_version_raw(agent_id); if the platform agentType is run_online, before running publish-configure you must first ask the creator in plain language whether to run a deep scan, e.g.: "This release uses Run Online mode; do you want to run a deep scan? I'll re-read the packaged content to look for generic-secret / sensitive-value risks the rules did not catch — it costs more time and tokens. Skipping means only the regular rule scan runs."

Send this question as a visible chat message and then pause, per Core Iron Rule #1.

• Creator agrees: run publish-configure --agent-id <agent_id> --deep-scan; once needs_deep_scan comes back, produce a findings JSON object per the "Sensitive Deep Scan" section of publish-workflow.md (top level has only generic / env_var arrays), then submit via publish-configure --agent-id <agent_id> --deep-scan-findings-file <path>.
• Creator declines or chooses the fast path: run publish-configure --agent-id <agent_id> without --deep-scan — the code runs only the regular rule scan.
• Download mode (agentType: download) does not need this consent step; the platform does not host runtime keys, so go straight to the regular publish-configure.

Hard rules (details about sources, fields, and submission live in publish-workflow.md's "Sensitive Deep Scan" section):

• Misses cannot be resolved by hand-patching buckets, nor by having the host LLM proactively collect new variables from the host environment.
• Generic secrets go into generic (each item has value + staging-relative source); environment variables go into env_var (each item has value + field); url_proxy can still only be produced by the rule scan, runtime contract, or source config.
• Do not edit .temp/reviewed-scan.json directly, and do not use already-generated buckets as review input.
• When --deep-scan-findings-file validation fails, fix the findings' value / source / field and rerun — do not change the scan rules at this step.
• Once you have confirmed there are no misses, rerun publish-configure without --deep-scan to continue with the platform configuration.
• Host-required config files must not be excluded wholesale: files already recognized as host-required runtime config such as .claude/settings.json / .claude/settings.local.json only go through strip (their keys have already been replaced by the code with PLATFORM_MANAGED_* placeholders). When the deep scan flags secrets in such files, do not suggest excluding the file outright — the file shell is required for running Claude Code in the cloud; top-level local permissions allowlists in Claude settings files are removed by the main flow. See the rule about not excluding host-required config files wholesale in publish-workflow.md.

Other Requests

• relist / delist / delete-draft: the current shipped runtime does not have these APIs. Tell the creator explicitly that they are not supported, and do not work around them.
• Earnings, payout, statistics, refunds, KYC: read api-docs/00_overview.md.
• Local-only packaging self-check: there is no standalone local pre-flight entry; go through the formal main chain and handle failures per the JSON payload.

Safety Boundaries

• cwd may be the publisher skill's own directory; do not default to treating it as the workspace to publish.
• When the creator says "workflow / project / workspace" and the input source is unclear, confirm with the creator first; when only a skill directory is given, treat it as --skill-dir and separately confirm the real --runtime-dir.
• Do not modify the working-state files under .temp/ yourself. When you need to switch runtime_dir / switch selections, handle it per Core Iron Rule #6: by default rerun publish-init carrying the original agent_id (the continue / version-update branch), and do not proactively suggest --reset-local-state; only use reset when the creator explicitly says "scrap this agent and ship a new one", and recap that decision in chat first.