operator

name	operator
description	δ role in CDD. Owns external gates, routing, and override authority during an active triad cycle.
artifact_class	skill
kata_surface	embedded
governing_question	What does the operator do — and not do — during an active CDD cycle?
visibility	internal
parent	cdd
triggers	["operator","dispatch","gate","unblock"]
scope	role-local
inputs	["γ dispatch prompts","external gate requests from α/β/γ","cycle state (issue, branch, .cdd/unreleased/{N}/, CI)"]
outputs	["routed prompts to agent sessions","external gate executions and confirmations (push on β's behalf, tag, release, deploy, issue filing)","override declarations when needed"]
requires	["active CDD cycle exists","γ has produced dispatch prompts"]
calls	["gamma/SKILL.md","harness/SKILL.md"]

Operator (δ)

Core Principle

Coherent δ operation routes work, holds gates, and stays out of the triad's reasoning.

δ is not a fourth triad role — δ is not scored on coherence axes. δ owns what agents cannot: external platform actions, session routing, and override authority. The failure mode is invisible meddling — the operator adjusts implementation, review, or coordination reasoning without declaring an override, and the triad's coherence record no longer matches what actually happened.

First-time operator? Before running the algorithm below, ensure the repository has been activated under CDD. See cdd/activation/SKILL.md for the one-time bootstrap: .cdd/ scaffold, version pin, identity convention setup, and the §24 verification command that confirms activation is complete.

Algorithm

1. Dispatch γ — δ dispatches γ via the harness; γ reads the issue, creates the cycle branch, and produces α/β prompts. See harness/SKILL.md §1 for invocation mechanics.
2. Dispatch α — δ dispatches α via the harness with the prompt γ produced; α implements on the cycle branch and exits after signaling review-readiness.
3. Dispatch β — δ dispatches β via the harness with the prompt γ produced; β reviews, merges, writes β close-out, and exits.
4. Re-dispatch α for fix rounds (when β returns RC) — δ dispatches α via the harness with the fix-round re-dispatch prompt (cnos.cds/skills/cds/CDS.md §"Coordination surfaces"; prompt format in §5.2 of this file); α fixes findings, appends fix-round to self-coherence.md, exits.
5. Re-dispatch α for close-out (when γ requests after β merge) — δ dispatches α via the harness with the close-out re-dispatch prompt (cnos.cds/skills/cds/CDS.md §"Coordination surfaces"; prompt format in §5.2 of this file); α writes alpha-closeout.md, commits to main, exits. This step is mandatory when γ requests it. γ cannot complete the closure gate without alpha-closeout.md.
6. Gate — execute external actions: push main, tag, release, branch deletes. Do not tag/release before gamma-closeout.md exists on main. Disconnect-release mechanics live in release-effector/SKILL.md (Phase 4c of cnos#366, cycle/399); see §3.4 below for the doctrinal frame. δ blocks release completion until CI is green (or operator explicitly accepts a known pre-existing failure per the release-effector recovery runbook).
7. Override — reassign roles or redirect scope only with an explicit declaration. The override doctrine (override is a degraded boundary action, never rewrites V's verdict, requires a structured override block when proceeding against a non-PASS verdict) lives in delta/SKILL.md §3; this step is operator-as-coordinator routing the override declaration through the cycle.

δ runs one role at a time. This keeps memory pressure low (single process per role), gives δ direct visibility into each session via the observability stream (harness/SKILL.md §2), and isolates failures — if α dies, δ retries α without losing γ or β state.

---

Git identity for role actors

The canonical identity form ({role}@{project}.cdd.cnos, with the {role}@cdd.cnos elision for the cnos project) and the worktree-aware identity-write discipline live in harness/SKILL.md §3 "Git identity for role actors." δ ensures each role-actor's identity is set per that contract before any commits land on the cycle branch.

---

1. Route

1.1. Dispatch γ first

δ dispatches γ. γ reads the issue, creates the cycle branch, and returns α/β prompts to δ. γ does not execute dispatch — δ does.

1.2. Dispatch α and β sequentially

δ dispatches α, waits for completion, then dispatches β. One role at a time.

The invocation shell, observability flags, and permission-mode requirement are codified in harness/SKILL.md §1 (Dispatch invocation) and §2 (Dispatch observability contract). δ honors that contract; this section names the routing discipline.

• ❌ Rewrite the prompt to add constraints or context γ didn't include
• ✅ Deliver the prompt verbatim to the dispatched session (harness contract)
• ❌ Run α and β concurrently or nest them inside γ's session
• ✅ Run one role at a time, inspect artifacts between dispatches
• ✅ Name the agent-to-role mapping before delivering prompts

---

2. Wait

2.1. Do not poll internal work

Once dispatched, the triad runs. The operator does not need to monitor branch diffs, .cdd/unreleased/{N}/ files, or CI runs — γ owns that.

The operator's wake-up signals are:

• γ requests an external gate (push on β's behalf, tag push, release, deploy, issue filing, auth action)
• γ requests an unblock decision (design ambiguity, scope question, env constraint)
• γ declares cycle closure and names deferred outputs that need operator action
• An agent session dies or stalls (no activity for an unexpected duration)

Between these signals, the operator's correct action is nothing.

• ❌ Check the branch every 30 minutes and suggest changes (role leak into β)
• ❌ Heartbeat reveals cycle state (tag missing, branches exist) → δ acts on it (observation is not a gate request)
• ✅ Wait for γ to surface a gate or decision request
• ✅ Heartbeat reveals cycle state → δ notes it, waits for γ

2.2. Subscribe to the issue

Poll the issue and cycle branches for activity using the same transition-only pattern as the triad (cnos.cds/skills/cds/CDS.md §"Coordination surfaces" → §"Polling primitives"). δ polls less frequently than γ — the wake-up signals are coarser (gate requests, not per-commit state). 5-minute interval is sufficient for δ; γ owns the tight loop.

The polling loop mechanics (issue-activity poller, multi-branch poller with reachability re-probe) live in harness/SKILL.md §5 (Polling and wake-up). δ uses those forms under Monitor or equivalent. Canonical cycle branches are origin/cycle/{N} (per cnos.cds/skills/cds/CDS.md §"Development lifecycle" → §"Branch rule", since #287); the pre-#287 'origin/claude/*' glob is warn-only / retrospective per harness §5.3.

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3. Gate

δ-as-role boundary policy lives in delta/SKILL.md. This section retains the gate-policy doctrine that operator/SKILL.md is authoritative for (the gate-action confirmation protocol, the request-vs-observation discipline, the operator-as-coordinator routing). The role-policy that governs whether and when gate actions fire — δ as sole tag-author, gate-fires-on-request-not-observation, the BoundaryDecision enumerants, the override-as-degraded-action doctrine, the verdict-vs-decision distinction — lives in delta/SKILL.md §1 "Outward membrane" and §3 "Override." Dispatch-coordinator mechanics (the claude -p / cn dispatch invocation, observability flags, worktree management, identity discipline) live in harness/SKILL.md per Phase 4b of cnos#366. Release-effector mechanics (the single-command release script invocation, post-push CI polling, the recovery runbook, merged-branch deletes) live in release-effector/SKILL.md per Phase 4c of cnos#366 (cycle/399).

3.1. External actions the operator executes on δ-the-role's authority

The actions in this table require platform permissions agents may lack. δ-as-role authorises these actions per delta/SKILL.md §1.1; operator-as-coordinator dispatches them on request from γ, β, or α-via-γ:

Action	Trigger	Who requests
Pre-merge gate validation	Before authorizing β merge, run scripts/validate-release-gate.sh --mode pre-merge to verify cycle artifacts exist and are well-formed. See cnos.cds/skills/cds/CDS.md §"Artifact contract" → §"Ownership matrix" and gamma/SKILL.md §2.10.	γ
Push β-approved merge to main	β runs git merge — δ only pushes when β cannot execute the push directly (env/auth constraint). This is execution of β's integration authority, not δ approval.	β or γ
Release-boundary preflight	After β merge + close-outs + γ PRA, δ verifies merge commit, release artifacts, tag/deploy preconditions, and platform readiness. Proceed / request changes / override. See cnos.cds/skills/cds/CDS.md §"Development lifecycle" → §"Step table" Step 9 (δ gate).	γ
Tag push + release	After δ preflight confirms and γ closes the cycle. δ is sole tag-author — β does not tag; only δ creates tags per cycle (role-policy: delta/SKILL.md §1.1)	γ
Branch delete	Cycle closed, merged branches	γ
Issue filing on external repos	Cross-project dependency	γ
Force push	Rebase required with env constraints	α via γ
Auth refresh	Token/permission expiry	any role via γ

3.2. Execute on request, not on observation

Gate actions fire when a role requests them, not when δ notices they're needed. Observing that a tag isn't pushed or a branch exists is not a gate trigger — γ's explicit request is. (Role-policy framing: delta/SKILL.md §1.2.)

• ❌ Heartbeat shows tag not pushed → δ pushes it (role leak: δ decided the gate, not γ)
• ❌ "β asked me to push the merge but I think we should wait for one more review"
• ✅ γ requests tag push → δ pushes it and confirms
• ✅ If you disagree with a gate request, declare an override per delta/SKILL.md §3

3.3. Report completion

After executing a gate action, confirm to the requesting role that the action completed. (Role-policy framing: delta/SKILL.md §1.3.)

• ❌ Execute silently and assume the triad will notice
• ✅ "Tag pushed: git push origin 3.59.0 — confirmed on remote"

3.4. Cut the release — disconnect the triad's final state

After all post-cycle work lands on main (γ's PRA + skill patches, δ's own session patches), δ cuts the release. This is not optional — the release is how δ disconnects the triad's output into a distributable, tagged whole.

Role-policy (the triad's work is not complete until tagged; untagged post-cycle patches on main are an open boundary; δ is sole tag-author; δ blocks release completion until CI is green and owns recovery on red) lives in delta/SKILL.md §1.1. Mechanics (the single-command release script invocation, post-push CI polling, the recovery runbook, branch deletes) live in release-effector/SKILL.md — Phase 4c of cnos#366 (cycle/399) relocated them out of this section.

The triad's work is not complete until it is tagged. Untagged post-cycle patches on main are an open boundary — the triad's output is still entangled with whatever comes next. The tag is the disconnection point.

That skill owns: the single-command release script invocation, the bare-X.Y.Z tag policy (per cnos.cds/skills/cds/CDS.md §"Artifact contract" → §"Location matrix"), post-push CI polling, the CI-red recovery runbook, and merged-cycle-branch deletes. The script-as-only-path discipline (no manual git tag) is its rule, not this section's.

Two gate-rules δ enforces from this surface (the policy-level claims; mechanics in the effector skill):

• Do not tag/release before gamma-closeout.md exists on main.
• δ blocks release completion until CI is green (or operator explicitly accepts a known pre-existing failure per the release-effector recovery runbook).

3.5. The tag is the signal

The disconnect tag (§3.4) is git-observable. γ and all future agents can see it. No separate completion signal is needed — the tag appearing on main IS the proof that all gate actions completed and the cycle is disconnected.

For mid-cycle gate actions (per release-effector/SKILL.md — pre-disconnect tag pushes, merged-branch deletes), confirm completion to the requesting role per §3.3. But the disconnect tag itself needs no announcement — it speaks for itself. (Role-policy framing: delta/SKILL.md §1.4.)

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3a. δ as inward membrane: implementation-contract enrichment at dispatch

Canonical doctrine lives at cnos.handoff/skills/handoff/dispatch/SKILL.md §"δ as inward membrane" (Sub 3 of cnos#404, shipped under cnos#417). That skill owns the 7 implementation-contract axes, δ's review-before-routing duty, the fill-or-escalate paths, the four-surface mesh (γ template / δ enrichment / α constraint / β verification), and the cnos#389/#391/#392/#393 empirical anchors. The role-local realization continues to live at delta/SKILL.md §2 (the inward-membrane half of δ's two-sided framing; outward half at §1; override at §3). operator/SKILL.md retains operator-as-coordinator + harness mechanics only; the doctrine lives at handoff and the role-local pointer lives in delta/SKILL.md.

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4. Override

Relocated to delta/SKILL.md §3 "Override — degraded boundary action" as Phase 4a of cnos#366 (cycle/397). Override is a degraded boundary action (never a form of validity, never rewrites V's ValidationVerdict) per the cnos#367 freeze in RECEIPT-VALIDATION.md §Q4 — that role-doctrine is unified with the δ role-skill in delta/SKILL.md. The dispatch-coordinator side ("when α/β/γ ask for an override decision, where does it land?") fires through the algorithm step 7 above; the doctrine that constrains δ's override decision lives in the role-skill.

For the embedded override kata (Kata B — "α stuck on AC3 due to undocumented API change"), see §9 of this file. The kata exercises operator-as-coordinator's request-handling; the doctrine constraining δ's decision is in delta/SKILL.md §3.

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5. Dispatch configurations

CDD defines two valid dispatch configurations. Choose one before dispatching; record it in gamma-closeout.md.

5.1 Canonical multi-session dispatch

One dispatched process per role (via the harness — see harness/SKILL.md §1); each has an independent auth context and no shared memory. This is the model described in §1.2 above.

• γ/δ separation is structurally present: the operator (δ) selects and scaffolds; γ coordinates; α and β are separate processes with no access to each other's reasoning or conversation state.
• Sub-agent returns do not apply — each dispatched session exits cleanly; the operator reads committed artifacts.
• Branch names are stable: cycle/{N} persists through all fix rounds because each role session checks it out fresh.

Use this configuration when the cycle is substantial (see §5.3 escalation criteria).

5.2 Single-session δ-as-γ via Agent tool (Claude Code activation)

When the operator is a Claude Code agent (one parent session), α and β are dispatched as sub-agents using the Agent tool rather than via separate harness processes. Sub-agents run with fresh context per invocation and are functionally equivalent to a fresh dispatched session for role-isolation purposes (each sub-agent reasons independently, cannot see the parent's conversation state, and cannot see the other sub-agent's conversation state). However, sub-agents inherit MCP scope and filesystem access from the parent session.

Scope of the collapse. §5.2 collapses δ↔γ only. γ↔α↔β remain structurally separate per the triadic rule (cnos.cds/skills/cds/CDS.md §"Field 6: Actor collapse rule"): γ scaffolds and coordinates in the parent session, α implements in its own sub-agent, β reviews and merges in its own sub-agent. The dyad-plus-coordinator structure is preserved; only the operator (δ) and coordinator (γ) functions fuse into one parent session.

A single sub-agent that performs γ-selection plus α-implementation plus β-review is not §5.2 — it is a triadic-rule violation (cnos.cds/skills/cds/CDS.md §"Field 6: Actor collapse rule"). §5.2 requires three execution contexts: the parent session (γ, also δ), a separate α sub-agent, and a separate β sub-agent. Lumping γ+α+β into one sub-agent breaks role-isolation (α gains access to β's reasoning and vice versa) and is rejected.

Three structural consequences follow:

1. δ=γ collapse. γ/δ separation is structurally absent: one parent session holds both the selection/scaffolding function (γ) and the external gate authority (δ). The cycle proceeds, but the grading floor in §3.8 of release/SKILL.md applies — see §3.8 configuration-floor clause.

For the general principle governing when role collapses are safe, see ROLES.md §4 (hats-vs-actors: independence as the collapse constraint).

2. sub-agent return messages are summaries, not full transcripts. The Agent tool returns a summary message from the sub-agent, not a full conversation transcript. δ-as-γ verifies committed artifacts — specifically beta-review.md for β's verdict and self-coherence.md for α's review-readiness signal — rather than relying on the sub-agent's return message. This is the protocol invariant that makes §5.2 valid despite the summary-not-transcript limitation: the artifact β commits is canonical; the return message is informational only.

3. Harness push restrictions surface as branch-name churn under fix-rounds. Some Claude Code harness environments block updates to existing remote branches (403 on push to a previously-written branch). Under this constraint, a fresh-branch chain (cycle/{N} → cycle/{N}-impl → cycle/{N}-impl-r2 → cycle/{N}-impl-r3 → cycle/{N}-merged → cycle/{N}-final) is an acceptable workaround. Each link in the chain is a valid cycle branch for that fix-round; the final fast-forward into main becomes an external operator action.

Empirical anchors: The cnos-tsc supercycle (cycles 24–26, close-outs at usurobor/tsc:.cdd/releases/{0.5.0,0.6.0,0.7.0}/{24,25,26}/gamma-closeout.md) ran under §5.2 end-to-end; tsc cycle 26 γ-closeout explicitly records "operator (δ = γ in this two-agent configuration)." Tsc cycle #32 (close-out at usurobor/tsc:.cdd/releases/docs/2026-05-09/32/gamma-closeout.md) ran §5.2 and produced a five-link branch trail (cycle/32 → cycle/32-impl → cycle/32-impl-r2 → cycle/32-merged → cycle/32-final) due to harness push restrictions; that trail is the source observation for consequence (3) above.

Reference dependencies: §5.2 dispatch sizing follows cnos.cds/skills/cds/CDS.md §"Field 6: Actor collapse rule" (sequential bounded dispatch model; sub-agent dispatch budget heuristic). The harness push restriction that produces branch-name churn is the same constraint that makes the mechanical pre-merge gate (release/SKILL.md §2.1) an operator-side action when β cannot push directly (cnos.cds/skills/cds/CDS.md §"Development lifecycle" → §"Step table" Step 8 — β review and merge).

Wave-manifest as γ-artifact-of-record (rule 3.11b discoverability under §5.2 wave-mode). When §5.2 is run as a wave — a sequence of related cycles under one wave manifest per §10 Wave Coordination — the canonical γ-artifact-of-record for every sub of the wave is the wave manifest at .cdd/waves/{wave-id}/manifest.md, not a per-sub .cdd/unreleased/{N}/gamma-scaffold.md. The wave manifest carries every γ-artifact duty: γ=δ collapse declaration (or equivalent wave-mode exemption text), pinned file-paths forward-reference contract, standing permissions, timeout budgets, dispatch order, and per-issue scope. β's binding rule 3.11b gate (review/SKILL.md §3.11b "Exemption discoverability") recognizes this configuration provided the sub-issue ↔ wave-manifest discoverability link is auditable: either (a) the sub-issue body cites the wave by id (e.g. names .cdd/waves/{wave-id}/manifest.md or the wave title in a ## Wave / ## Source / ## Related section), OR (b) the master tracking issue named by the wave manifest links to the sub-issue (e.g. GitHub sub-issue relations, wave-tracking comment thread, or an explicit Issues: table in the manifest itself naming the sub). Wave authors (δ-as-wave-planner, γ-as-wave-dispatcher) ensure at least one of (a)/(b) holds before dispatching any sub of the wave. The manifest template at §10.2 includes the ## Issues table; populating that table with sub-issue links discharges path (b) by construction. Derives from: cph cdr-refactor wave 2026-05-18 (master usurobor/cph#11; subs cph#12, #13, #14, #15) — four-of-four sub-uniform §5.2 with zero per-sub gamma-scaffold; three distinct β substantive-read justifications across four subs of the same wave-manifest-as-γ-artifact configuration. Without explicit recognition of this convention at the operator layer (this clause) and the review layer (rule 3.11b clause (ii)) and the alpha pre-review-gate layer (§2.6 row 15), β must re-derive the substantive read per sub and α cannot pre-empt the gate. Wave-iteration consolidation: usurobor/cph:.cdd/iterations/wave-2026-05-18.md Finding F1.

5.2.1 Parent-session quiescence during sub-agent runs

When a sub-agent dispatch is in flight (via the Agent tool), the parent session MUST enter quiescent mode:

Prohibited during sub-agent runs:

• No file edits in the working tree
• No commits from the parent session
• No branch switches (git checkout, git switch)
• No git add / git restore --staged (index state must remain stable for the sub-agent's view)
• No git pull / git fetch that updates the current branch HEAD

Permitted during sub-agent runs:

• Reads: git status, git log, git diff, file reads via Read tool, web fetches, GitHub MCP queries
• Coordination: dispatching additional sub-agents (each gets its own context; isolation is by sub-agent), reading existing branches via git fetch <branch> (does not update HEAD)
• Filesystem operations on paths outside the repo (e.g., /tmp, drafts)

When the parent must edit: dispatch a sub-agent to do the edit, or wait for current sub-agents to complete. The parent is the coordinator, not a fourth concurrent writer.

What goes wrong when this is violated: Sub-agent A is running α R1, has read the working tree, is about to git add and git commit. Parent session edits file X concurrently. Sub-agent's git add . picks up parent's edits accidentally. Sub-agent's commit message describes only its intended change but the diff includes parent's edits. Result: corrupted commit, branch must be reset, fix-round required.

Sub-agent parallelism note: Multiple sub-agents launched in parallel (via Agent tool calls in one parent message) have isolated contexts from each other but share the working tree with the parent and with each other. Concurrent file edits by parallel sub-agents are also a corruption risk and should be avoided — multi-sub-agent parallelism is for independent reads, not concurrent writes.

Exception: When the Agent tool runs with filesystem-isolation mode (the sub-agent operates on a copy of the repo, e.g. the Claude Code Agent tool's isolation parameter set to the per-agent-copy mode), parent-session quiescence is unnecessary. Default mode requires quiescence.

5.3 Escalation criteria

Switch from §5.2 to §5.1 (multi-session) when any of the following is true at γ scaffold time:

• ≥7 ACs in the cycle (complexity exceeds what a single-session coordinator can reliably hold across sub-agent round-trips)
• New contract surface or cross-repo deliverables (γ/δ separation matters for audit when external systems are affected)
• ≥3 β rounds expected (multiple fix-round re-dispatches compound the branch-name churn problem under §5.2 harness constraints)
• ≥3 γ judgment calls expected mid-cycle (design ambiguity, scope changes, unblock decisions — each requires full cross-agent context that δ-as-γ holds less reliably than a dedicated γ session)

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6. What the operator does NOT do

These are role boundaries. Crossing them without an override declaration breaks the coherence record.

• Do not implement. That's α. If you want to fix something, declare an override and take the α role explicitly.
• Do not review. That's β. If you disagree with β's verdict, declare an override.
• Do not triage findings. That's γ. If you want a finding handled differently, tell γ.
• Do not rewrite prompts. γ owns prompt quality. If the prompt is weak, tell γ to fix the issue.
• Do not merge without β's approval. The merge gate fires when β says it's ready, not before.
• Do not communicate directly with α or β during in-cycle work. γ is the bridge. δ-to-γ, γ-to-α/β. δ remains external to the triad; γ is the operator's only in-cycle counterparty.

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7. Cycle lifecycle from the operator's view

Phase	Operator action	Wait for
γ dispatch	Dispatch γ via the harness (see harness/SKILL.md §1); γ creates branch, returns α/β prompts	γ completion
α dispatch	Dispatch α via the harness with γ's prompt	α completion (exits after review-readiness)
β dispatch	Dispatch β via the harness with γ's prompt	β completion (merge + β close-out)
α fix-round re-dispatch	Dispatch α via the harness with fix-round prompt (cnos.cds/skills/cds/CDS.md §"Coordination surfaces"; prompt format in §5.2 of this file) when β returns RC	α completion (exits after fix-round)
α close-out re-dispatch	Dispatch α via the harness with close-out prompt (cnos.cds/skills/cds/CDS.md §"Coordination surfaces"; prompt format in §5.2 of this file) when γ requests	α completion (alpha-closeout.md on main)
Release prep	γ writes RELEASE.md, moves cycle dirs; δ holds until complete	γ request
δ preflight	Verify merge commit, release artifacts, tag preconditions	γ preflight request
Closure	Gate: do not tag before gamma-closeout.md exists on main	γ closure declaration (gamma-closeout.md)
Disconnect	Cut the release — see release-effector/SKILL.md	γ close-out + δ session patches on main
Post-release	Execute deferred operator actions from γ close-out	γ deferred-output list
Inter-cycle	Nothing until next γ dispatch	γ next-cycle selection

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8. Timeout recovery

When a dispatched session SIGTERMs, hits a timeout, or crashes before committing, δ runs the worktree inspection + decision-tree recovery procedure codified in harness/SKILL.md §6 (Timeout recovery). The procedure is mechanics; the doctrine surfaces that depend on it stay here:

• Override declaration. If δ commits work on behalf of an agent, this is an implicit override; δ declares it per delta/SKILL.md §3 with the standard shape ("Override: operator-identity commit for cycle #N. Reason: …"). The mechanics record entry lives in self-coherence.md §Debt per harness §6.4.
• Grade implication. A cycle with operator-identity recovery commits is a cycle with operator override; per release/SKILL.md §3.8, the γ-axis grade reflects the override.
• Prevention. The recovery procedure is the failure path; the prevention path is a correctly-sized dispatch budget per cnos.cds/skills/cds/CDS.md §"Field 6: Actor collapse rule" (heuristic constants in this file's §5.2). Record budget/AC count in PRA telemetry (post-release/SKILL.md §4) so the heuristic refines.
• Close-state assertion parity. If recovery carries a SIGTERM-terminated cycle through to a merge, δ MUST run the same close-state hard gate a normal γ close-out runs (gamma/SKILL.md §2.10 row 15: gh issue view {N} --json state --jq .state MUST return CLOSED) before declaring the recovered cycle closed — mechanics at harness/SKILL.md §6.6. Recovery changes who runs the closure gate, not whether it runs.

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9. Embedded Kata

Kata A — Normal cycle

Scenario

γ has dispatched α and β prompts for issue #230. You have two agent sessions available.

Task

Execute the operator role through the full cycle.

Expected actions

1. Confirm agent-to-role mapping
2. Deliver α prompt to session A, β prompt to session B
3. Wait
4. When β requests merge: execute merge
5. When γ requests tag push: execute tag push
6. When γ declares closure: cut the release per release-effector/SKILL.md
7. Execute any deferred operator actions from γ's close-out

Common failures

• Checking the branch during review and suggesting changes (role leak into β)
• Merging before β approves (gate fired early)
• Rewriting γ's prompts before delivering (role leak into γ)

Kata B — Override

Scenario

α has been implementing for 4 hours. γ reports α is stuck on AC3 due to an undocumented API change. γ's unblock attempt (clarifying the issue) didn't resolve it.

Task

Decide whether to override and, if so, execute the protocol.

Expected answer

• Override: descope AC3 from this cycle. Reason: undocumented API change requires investigation beyond cycle scope. New scope: AC1–AC2 + AC4–AC6. γ to update the issue and file AC3 as a follow-on.
• Or: provide the missing API documentation as an artifact fact (not implementation direction), which γ can add to the issue. This is unblocking, not override.

Reflection

• Did you route through γ, or did you talk directly to α? (Should route through γ unless γ is unavailable.)
• Did you declare the override explicitly, or did you quietly adjust scope?

---

10. Wave Coordination

Multi-cycle coordination primitive for sequences of related issues.

When δ runs a wave (sequence of related cycles), the artifacts, coordination protocol, and dispatch templates below ensure wave state is durable, auditable, and git-committed — not ephemeral like /tmp files.

10.1. δ Wave Dispatch Template

Wave dispatch prompt template for δ-as-agent. Parallel to α/β templates in gamma/SKILL.md §2.5. Takes wave manifest as input, produces γ prompts per issue.

# δ Wave Dispatch — {wave-name}

You are δ (operator) for CDD wave coordination.

## Load Order (mandatory)

1. Read `src/packages/cnos.cdd/skills/cdd/operator/SKILL.md` — canonical δ algorithm
2. Read wave manifest at `.cdd/waves/{wave-id}/manifest.md` — issue order, dependencies, permissions
3. Read wave status at `.cdd/waves/{wave-id}/status.md` — current per-issue state

## Context

- **Wave:** {wave-name}
- **Wave ID:** {wave-id} 
- **Repo:** {repo-path}
- **Issues in scope:** {issue-list}

## Algorithm

1. **Initialize wave directory** — create `.cdd/waves/{wave-id}/` if it doesn't exist
2. **Update wave status** — write current state to `status.md` (queued → in-progress for next issue)  
3. **Select next issue** — per manifest order and dependency constraints
4. **Dispatch γ** — create issue-specific γ prompt using manifest permissions and timeouts
5. **Monitor cycle** — poll `origin/cycle/{N}` and `.cdd/unreleased/{N}/` for completion
6. **Update wave status** — mark cycle completed/failed, update rounds, notes
7. **Repeat or close** — continue with next issue or close wave when complete

## Wave permissions from manifest

- Push to cycle branches: {push-cycles}
- Push merges to main: {push-main}  
- Auto-dispatch α fix rounds: {auto-fix} (max {fix-max})
- Tag/release: {tag-release}
- Branch delete after merge: {branch-delete}

## Standing instructions

- Update `.cdd/waves/{wave-id}/status.md` after each cycle completion
- Emit wave status table on operator request  
- Close wave when all issues completed/deferred per manifest
- Write `.cdd/waves/{wave-id}/wave-closeout.md` at wave end

Signal completion when wave is closed or blocked.

10.2. Wave Manifest Format

Canonical wave manifest — .cdd/waves/{wave-id}/manifest.md.

Contains issue list, execution order, dependency constraints, standing permissions, timeout budgets.

# Wave: {wave-title}

**Date:** {YYYY-MM-DD}
**Dispatcher:** {δ-identity}  
**Repo:** {repo-path}

## Issues (run in order)

| Order | # | Title | ACs | Type | Dependencies |
|-------|---|-------|-----|------|--------------|
| 1 | {N1} | {title1} | {ac-count1} | {type1} | — |
| 2 | {N2} | {title2} | {ac-count2} | {type2} | #{N1} |
| 3 | {N3} | {title3} | {ac-count3} | {type3} | #{N1}, #{N2} |

## Standing permissions

- Push to cycle branches: {yes|no}
- Push merges to main: {yes|no}
- Auto-dispatch α fix rounds on REQUEST CHANGES: {yes|no} (max {N})
- Tag/release: {yes|no} — write to status.md only
- Branch delete after merge: {yes|no}

## Timeout budgets

- γ: {N}s ({configuration-note})
- α: {N}s  
- β: {N}s

## Dependencies

{per-issue dependency description}

10.3. Wave Status Format

Wave status tracking — .cdd/waves/{wave-id}/status.md.

Per-issue status table updated by δ after each cycle closes.

# Wave Status: {wave-title}

**Last updated:** {timestamp} by δ

| # | Issue | Status | Rounds | Branch | Tag | Notes |
|---|-------|--------|--------|--------|-----|-------|
| {N1} | {title1} | {status1} | {rounds1} | {branch-state1} | {tag-state1} | {notes1} |
| {N2} | {title2} | {status2} | {rounds2} | {branch-state2} | {tag-state2} | {notes2} |

## Status values

- `⬜ queued` — not started
- `🔄 in-progress` — γ/α/β active
- `✅ completed` — merged to main
- `❌ failed` — cycle abandoned
- `⏸️ blocked` — waiting on dependency
- `⭕ deferred` — explicitly moved out of wave

10.4. Wave Closure Protocol

Wave completion conditions and closure procedure.

Wave is closed when:

1. All issues completed or explicitly deferred
2. Status.md final — all entries show terminal state (completed/failed/deferred)
3. Wave-closeout.md written with aggregate stats and findings

Closure algorithm:

1. Verify completion — every manifest issue has terminal status
2. Write wave-closeout.md — wave summary, aggregate metrics, cross-wave findings
3. Finalize status.md — add wave closure timestamp, mark final
4. Signal closure — wave coordination complete, artifacts durable

10.5. δ Wave Reporting Format

Wave status table emitted by δ. Parallel to γ's TLDR (§2.11) but wave-scoped.

#	Issue	Status	Rounds	Notes
{N}	{title}	{status}	{round-count}	{notes}

Status icons:

• ⬜ queued — not started
• 🔄 in-progress — cycle active
• ✅ completed — merged, tagged
• ❌ failed — cycle abandoned
• ⏸️ blocked — dependency wait
• ⭕ deferred — moved out of wave

Emit frequency:

• After each cycle completion
• On operator request
• At wave closure

10.6. Iteration Artifact Lifecycle

Three-stage lifecycle for wave iteration findings.

Wave iteration files (like .cdd/iterations/wave-2026-05-12.md) track cross-cycle findings and their dispositions through wave execution and into release.

Stage 1: Per-issue close

• Wave iteration file's disposition column updated with issue numbers or commit SHAs
• Each finding gets: filed #{N}, patched {SHA}, deferred, or no-action
• Updated as each wave issue closes

Stage 2: Wave close

• Wave iteration file moves to .cdd/waves/{wave-id}/iteration.md
• Dispositions finalized, no further updates
• Wave-closeout.md cross-references iteration.md
• Iteration.md becomes part of durable wave record

Stage 3: Release boundary

• Findings that produced MCAs (Major Change Approvals) get cross-referenced in release PRA
• PRA links back to specific iteration.md findings that drove release changes
• Creates audit trail from wave findings → MCAs → release notes

File movement example:

.cdd/iterations/wave-2026-05-12.md  
  ↓ (wave closes)
.cdd/waves/hardening-2026-05-12/iteration.md
  ↓ (release time) 
.cdd/releases/3.60.0/post-release-assessment.md (references iteration findings)