houmao-adv-usage-pattern

name	houmao-adv-usage-pattern
description	Use Houmao's advanced-usage pattern skill for supported multi-step workflow compositions such as self-notification, notifier-prompt-driven mail loops, local-close edge loops, and forward relay loops built from existing Houmao skills.
license	MIT

Houmao Advanced Usage Patterns

Use this Houmao skill when the task is a supported multi-step Houmao workflow composition rather than one direct mailbox, gateway, or lifecycle action.

This skill is intentionally above the direct-operation skills and below the maintained generated-loop skills. Keep exact mailbox actions in houmao-agent-email-comms, gateway and notifier control in houmao-agent-gateway, one notifier-driven open-mail round in houmao-process-emails-via-gateway, topology-rich generated execplans in houmao-agent-loop-pro, and lightweight Markdown/direct-SQL generated loops in houmao-agent-loop-lite.

Help

When the user asks $houmao-adv-usage-pattern help, help for houmao-adv-usage-pattern, usage for houmao-adv-usage-pattern, available functionality for houmao-adv-usage-pattern, or what this skill can do, answer from this section before choosing a pattern or reference page. This is read-only help: do not run commands, mutate files, send mail, change gateway state, or alter managed-agent lifecycle state during help. If the user asks a concrete task such as "help me design a notifier-driven mail loop", route to the matching workflow instead of stopping at generic help.

Purpose: explain supported multi-step Houmao workflow compositions that combine direct mailbox, gateway, notifier, and loop skills.

Available functionality:

• Self-notification choices between gateway reminders and self-mail backlog.
• Notifier-prompt-driven mail loops with on-event and optional on-tick behavior.
• One-round local-close driver-worker edge loops.
• Ordered relay loops that return final results to the origin.
• Guidance for choosing between elemental patterns, houmao-agent-loop-lite, and houmao-agent-loop-pro.

Common starting prompts:

• $houmao-adv-usage-pattern help
• $houmao-adv-usage-pattern self-notification
• $houmao-adv-usage-pattern notifier-prompt-driven mail loop
• $houmao-adv-usage-pattern local-close edge loop

Related skills and boundaries:

• Use houmao-agent-email-comms for one exact mailbox action.
• Use houmao-agent-gateway for gateway lifecycle, reminders, and mail-notifier control.
• Use houmao-process-emails-via-gateway for one notifier-reported open-mail round.
• Use houmao-agent-loop-lite or houmao-agent-loop-pro for generated loop packages.

Supported Patterns

• Read patterns/self-notification.md when a managed agent wants to notify itself about later work and needs to choose between live gateway reminders and self-mail backlog.
• Read patterns/notifier-prompt-driven-mail-loop.md when mailbox notifications are the runtime driver: gateway mail-notifier prompts the target agent, generated or loop-specific on-event behavior handles mail, optional on-tick behavior runs once, and the agent must end the chat turn.
• Read patterns/pairwise-edge-loop-via-gateway-and-mailbox.md when one driver sends one request to one worker for one local-close edge-loop round and that same worker must return the final result to that same driver.
• Read patterns/relay-loop-via-gateway-and-mailbox.md when one master or loop origin starts one ordered N-node relay lane, work moves forward along that lane, and the designated loop egress returns the final result to the origin through mailbox email.

Multi-Agent Loop Chooser

• Prefer the local-close edge-loop pattern when exactly one driver sends one worker request for one local-close round and the final result should return to the same driver that sent that request.
• Prefer the forward relay-loop pattern when one master or loop origin starts one ordered relay lane, ownership should keep moving forward along that lane, and a later downstream loop egress should return the final result directly to that origin.
• Use the notifier-prompt-driven mail loop pattern for runtime wake-up posture, notifier appendix guidance, sender notify blocks, mail-event handling, and one-pass tick behavior inside a mailbox-driven loop.
• Use houmao-agent-loop-lite when the user explicitly wants a small generated-skill loop package with Markdown contracts, typed Markdown templates, and direct SQLite state.
• Use houmao-agent-loop-pro for composed topology, schema-rich generated execplans, rendered graphs, graph policy, multi-edge tree loops, multi-lane relay routes, or generated loop run-control actions. Choose tree-loop or generic-loop inside pro instead of routing to retired loop packages.

Guardrails

• Do not treat this skill as a new control surface; it composes existing Houmao-owned skills.
• Do not replace the direct-operation skills when the task is only one send, list, notifier, or wakeup action.
• Do not claim durability beyond the mailbox open-work state and live gateway contracts the pattern page states explicitly.
• Do not ask managed agents to sleep, poll, tail logs, or wait in-chat for future mail or ticks.