openrig

Use when working a mission or slice — the full SDLC flow (intent → mini-requirements + proof contract → mockups → plan-lock → build → QA visual compare → `rig proof` drops → proof-lock) plus how to track, prove, hand off, and carry state across agents and compaction via the canonical files (PROGRESS.md / PROOF.md / MISSION_NOTES.md / MISSION_BRIEF.md / README.md / IMPLEMENTATION-PRD.md). Covers the convention sections the Living Notes UI projects, the two locks, the three role contracts, per-file WHO/WHEN/HOW rules, the four-legs lifecycle, hot-potato queue handoffs, the moment-of-truth checklist, the deterministic `rig scope audit` backstop, and the ghost-text capture gotcha.

Use when opening OpenRig fleet terminals into cmux — turning a rig, pod, mission, slice, or saved view into live agent tiles via `rig terminal --provider cmux`, or driving cmux on an agent's request. Same OpenRig view semantics as openrig-herdr (the verbs, honest-partial/degrade, read-only cross-rig, scroll/copy, same-size-only duplicates); cmux is the **best-effort** provider (herdr is the default and the proof-gated one). Prefer openrig-herdr unless cmux is specifically wanted.

Use when opening OpenRig fleet terminals as a herdr wall — turning a rig, pod, mission, slice, or saved view into live interactive agent tiles via `rig terminal`, watching another rig read-only, or driving herdr on an agent's request ("open all my rigs + a mission as views"). Covers the `rig terminal open|views|status` verbs, the honest-partial/degrade reading of the result, the read-only-by-construction rail for cross-rig views, scroll/copy out of the box, and the same-size-only duplicate-pane limit. herdr is the default, proof-gated provider.

Use when operating OpenRig with the `rig` CLI and you need the shipped command surface for identity, inventory, communication, lifecycle, specs, recovery, or agent-facing JSON output.

Use when operating or debugging host-side OpenRig runtime issues including daemon reachability, partial identity, unified-exec warnings, stale helper-process cleanup, or when distinguishing harness/process issues from live topology health.

Operating manual for the orchestration pod. Covers lead vs peer roles, monitoring with rig commands, permission handling, implementation pair gating, dogfood loops, review routing, agent behavioral models, intervention discipline, and communication culture.

Use when a Claude Code session has just compacted, is about to compact, reached context limit, resumed after /compact, or needs to rebuild its working mental model from Claude JSONL transcripts and touched files.

Use when ending a turn, finishing a slice, blocked on another agent's work, or escalating to a human — durable work handoff via queue items so the system keeps moving across compactions, missed messages, and interruptions. Covers the hot-potato terminal-turn-rule (active work ends by passing the ball, not by going idle), default-nudge semantics, and when `--no-nudge` is appropriate for intentional cold park or human gate.

Use when an agent is newly oriented to OpenRig and needs to form an accurate mental model of the system fast — what rigs are, how skills load, what the topology shapes mean, what the product loop is. For agents booting into a new seat or returning to OpenRig work after time away. NOT for HA-pair compaction recovery (that's the pair-of-seats coordination pattern; orientation is a solo task) or for specific operational procedures.

Use when reasoning about the rig lifecycle operations family (create / start / stop / resume / restore / snapshot / release / unclaim / destroy), reading or trusting `rig ps` / lifecycle projections after recovery, or designing proof for a lifecycle scenario. Covers the 4 failure modes (auto-restore creates partial rig; projections report healthier than reality; provider auth treated as impl work; resume succeeds for one runtime fails another) plus the restore-honesty rule (failed resume is FAILED loudly — no auto fresh fallback).

Systematically explore and test a web application to find bugs, UX issues, and other problems. Use when asked to "dogfood", "QA", "exploratory test", "find issues", "bug hunt", "test this app/site/platform", or review the quality of a web application. Produces a structured report with full reproduction evidence -- step-by-step screenshots, repro videos, and detailed repro steps for every issue -- so findings can be handed directly to the responsible teams.

Create distinctive, production-grade frontend interfaces with high design quality. Use this skill when the user asks to build web components, pages, artifacts, posters, or applications (examples include websites, landing pages, dashboards, React components, HTML/CSS layouts, or when styling/beautifying any web UI). Generates creative, polished code and UI design that avoids generic AI aesthetics.

You MUST use this before any creative work - creating features, building components, adding functionality, or modifying behavior. Explores user intent, requirements and design before implementation.

Use when encountering any bug, test failure, or unexpected behavior, before proposing fixes

Use when implementing any feature or bugfix, before writing implementation code

Use when starting any conversation - establishes how to find and use skills, requiring Skill tool invocation before ANY response including clarifying questions

Use when about to claim work is complete, fixed, or passing, before committing or creating PRs - requires running verification commands and confirming output before making any success claims; evidence before assertions always

Use when you have a spec or requirements for a multi-step task, before touching code

Browser automation CLI for AI agents. Use when the user needs to interact with websites, including navigating pages, filling forms, clicking buttons, taking screenshots, extracting data, testing web apps, or automating any browser task. Triggers include requests to "open a website", "fill out a form", "click a button", "take a screenshot", "scrape data from a page", "test this web app", "login to a site", "automate browser actions", or any task requiring programmatic web interaction.

Use when you have a written implementation plan to execute in a separate session with review checkpoints

Use when designing or auditing how an agent becomes useful after launch — AGENTS.md overlays, role files, skills, rig specs, workflow specs, startup checklists, refocus messages, "rig context" surface. Covers the 4 failure modes that make startup context fail (old rig spec misses current operating mode; current agents never told about new guidance; startup file as dumping ground; orchestrator transmits implementation without preserving product intent).

Use when designing multi-agent topologies that run ON OpenRig — authoring RigSpec and AgentSpec files for new rigs, creating agent startup content (guidance / skills / culture), or diagnosing why a launched rig's agents aren't behaving as intended. NOT for changing OpenRig itself (work in the openrig product repo); NOT for ordinary CLI operation of an existing rig (use openrig-user). Covers the full authoring lifecycle from user intent to validated, launchable rig.

Use when debugging host-side OpenRig runtime issues: daemon reachability, Codex permission or writable-root failures, command approval friction, rate limits/account switches, helper cleanup, or topology health confusion. NOT for ordinary CLI operation (use openrig-user) or for changing OpenRig itself (work in the openrig product repo).

Use when replacing a seat's occupant (rebuild/handover/swap), reasoning about stable-seat-identity vs fluid-occupant-identity, choosing an old-occupant disposition (retire/advise/shadow), or recording provenance for an occupant change. Two independent outcomes (continuityOutcome + seatBindingOutcome) and the 5 failure modes that prevent silent dishonesty.

Use when installing or upgrading OpenRig on a host, especially the V0.3.1 upgrade flow which includes the substrate-kernel → daemon-managed-kernel migration ceremony. Covers npm install, rig setup, rig daemon start (auto-boots kernel), and the canonical verification commands. NOT for ordinary kernel operation post-install — use openrig-operator skill for that.

Use when the user asks an OpenRig agent to read or change OpenRig configuration settings — workspace paths, file allowlists, progress scan roots, daemon port/host, transcripts, or anything stored in ~/.openrig/config.json

How the development pod coordinates implementation, QA, and design without skipping gates.

Quickly capture product ideas, feature requests, or insights from meetings and conversations. Rapid documentation with smart categorization and deduplication.

Gather and distill context from meetings, competitors, regulatory sources, and internal discussions. Produces background.md for a feature and updates shared context docs when new knowledge is discovered.

Generate a 1-2 page executive summary for a feature — orients sales, leadership, and engineering from a single document.

YC-style product validation using six forcing questions. Pressure-tests a feature idea before it becomes a requirement — ensuring real demand, a clear wedge, and evidence behind assumptions.

Multi-perspective review of a feature plan or requirements doc before development begins. Evaluates from strategy, design/UX, and engineering angles to catch gaps early.

Conversational intake that produces a structured requirements.md following a standardized PM schema. Enforces PM lane — no architecture, no estimates, no implementation details. Uses GIVEN/WHEN/THEN acceptance criteria.

Create UI mockups at three fidelity levels — ASCII wireframes for quick iteration, standalone HTML mockups for delivery with requirements, and live prototypes for interaction testing.

Complete operating manual for the review pod. Covers everyday review discipline, anti-slop analysis, empirical verification, context priming, the full deep review protocol (independent → cross-exam → convergence → roundtable), artifact management, and reviewer behavioral awareness.