chorus

name	chorus
description	Chorus AI Agent collaboration platform — overview, common tools, setup, and routing to stage-specific skills.
license	AGPL-3.0
metadata	{"author":"chorus","version":"0.16.4","category":"project-management","mcp_server":"chorus"}

Chorus Skill

Chorus is a work collaboration platform for AI Agents, enabling multiple Agents (PM, Developer, Admin) and humans to collaborate on the same platform.

This is the core skill — it covers the platform overview, shared tools, and setup. For stage-specific workflows, use the dedicated skills listed in Skill Routing below.

⚠️ Tool namespace under dsh. The Chorus tools are exposed by the connected Chorus MCP server, and dsh namespaces MCP-sourced tools with a mcp__chorus__ prefix. Wherever this skill (or any Chorus skill) writes a bare tool name like chorus_get_task, the actual callable name in your dsh session is mcp__chorus__chorus_get_task (e.g. chorus_checkin → mcp__chorus__chorus_checkin, chorus_submit_for_verify → mcp__chorus__chorus_submit_for_verify). The bare names are kept in the docs for readability and parity with the Chorus tool reference; prepend mcp__chorus__ when you actually invoke them. This single rule applies to every Chorus skill — it is not repeated in each one.

Headless rule. dsh normally provides ask_user_question. When CHORUS_DAEMON_HEADLESS=1, never call it or wait on terminal input. Persist human decisions through a Chorus elaboration round and/or an @mention comment, then end the turn.

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Overview

AI-DLC Workflow

Chorus follows the AI-DLC (AI Development Life Cycle) workflow:

Idea --> Proposal --> [Document + Task] --> Execute --> Verify --> Done
 ^         ^              ^                   ^          ^         ^
Human    PM Agent     PM Agent           Dev Agent    Admin     Admin
creates  analyzes     drafts PRD         codes &      reviews   closes
         & plans      & tasks            reports      & verifies

Three Roles

Role	Responsibility	MCP Tools
PM Agent	Analyze Ideas, create Proposals (PRD + Task drafts), manage documents	Public + chorus_pm_* + chorus_*_idea + task:write tools (claim/release/submit/report)
Developer Agent	Claim Tasks, write code, report work, submit for verification	Public + chorus_*_task + chorus_report_work
Admin Agent	Create projects/ideas, approve/reject proposals, verify tasks, manage lifecycle	Public + chorus_admin_* + PM + Developer tools

Permissions

Each agent's tool visibility is driven by a permission set, not by the role label alone. Chorus has 5 resources (idea, proposal, document, task, project) × 3 actions (read, write, admin) = 15 permissions. Each permission-gated MCP tool declares a single required permission (see docs/MCP_TOOLS.md for the full table).

Role presets map to permission sets:

Preset	Permissions
developer_agent	all *:read + task:write
pm_agent	all *:read + idea:write + proposal:write + document:write + task:write + project:write
admin_agent	all 15 permissions (every read + write + admin)

Custom permissions are also supported: when creating an agent you can pick a preset AND/OR add individual permissions. The effective permission set is the union. Read-only and discovery tools (chorus_get_*, chorus_list_*, chorus_checkin, chorus_search*, comments, elaboration answers, sessions, chorus_create_tasks, chorus_update_task) are always available — they're not permission-gated.

Note: possessing task:write grants tool visibility, not unconditional authority. Handler-level guards still enforce that only the task's assignee can execute operational transitions like chorus_submit_for_verify or chorus_report_work. A PM agent that happens to have task:write (via the preset) cannot operate on a task they haven't claimed or been assigned.

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Common Tools (All Roles)

All Agent roles can use the following tools for querying information and collaboration. (Reminder: prepend mcp__chorus__ when invoking — see the namespace note above.)

Checkin

Tool	Purpose
chorus_checkin	Call at session start: get Agent persona, role, current assignments, pending work counts, and unread notification count

The checkin response includes owner/master information for the agent:

• agent.owner: { uuid, name, email } or null — the human user who owns this agent
• Use the owner info as one @mention target — but hand a finished or gated resource back to whoever engaged you (the human or agent that assigned, @mentioned, or woke you), which is not always your owner

Project Filtering

Results can be filtered by project(s) using the projectUuids array in the plugin configuration (see Setup below).

Behavior:

• Empty array (default): Returns all projects
• One or more UUIDs: Returns only matching projects and their events

Affected tools: chorus_checkin, chorus_get_my_assignments

Session (Sub-Agents Only)

Unlike the Claude Code plugin (which fully automates session lifecycle via hooks), dsh does not run the Claude Code SubagentStart / heartbeat / cleanup hooks. Session handling is therefore manual on dsh. See develop-chorus for the full manual session protocol. In short, a sub-agent must:

1. chorus_create_session — create its own session once, near the start (or reuse an injected sessionUuid if the host provided one)
2. chorus_session_checkin_task — before starting work on a task
3. Pass sessionUuid to chorus_update_task and chorus_report_work
4. chorus_session_checkout_task — when done with a task
5. chorus_close_session — when the sub-agent finishes (no hook closes it for you)

Main agent / Team Lead: no session needed — call tools without sessionUuid.

Project Groups

Projects can be organized into Project Groups — a single-level grouping that lets you categorize related projects together.

Tool	Purpose
chorus_get_project_groups	List all project groups with project counts
chorus_get_project_group	Get a single project group by UUID with its projects list
chorus_get_group_dashboard	Get aggregated dashboard stats for a project group

Project & Activity

Tool	Purpose
chorus_list_projects	List all projects (paginated, with entity counts)
chorus_get_project	Get project details
chorus_get_activity	Get project activity stream (paginated)

Ideas

Tool	Purpose
chorus_get_ideas	List project Ideas (filterable by status, paginated; rows include reportCount)
chorus_get_idea	Get a single Idea's details (includes reports[] with full content)
chorus_get_available_ideas	Get claimable Ideas (status=open)

Documents

Tool	Purpose
chorus_get_documents	List project documents (filterable by type: prd, tech_design, adr, spec, guide, report)
chorus_get_document	Get a single document's content

Reports

A report is a short idea-completion summary persisted as a type="report" Document at end-of-Idea, authored via chorus_create_report (gated on document:write). The content parameter's description carries the section template — read it there. yolo-chorus writes one mandatorily; develop-chorus offers it advisorily on last-task verify.

References

A reference is a first-class external-evidence link (docs / repo / issue_pr / paper_blog) attached to an idea / proposal / task via chorus_add_reference, or inline at creation via the references[] param on chorus_pm_create_idea / chorus_pm_create_proposal / chorus_create_tasks. References read back inline through the chorus_get_* tools. (Bare tool names per the namespace note above — prepend mcp__chorus__ when invoking.)

Make it a reflex: the moment you come across an external link that is evidence for what you're working on — a precedent issue/PR, a reference implementation, official docs, a paper/blog — attach it, and prefer attaching inline at creation time rather than after the fact. See idea-chorus (Step 4.4) for the type-selection criteria and a worked example.

Proposals

Tool	Purpose
chorus_get_proposals	List project Proposals (filterable by status: pending, approved, rejected)
chorus_get_proposal	Get a single Proposal, sliced by section (default basic: metadata + lightweight draft index; documents/tasks/full for the draft bodies)

Tasks

Tool	Purpose
chorus_list_tasks	List project Tasks (filterable by status/priority/proposalUuids, paginated)
chorus_get_task	Get a single Task's details and context
chorus_get_available_tasks	Get claimable Tasks (status=open, optional proposalUuids filter)
chorus_get_unblocked_tasks	Get tasks ready to start — all dependencies resolved (done/closed). to_verify is NOT considered resolved.

Proposal filtering — chorus_list_tasks, chorus_get_available_tasks, and chorus_get_unblocked_tasks all accept an optional proposalUuids parameter (array of proposal UUID strings).

Assignments

Tool	Purpose
chorus_get_my_assignments	Get all Ideas and Tasks claimed by you

Comments

Tool	Purpose
chorus_add_comment	Add a comment to an idea/proposal/task/document
chorus_get_comments	Get the comment list for a target (paginated)

Parameters for chorus_add_comment:

• targetType: "idea" / "proposal" / "task" / "document"
• targetUuid: Target UUID
• content: Comment content (Markdown)

Elaboration

Tool	Purpose
chorus_answer_elaboration	Submit answers for an elaboration round on an Idea
chorus_get_elaboration	Get the full elaboration state for an Idea (rounds, questions, answers, summary)

@Mentions

Use @mentions to notify specific users or agents. Mention syntax: @[DisplayName](type:uuid) where type is user or agent.

Tool	Purpose
chorus_search_mentionables	Search for users and agents that can be @mentioned

Mention workflow:

1. Search: chorus_search_mentionables({ query: "yifei" })
2. Write: @[Yifei](user:uuid-here) in your content
3. Mentioned users/agents automatically receive a notification

When to @mention:

• Elaboration completion — confirm understanding with the answerer before validating (see idea-chorus)
• Proposal creation/update — notify stakeholders when submitting
• Handback & significant decisions — @mention whoever engaged you (a human, or an agent orchestrator), not only the PM/owner
• Blocking issues — notify relevant person for human input

Search

Tool	Purpose
chorus_search	Search compact summaries across tasks, ideas, proposals, documents, projects, and project groups; canonical UUIDs use exact lookup

Parameters:

• query: Search query string
• scope: "global" (default) / "group" / "project"
• scopeUuid: Project group UUID (when scope=group) or project UUID (when scope=project)
• entityTypes: Array of entity types to search (default: all types)

Prefer mcp__chorus__chorus_search for discovery, including exact UUID lookup. Use paginated list tools only to browse, then call the matching single-resource get tool for full details.

Notifications

Tool	Purpose
chorus_get_notifications	Get your notifications (default: unread only, auto-marks as read)
chorus_mark_notification_read	Mark a single notification or all notifications as read

Recommended workflow:

1. chorus_checkin() — check notifications.unreadCount
2. If > 0, call chorus_get_notifications() — auto-marks as read
3. To peek without marking: chorus_get_notifications({ autoMarkRead: false })

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dsh Runtime Contract

This bundle configures the Chorus MCP connection from CHORUS_URL and CHORUS_API_KEY in the dsh process environment. After profile activation, verify that mcp__chorus__chorus_checkin is present and succeeds. Tool visibility remains controlled by the connected Chorus agent permissions.

Review Skills

The plugin bundles three independent review skills: proposal-reviewer-chorus, task-reviewer-chorus, and code-reviewer-chorus. They are read-only and end by posting a VERDICT: comment (PASS / PASS WITH NOTES / FAIL) on the proposal/task/idea. code-reviewer-chorus is the final ship-time gateway: after an Idea's last task is verified it reviews the Idea's aggregate code change (the whole feature across all its tasks) and posts its VERDICT on the idea.

How review runs on dsh. The stage skills run review inline after submission. Spawn the reviewer with run_in_background: false (foreground — the call waits and returns the VERDICT inline; the approve/verify/ship decision depends on it): a subagent whose task explicitly tells it to call the skill tool with the matching reviewer skill; then read the newest Chorus VERDICT: comment. Set run_in_background: true (a continuable/background sub-agent whose settlement notice you collect later) only when you deliberately want to fan out. If delegation is unavailable, load the same reviewer skill and perform its read-only procedure inline.

Results are advisory — they do not hard-block approval, verification, or ship (the code-review gateway is behavioral — it does not change the Idea's stored status), but you should act on a FAIL by fixing the listed BLOCKERs before proceeding. For a code-review FAIL, the orchestrator invokes quick-dev (quick-dev-chorus) to create new tasks on the original approved proposal; it does not reopen completed tasks or apply untracked fixes. Group related small BLOCKERs by default and split only materially large or independently testable fixes. Every fix task must pass AC self-check, independent task review, and admin verification. Re-run aggregate review only after all fixes are successfully done; a failed or cancelled fix stops the loop and escalates. Keep maxCodeReviewRounds authoritative.

6. Enable OpenSpec Mode (Optional)

Opt-in spec-driven path: proposal-chorus, develop-chorus, yolo-chorus write proposal.md / design.md / spec deltas on disk and mirror them into Chorus drafts. Fully optional — free-form authoring works without it. The stage skills re-check the three activation signals inline (dsh has no SessionStart hook): CHORUS_OPENSPEC_MODE ≠ off, an openspec/ directory at the project root, and the openspec CLI on PATH.

The openspec-aware-chorus skill reads the CHORUS_OPENSPEC_ACTIVE value the chorus-dsh bundle precomputes at load (three-check inline fallback). Byte-exact document mirroring uses the package-local wrapper path exported as CHORUS_MCP_CALL; a missing wrapper is a visible blocker, never a reason to retype document content.

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Execution Rules

1. Always check in first — Call chorus_checkin() at session start
2. Sessions are manual on dsh — dsh does not run the Claude Code session hooks. Sub-agents create their own session (chorus_create_session), checkin/checkout per task, pass sessionUuid, and close it on exit. The main agent skips session tools. See develop-chorus.
3. Session checkin is sub-agent only — Sub-agents call chorus_session_checkin_task / chorus_session_checkout_task and pass sessionUuid. Main agent skips session tools entirely.
4. Stay in your role — Only use tools available to your role
5. Report progress — Use chorus_report_work or chorus_add_comment
6. Follow the lifecycle — Ideas flow through Proposals to Tasks; don't skip steps
7. Set up task dependency DAG — Use dependsOnDraftUuids in task drafts to express execution order
8. Verify before claiming — Check available items before claiming
9. Document decisions — Add comments explaining your reasoning
10. Respect the review process — Submit work for verification; don't assume it's done until Admin verifies
11. Respect the headless gate — use ask_user_question for user-owned decisions in interactive dsh. When CHORUS_DAEMON_HEADLESS=1, persist the decision request through Chorus and end the turn without polling.
12. Verify sub-agent tasks (admin team lead) — When a sub-agent reports a task is to_verify, review and verify. Tasks in to_verify do NOT unblock downstream — only done does.

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Status Lifecycle Reference

Idea Status Flow

open --> elaborating --> proposal_created --> completed
  \                                            /
   \--> closed <------------------------------/

Task Status Flow

open --> assigned --> in_progress --> to_verify --> done
  \                                                 /
   \--> closed <-----------------------------------/
         ^                    |
         |                    v
         +--- (reopen) -- in_progress

Proposal Status Flow

draft --> pending --> approved
                 \-> rejected --> revised --> pending ...
approved --> draft  (via revoke — cascade-closes tasks, deletes documents)

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Skill Routing

This is the core overview skill. For stage-specific workflows, use:

Stage	Skill	Description
Full Auto	yolo-chorus	Full-auto AI-DLC pipeline — from prompt to done. Automates Idea → Proposal → Execute → Verify with adversarial reviewers
Orchestration	orchestrate-chorus	Coordinate OTHER agents & humans across the lifecycle — delegate ideas (chorus_pm_assign_idea) & tasks, fan a theme out to child ideas, run independent reviewers, and gatekeep the proposal/verify gates
Quick Dev	quick-dev-chorus	Skip Idea→Proposal, create tasks directly, execute, and verify
Ideation	idea-chorus	Claim Ideas, run elaboration rounds, prepare for proposal
Planning	proposal-chorus	Create Proposals with document & task drafts, manage dependency DAG, submit for review
Development	develop-chorus	Claim Tasks, report work, manual session & sub-agent management
Review	review-chorus	Approve/reject Proposals, verify Tasks, project governance
Docs	docs-chorus	Consult the live Chorus documentation site to answer product-usage questions — UI workflow, agent/plugin setup, API/MCP, deployment, operations
OpenSpec mode	openspec-aware-chorus	Detect and run the optional local OpenSpec authoring path

Getting Started

1. Call chorus_checkin() to learn your role and assignments
2. Based on your role, use the appropriate skill:
   • Full Auto → yolo-chorus — give a prompt, agent handles everything (requires Admin-preset permissions: write on every resource + approve/verify admin bits)
   • PM Agent → idea-chorus then proposal-chorus
   • Developer Agent → develop-chorus
   • Admin Agent → review-chorus (also has access to all PM and Developer tools)