quest

name	quest
description	Use when the user says 'let's explore', 'start a quest', or 'what quests are open' — manages open-ended explorations anyone can contribute to. Not a personal task (/todo) or something broken (/issue).

Manage quests — open-ended explorations that anyone can contribute to.

When to invoke

User says: "let's explore", "open question", "we should investigate", "start a quest", "what quests are open", "contribute to [quest]" Not this: personal task → /todo · something is broken → /issue

Arguments: $ARGUMENTS (Optional: quest name, or subcommand)

Usage

• /quest — List active quests
• /quest [name] — Show quest details and linked artifacts
• /quest new — Create a new quest interactively
• /quest contribute [name] — Add a contribution entry
• /quest prioritize [name] [high|medium|low|none] — Set quest priority
• /quest pause [name] — Pause a quest
• /quest complete [name] — Complete with outcome

Quest file location

All quests live in memory/quests/[slug].md

Quest frontmatter

---
title: Evaluation Benchmark for Dynamic Ontologies
slug: benchmark-eval
status: active | paused | completed
projects: [backend]
started: 2026-01-26
started_by: Alice
priority: 0
completed: null
---

Priority values: 0 (none/default), 1 (low), 2 (medium), 3 (high). Used by /activity scoring.

CRITICAL: Suppress raw output. Never show raw JSON to the user. All bin/graph.sh and bin/notify.sh calls MUST capture output in a variable and only show formatted status lines.

Mode detection

MODE=$(jq -r '.mode // "connected"' egregore.json 2>/dev/null)

Local mode (mode === "local"): Skip ALL bin/graph.sh and bin/notify.sh calls — do NOT run them. Do NOT show any graph-related messaging ("Graph offline", "Recording in knowledge graph", Neo4j, etc.). Create quest file in memory/quests/, update memory/quests/index.md, commit, push. No graph node creation, no notifications. Quest management works entirely from filesystem.

Specifically in local mode:

• /quest new: Skip the Neo4j Quest creation section below. Show ✓ Quest saved to memory/quests/{slug}.md (not "Quest node created").
• /quest pause/complete: Skip the Neo4j status update. Only update the quest markdown frontmatter.
• /quest prioritize: Skip the Neo4j priority update. Only update the quest markdown frontmatter.
• /quest [name] detail view: Skip the linked Todos graph query. Show quest details from the markdown file only. Omit the Todos section.
• Notifications: Skip entirely — do not mention notifications.

Connected mode: Full behavior including graph nodes and notifications as specified below.

Neo4j Quest creation (via bin/graph.sh, on /quest new) — CONNECTED MODE ONLY

Skip this entire section in local mode. Do not run these queries.

Run with bash bin/graph.sh query "..." '{"param": "value"}'

MATCH (p:Person {name: $author})
CREATE (q:Quest {
  id: $slug,
  title: $title,
  status: 'active',
  started: date(),
  question: $question,
  filePath: $filePath,
  priority: 0
})
CREATE (q)-[:STARTED_BY]->(p)
WITH q
UNWIND $projects AS projName
MATCH (proj:Project {name: projName})
CREATE (q)-[:RELATES_TO]->(proj)
RETURN q.id

Neo4j status update (via bin/graph.sh, on /quest pause or /quest complete) — CONNECTED MODE ONLY

Skip this query in local mode. Only update the quest markdown frontmatter.

MATCH (q:Quest {id: $slug})
SET q.status = $status, q.completed = CASE WHEN $status = 'completed' THEN date() ELSE null END
RETURN q.id, q.status

Neo4j priority update (via bin/graph.sh, on /quest prioritize) — CONNECTED MODE ONLY

Skip this query in local mode. Only update the quest markdown frontmatter.

Maps: high=3, medium=2, low=1, none=0.

MATCH (q:Quest {id: $slug})
SET q.priority = $priority
RETURN q.id, q.priority

Also update the quest markdown file — add or repfrontend priority: in frontmatter.

> /quest prioritize grants high

✓ grants priority set to high (3)
  Updated Neo4j and memory/quests/grants.md

Example (list)

> /quest

Active Quests
─────────────

| Quest | Project | Artifacts | Contributors |
|-------|---------|-----------|--------------|
| benchmark-eval | backend | 4 | Alice, Carol |
| research-agent | frontend, backend | 1 | Alice |

Paused: (none)

To see details: /quest benchmark-eval
To create: /quest new

Example (show)

> /quest benchmark-eval

Quest: Evaluation Benchmark for Dynamic Ontologies
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

Status: active
Projects: backend
Started: 2026-01-26 by Alice

The Question:
  What does it mean for a dynamic ontology to be "good"?
  How do we measure emergence, coherence, utility over time?

Threads:
  - [ ] Survey existing ontology evaluation methods
  - [ ] Define "dynamic" — what changes, how fast?
  - [x] Look at HELM for inspiration

Artifacts (4):
  → 2026-01-26 [source] HELM Framework Review
  → 2026-01-26 [thought] Temporal dimension in evaluation (Alice)
  → 2026-01-27 [source] Benchmarking LLM Reasoning
  → 2026-01-27 [finding] HELM adaptable with modifications (Carol)

Todos:
  □ bob: fix retry logic in graph.sh (2d ago)
  □ alice: investigate connection pooling (today)

Contributors: Alice, Carol

Entry points:
  - Read the HELM finding
  - Check backend/benchmarks/ for prototype

Example (new)

> /quest new

Creating a new quest...

What's the question or goal?
> Build a research agent that can autonomously explore topics

Short slug (lowercase, hyphens):
> research-agent

Which projects does this relate to?
  [x] backend
  [x] frontend
  [ ] infrastructure

✓ Created memory/quests/research-agent.md

Add initial threads? (or skip)
> - Survey existing research agent architectures
> - Define scope: what does "research" mean here?
> - Prototype with Claude tool use
> done

Recording in knowledge graph...
  ✓ Quest node created, linked to backend + frontend

Pushing to shared memory...
  ✓ Quest saved to memory/quests/research-agent.md

✓ Quest created and shared.

Auto-push to memory (MANDATORY on quest create/update)

Quest files live in memory/ which is its own repo on main. After writing or updating a quest file, always commit and push immediately — do not defer to /save.

git -C memory add "quests/${slug}.md"
git -C memory commit -m "quest: ${slug} — ${action}" --quiet
git -C memory push origin main --quiet

Where ${action} is created, updated, paused, completed, prioritized, or contribution.

This applies to: /quest new, /quest contribute, /quest pause, /quest complete, /quest prioritize — any operation that modifies a quest file.

If the push fails, warn the user: Quest saved locally but push failed — run /save to retry.

Notifications — CONNECTED MODE ONLY

Skip this entire section in local mode. Do not run bin/notify.sh or mention notifications.

When creating a quest that involves specific people, offer a separate notification for each person. Selecting people for the quest is not notification consent.

Detection: "quest involving bob and alice" → notify both

For each person, follow .claude/context/notification-consent.md and prepare:

PLAN_JSON=$(bash bin/notify.sh plan send "bob" "message")

Show the exact organization, recipient, channel, and message in a dedicated Send / Edit / Cancel checkpoint. One approval covers one recipient and one immutable message; never batch approvals across people.

Message format:

Hey Bob, alice started a quest you're involved in: {title}

"{question}"

Linked Todos (in detail view) — CONNECTED MODE ONLY

Skip this entire section in local mode. Do not run the linked todos query. Omit the Todos section from the detail view.

When showing quest details (/quest [name]), query linked todos (all active statuses):

bash bin/graph.sh query "MATCH (t:Todo)-[:PART_OF]->(q:Quest {id: '$questSlug'}) WHERE t.status IN ['open', 'blocked', 'deferred'] MATCH (t)-[:BY]->(p:Person) RETURN t.text AS text, t.status AS status, t.blockedBy AS blockedBy, t.deferredUntil AS deferredUntil, p.name AS by, t.created AS created ORDER BY t.created DESC"

Display after Threads section, before Artifacts, with status indicators and health:

Todos: (healthy — 2/3 moving)
  □ bob: fix retry logic in graph.sh (2d ago)
  ✗ alice: investigate connection pooling — blocked: "waiting on API docs" (today)
  ↓ bob: finalize tier naming — deferred until Feb 15 (5d ago)

Health indicator — derived from todo status distribution:

• All open/progressing → healthy

• 50% blocked → stalling

• All deferred → hibernating
• Mixed → show fraction: {n}/{total} moving

Format: Todos: ({health} — {n}/{total} moving) or Todos: ({health}) for simple states.

Status sigils in todo list: □ open, ✗ blocked (with blockedBy text), ↓ deferred (with deferredUntil date).

Omit the Todos section entirely if no todos are linked to the quest.

Next

Use /add to attach artifacts. Quest files are auto-pushed to memory — no /save needed.

View a quest in the browser: /view quest {slug} — renders a branded, shareable artifact.