harvest-protocol

name	harvest-protocol
description	The 7-step R-008-gated path for bringing an external skill, source, or reference into the ASPIS catalog as a permanent asset.

harvest-protocol

Purpose

When the research-lead discovers external knowledge worth keeping — a skill pattern, a reference architecture, a library's official usage pattern — the harvest protocol governs how that external content becomes a permanent catalog asset. It is R-008-gated: bringing external intellectual property into the system requires human approval for license compliance and source authority.

When to use

• When research discovers a reusable pattern, skill, or reference that should live in the catalog rather than a one-off RESEARCH_NOTE.
• When a delegating lead explicitly requests harvesting ("add this to the catalog").
• When the same external source is referenced by multiple features — it's time to promote it from per-feature reference to global catalog asset.

Procedure — the 7 steps

1. Candidate

Identify the external content: a URL, a document, a skill pattern, a reference architecture. Record:

• Source URL and retrieval date
• What problem it solves
• Why it deserves catalog status (reusability, authority, frequency of use)

2. Record

Write a HARVEST_CANDIDATE.md in .aspis/research/harvest/<slug>/ with the candidate information. This is a working document, not yet a catalog asset.

3. License check (R-008 gate)

This is the R-008 human gate. Before adapting external content:

• Identify the source's license (MIT, Apache, CC-BY, proprietary, etc.)
• Determine whether the license permits incorporation into the ASPIS catalog
• If the license is ambiguous, restrictive, or absent → STOP. Request R-008 approval. The human owner must confirm the license is compatible.
• Record the license determination in the candidate document.

4. Adapt

Transform the external content into catalog shape:

• Skill: catalog/skills/<name>/SKILL.md with Purpose / When to use / Procedure / Outputs / Anti-patterns
• Template: catalog/templates/<category>/<name>.md
• Reference: catalog/data/<name>.yaml or .md
• Attribute the source: include "Adapted from " and the license in a comment or metadata field.
• Do NOT copy verbatim unless the license explicitly permits it — adaptation means understanding the pattern and re-expressing it in ASPIS form.

5. Prove

Demonstrate the adapted asset works:

• For a skill: can a lead agent execute the procedure from the SKILL.md alone?
• For a template: does it produce a valid artifact when filled?
• For a reference: is every claim traceable to the original source?
• Run the catalog validator to confirm structural integrity.

6. Review

Route the adapted asset through the reviewer:

• Is the adaptation faithful to the original pattern?
• Is the attribution correct and the license honored?
• Does the asset meet the catalog quality standard (frontmatter, sections, anti-patterns)?
• The reviewer's verdict is the gate — approved, changes-required, or rejected.

7. Promote

On reviewer approval:

• Move the asset from .aspis/research/harvest/<slug>/ to its permanent catalog location.
• Wire the asset into the owning agent's frontmatter (system-lead does this, not research-lead).
• Update FILE_REGISTRY.yaml to include the new asset.
• Archive the harvest candidate as HARVEST_COMPLETE.md with the promotion date and the reviewer's verdict.

Outputs

• A promoted catalog asset (skill, template, or reference).
• Archived harvest candidate with the full 7-step trail.
• Updated catalog with the new asset wired and validated.

Anti-patterns

• Skipping the license check — incorporating unlicensed or restrictively-licensed content is a legal risk. The R-008 gate exists for this reason.
• Copying verbatim instead of adapting — unless the license explicitly permits verbatim copy, adaptation is required. "Adapted from" means re-expressed, not copy-pasted.
• Harvesting content the system doesn't need yet — a RESEARCH_NOTE is sufficient for one-off references. Promote to catalog only when the content is reused across features or by multiple agents.
• Harvesting without attribution — every harvested asset must cite its source URL, retrieval date, and license.