Working-mode declaration and runtime contract — declare ENG/OPS × DIRECT/META
posture at session start; enforce read-only semantics for META; surface
scope-overreach warnings for DIRECT.
CENTROID:
session-mode contract that shapes which actions are allowed before mutation
IS:
- one-line POSTURE banner at session start
- read-only enforcement for META postures (no file writes, no commits, no API mutations)
- scope-bounded mutation for DIRECT postures (only files explicitly required)
- mid-session toggle surface ([Posture → X/Y])
- workspace-default fallback when posture is undeclared
IS NOT:
collapse_zones:
- permission system (posture is contract, not enforcement; harness gates
enforce — this skill describes the contract)
- approval queue (posture declares intent; approvals gate actions)
- audit log (the banner is observable; audit lives elsewhere)
- mode coercion (the user declares; the skill describes what each
declaration means)
sibling_overlaps:
- /counter (both pre-
Working-mode declaration and runtime contract — declare ENG/OPS × DIRECT/META
posture at session start; enforce read-only semantics for META; surface
scope-overreach warnings for DIRECT.
CENTROID:
session-mode contract that shapes which actions are allowed before mutation
IS:
- one-line POSTURE banner at session start
- read-only enforcement for META postures (no file writes, no commits, no API mutations)
- scope-bounded mutation for DIRECT postures (only files explicitly required)
- mid-session toggle surface ([Posture → X/Y])
- workspace-default fallback when posture is undeclared
IS NOT:
collapse_zones:
- permission system (posture is contract, not enforcement; harness gates
enforce — this skill describes the contract)
- approval queue (posture declares intent; approvals gate actions)
- audit log (the banner is observable; audit lives elsewhere)
- mode coercion (the user declares; the skill describes what each
declaration means)
sibling_overlaps:
- /counter (both pre-commit primitives; counter falsifies, posture
bounds scope)
- /complement (both shape responses; complement detects geometry,
posture declares contract)
WHEN:
- at session start (always)
- on workspace switch (re-emit banner)
- on explicit mode toggle ([Posture → X/Y])
- when the next move could mutate state and the posture is META
NOT WHEN:
- mid-thought (posture is session-scoped, not per-message)
- for permissions (posture describes; permissions enforce)
user-invocable
true
/posture — Working Mode Contract
The two axes: domain (ENG / OPS) × depth (DIRECT / META).
DIRECT (execute)
META (analyze)
ENG
Implement, fix, ship code
Architect, plan, design
OPS
Run pipelines, hit APIs, generate artifacts
Audit outputs, review quality, refine playbooks
Session-Start Banner
At the start of any new session (or after workspace switch), output exactly:
DIRECT verbs: fix, implement, build, generate, run, patch, ship
META verbs: plan, design, analyze, audit, review, explore
Mixed verbs in one request: default to META and ask before mutating
Workspace default — declared in the workspace's CLAUDE.md
Carry-forward within the same session unless a toggle is declared
Live vs Local Data Rule
When the task references an external system (API, CRM, third-party service):
In OPS/DIRECT: default to live calls when the user asks for current state
In META: allow read-only calls only
If unclear whether to hit live APIs or analyze local exports, ask one line
before proceeding
Mid-Session Toggles
Output exactly one line, then immediately operate in the new posture:
[Posture → OPS/META]
For mixed-mode task lists, prefix each task:
[ENG/DIRECT] implement the parser
[ENG/META] design the next interface
[OPS/DIRECT] run the migration
[OPS/META] audit yesterday's pipeline output
Scope Safety (Prevents Overreach)
Even in DIRECT mode, if the request implies repo-wide refactors, renames,
sweeping scrubs, or touching staged files not created in-session, pause and
ask before executing.
Workspace Switching
If cwd moves into a different workspace, re-emit the POSTURE banner and re-evaluate
from the new workspace default unless explicitly pinned.
Session-Start Posture Lifecycle (router contract)
This section specifies the contract the hooks/sidecar-router.py router must
satisfy. The router lane owns the implementation; this skill owns the spec.
1. Banner emission
The router must emit the POSTURE banner at session start and on every
[Posture → X/Y] toggle detected in a submitted prompt. The banner format is
exactly:
Session start — router reads chamber.posture field; if absent or empty,
applies determination-priority (see §2) and writes the resolved value back into
the chamber before injecting the banner directive.
Toggle detected — router parses the new posture, writes it to
chamber.posture, updates chamber.refreshed_at, and injects the banner
directive as inline context before the primary work proceeds.
The banner is injected as human-readable model context (not a machine KV tag)
so the model can act on the declared constraint immediately.
2. Posture persistence (chamber is the source of truth)
The chamber's posture: field is the single source of truth for active posture
within a session:
On session start: initialize from explicit declaration → verb inference →
workspace default (in that priority order).
On [Posture → X/Y] toggle: overwrite chamber.posture immediately; do not
carry the prior value forward.
Between prompts: carry forward unchanged — the router must NOT re-derive posture
on every prompt; it reads chamber.posture and applies it.
The router must NOT re-emit the full banner on every prompt — only at session
start and on toggle events. Repeated banner injection introduces noise without
adding contract clarity.
3. Posture-derived trigger weighting
Active posture shifts the router's confidence thresholds for mutation-implying
arrows (/counter, /complement):
Under META: when a prompt implies mutation (detected by mutation-keyword
presence — write/edit/delete/commit/create/modify/rename/deploy/push/patch or
API verbs POST/PUT/PATCH/DELETE), raise counter/preflight firing confidence
above the arrow's disposition_bias baseline. A mutation under META is a
contract violation worth surfacing before it executes.
Under DIRECT: lower mutation-trigger confidence toward the arrow's
baseline. Mutation is expected; the router's job is scope-checking, not
general mutation friction.
The weighting is a multiplier on disposition_bias, not a replacement. The
chamber's per-arrow bias remains the calibration anchor; posture shifts the
effective threshold.
4. Pre-mutation enforcement under META
When chamber.posture is META (either ENG/META or OPS/META) and the router
detects a mutation-implying prompt, the posture lane fires a HOLD-and-ask
directive before the primary work executes:
[sidecar · posture] Active posture is META (read-only contract).
This prompt implies a mutation: <one-sentence description of the detected action>.
META constraint: no file edits/writes, no git commits, no destructive commands,
no API writes (POST/PUT/PATCH/DELETE).
Switch to DIRECT or keep read-only?
→ "switch" or "POSTURE: <domain>/DIRECT" to proceed with mutation
→ "keep" or no response to proceed read-only (mutation will be blocked)
The directive is injected as model context so the model surfaces the hold to the
user and waits for resolution. The router does not block the tool call at the
physics layer (that is the harness gate's job if installed); the posture lane
raises the hold through the perception layer (model-visible directive).
5. Carry-forward discipline
Posture carries forward within the session unless a toggle is explicitly detected.
A workspace switch (cwd moves into a different workspace) triggers a
re-evaluation: the router re-derives posture from the new workspace's default
(if available) and re-emits the banner with reason: workspace default.
Explicit POSTURE: X/Y declaration in a prompt always wins over carry-forward,
regardless of what the chamber currently holds.
Sidecar Integration Note
The chamber's posture: field couples this skill to the router at runtime.
Posture-aware arrow firing is the load-bearing benefit: the same user message
means different things in ENG/DIRECT vs OPS/META. The router weights
disposition_bias against the active posture (§3 above) rather than treating
all prompts identically.
The posture lane does not own the chamber schema — that lives in
specs/chamber.md. This skill owns the behavioral contract that the chamber
enables.
