self-modify

name	self-modify
description	The edit→re-review loop for changing the harness — how to build or modify packages so your changes actually land, and why every edit goes back through human review.

self-modify

You can extend this harness: packages are directories you can write (a manifest of requests, scripts, a SKILL.md), and the dispatcher picks them up by discovery. But understand the loop before you start, or your work will sit inert and you'll wonder why.

The loop, honestly

1. Write or edit a package under a directory on the package path (usually packages/<name>/ in the harness root — check your cage covers it; if not, that's a grant to request, not a workaround to find).
2. Every capability is a request. lanius.toml declares what the package needs — subscribe/publish filters, fs prefixes, hook points, context stages, MCP servers. Declaring grants you NOTHING.
3. Editing de-approves. Grants pin to the manifest and the code bytes. The moment you change a script, every approval for that package silently reverts to pending — your edited package stops firing. This is not a bug; a grant authorizes code, not a name.
4. The human commits. Tell your owner what you changed and why, then point them at the review: lanius packages shows what's pending, lanius approve <name> lands it. Mail them (emit_event → in/human/<owner>) with a one-paragraph summary and the approve command. Do not nag; one clear message.

What makes a change land on first review

• Smallest possible request set: ask for the filters and prefixes you need, not #. Over-asking reads as either sloppiness or exfiltration.
• A SKILL.md if other agents should use it (name + description frontmatter; the body is progressive disclosure — they read it on demand).
• Say what you tested. lanius exec against your own session, or emit a test event and show the trace line.

Know your limits

Harness kernel work — the Rust under src/, broker behavior, the dispatch machinery — is architect-grade: read the escalate skill and hand it up rather than guessing. Package-land (scripts, manifests, skills, stages) is yours.