operating-coding-change · diff
git:20260810.ffaf5c7 to git:20260908.bf8e38b
51 added, 73 removed. Audit A to A.
---
name: operating-coding-change
- description: The single Rootloom entry for code changes. Route Direct, Scoped, Governed, Evidence, and external-action work; repair owning invariants, preserve unrelated work, and report only verification that ran.
+ description: Complete scoped code changes with proportional verification; load governed, Evidence, and external-action procedures only when needed.
---
# Coding change
- Deliver the smallest complete result. This Skill owns every implementation tier; never ask
- the user to choose another Rootloom change workflow.
-
- ## 1. Resolve
-
- Identify the outcome, repository and scope, constraints, non-goals, and proof. Read the host's
- active project-instruction chain (for example, `AGENTS.md`) and the smallest evidence needed to route.
- A dirty worktree is a preservation constraint, not an escalation signal. Preserve unrelated
- user work and record relevant pre-existing failures.
-
- For a defect, establish:
-
- ```text
- symptom → trigger/state → owning boundary → violated invariant → root cause
- ```
+ Implement the user's requested outcome within the active repository guidance and authorized
+ scope. A question or review alone does not authorize a repair. Preserve unrelated changes;
+ a dirty worktree is a preservation constraint, not a reason to stop or escalate.
- If the cause is external or unproved, label a reversible workaround `MITIGATION` with its
- gap, residual risk, and removal condition. Never call symptom suppression a fix.
+ ## Diagnose and route
- ## 2. Route
+ Read the smallest evidence needed to identify the owner and verification boundary. For a
+ defect, connect the observed trigger, violated invariant, root cause, and proposed repair.
+ Initial uncertainty calls for bounded diagnosis; escalate only when materially different
+ owners, compatibility choices, or high-risk assumptions remain. Label an unproved workaround
+ as mitigation and explain its limitation and removal condition.
- - `direct`: mechanical, local, reversible work with an unambiguous target and no
- behavior or contract decision. Load no Reference. Inspect the target, edit, run the
- smallest relevant check, inspect its diff, and report; skip broader inventory and
- challenge work unless target evidence is ambiguous.
- - `scoped`: ordinary defects, feature slices, tests, refactors, or bounded multi-file
- work. Use this Skill's verification and challenge steps; load no Reference.
- - `governed`: established shared/external public APIs or schemas, irreplaceable
- persisted contracts, migrations, security, infrastructure, deployment/release,
- destructive effects, major
- dependencies, material root-cause uncertainty remaining after bounded diagnosis,
- failed repairs, or substantial blast radius. A
- local callable/signature shape, file count, version number, serialized artifact, or
- dirty worktree alone is not public-contract evidence. Before routing schema or format
- work, establish whether the artifact is authoritative or irreplaceable and whether the
- new runtime must encounter old instances. Regenerable internal artifacts remain
- `scoped` unless another governed signal applies. Read
- [references/governed-change.md](references/governed-change.md) and
- [references/verification-contract.md](references/verification-contract.md).
- - `evidence`: only when explicitly requested, repository-required, or needed for a
- release/governed decision. Read [references/evidence-mode.md](references/evidence-mode.md),
- [references/evidence-contract.md](references/evidence-contract.md), and
- [references/verification-contract.md](references/verification-contract.md).
- Before the first edit in Governed or Evidence mode, load every required Reference relative
- to this `SKILL.md`. If any required Reference cannot be loaded, stop instead of proceeding.
- Modes compose. Governed external operations also read [references/external-actions.md](references/external-actions.md);
- Evidence Mode records proof, never a replacement for diagnosis, discipline, or approval.
- Initial cause uncertainty routes through bounded diagnosis, not directly to Governed:
- an established local owner and repair boundary → `scoped`; materially different owners,
- compatibility strategies, or high-risk assumptions remaining afterward → `governed`.
+ Choose the route internally; do not ask the user to choose a workflow:
- ## 3. Change
+ - `direct`: mechanical, local, reversible work. Inspect, edit, and check the target; no
+ Reference or separate challenge pass is required.
+ - `scoped`: bounded defects, features, tests, refactors, and documentation. Use the checks
+ below without loading additional References by default.
+ - `governed`: changes affecting security, production, infrastructure, destructive effects,
+ major dependencies, established public APIs, irreplaceable persisted contracts, or a
+ materially uncertain blast radius. Read [governed-change.md](references/governed-change.md)
+ and [verification-contract.md](references/verification-contract.md) before dependent edits.
+ Regenerable internal artifacts, file count, and keyword mentions alone do not trigger this
+ route; identify real consumers and changed behavior.
+ - `evidence`: only on explicit request or an applicable repository requirement. Read
+ [evidence-mode.md](references/evidence-mode.md), [evidence-contract.md](references/evidence-contract.md),
+ and [verification-contract.md](references/verification-contract.md). Evidence records proof;
+ it does not grant authority or replace diagnosis.
- Repair the invariant at its owner. Prefer one source of truth, normalized inputs, explicit
- outputs and errors, existing architecture and dependencies, and native tests. Keep the diff
- focused; reject speculative abstraction, unrelated cleanup, silent fallbacks, generated
- churn, dependency refreshes, and weakened tests, types, security, observability, or errors.
+ For deployment, release, infrastructure, production data, or other external execution, read
+ [external-actions.md](references/external-actions.md). Verify exact authorization; preserve
+ explicit approval gates and do not infer permission for destructive actions, purchases,
+ credential/permission changes, incompatible contracts, or scope expansion. If a required
+ procedure or authorization is unavailable, stop only the dependent action and continue
+ independent authorized work. Platform and hard-deny controls remain authoritative.
- Batch target, focused caller/test, and exact-scope status reads in one shell turn; after editing,
- batch the focused check, diff check, final diff, and status unless a failure needs diagnosis.
+ ## Implement and verify
- ## 4. Verify and challenge
+ Repair at the owning boundary with existing architecture and dependencies. Avoid unrelated
+ cleanup, speculative abstractions, silent fallback, and weakened tests or security. Protect
+ established external contracts and irreplaceable state; do not add compatibility paths
+ without evidence of a consumer that needs them.
- Before choosing commands, map the primary path, owning invariant, and one adjacent negative
- or alternate path. Default to impact-scoped checks, then affected type/lint, build/package,
- runtime, or rendered UI evidence. Use a full suite or matrix only for unbounded impact,
- shared test infrastructure, or an explicit repository/release gate; never claim unrun checks.
+ Check the requested behavior and owning invariant. Exercise a failure or alternate path,
+ or inspect an analogous caller, when it addresses a concrete risk. For documentation,
+ check a plausible misinterpretation instead of inventing runtime tests. Use the smallest
+ relevant test, type/lint, build, runtime, or rendered-UI evidence; a full suite or matrix is
+ needed only for unbounded impact, shared test infrastructure, or an explicit applicable gate.
+ After checks pass, expand only for new changes, failures, or unresolved concerns.
- Use one post-check challenge pass: test the strongest counterexample, inspect one
- analogous caller or sibling, review the final diff and worktree, and remove mechanisms
- that do not change a real decision.
+ Review the final diff for scope and preservation of user work. Report the result, relevant
+ verification actually observed, and material limitations. Never claim an unrun or failed
+ check passed. For defect repair, explain whether the change fixes the root cause; use
+ `ROOT_CAUSE_ALIGNMENT: PASS | FAIL` only when a formal reporting contract requests it.
- ## 5. Report
+ ## Large artifacts
- Lead with the observable outcome:
- ```text
- Cause Root cause or key design decision
- Change Files, behavior, compatibility, and external effects
- Verification Exact checks run, outcomes, and what each proves
- Risk Remaining gaps, rollback state, or unverified surfaces
- ```
- For defect repair include `ROOT_CAUSE_ALIGNMENT: PASS | FAIL`; use `NOT_APPLICABLE` for
- features, documentation, and mechanical work.
+ Start with bounded reads sufficient for the task. Use [artifact-context.md](references/artifact-context.md)
+ when repeated access or substantial context cost makes receipt reuse worthwhile, or when the
+ user requests isolation. Worker availability is not a prerequisite for ordinary bounded
+ analysis. Respect explicit isolation, file-access, retention, and upload restrictions.