git:20260830.4b5e000 to git:20260831.08ac415

---

name: workstream-start

description: Orient session — preflight, load context, choose work

allowed-tools: ["Read", "Grep", "Glob", "Bash"]

argument-hint: "[task-description]"

---

# Workstream Start — Preflight and Orientation

Orient this agent: verify the environment, load project context, choose work. Multiple agents may

run concurrently on the same repo — this orients ONE, not exclusive access. Contrast with

`/pickup`: this is general orientation; pickup is artifact-first, for a PM already pointing you

at specific work.

---

## Setup-freshness probe

If `state/.repo-setup-just-ran` exists, `/repo-setup` just ran — delete it immediately (before

printing anything), then emit the notice below and stop:

> Setup just ran — your orientation is current. /workstream-start is for sibling EMs or

> post-restart sessions, not the operator who just set up. Use /workday-start tomorrow; to start

> work now, just describe it.

<!-- engine-gap: field=session.setup_just_ran producer=unknown memo=2026-08-14-doe-claude-em-three-cut-obligations-from-the-corpus-grind.md -->

Single-shot; race window and lifecycle: wiki.

## Orient

The session-cadence orient spine (health, staleness, handoff triage, branch checks, ...) is

computed for you. PowerShell hosts (Shape W,

`snippets/resolve-coordinator-bin.md`):

`& "$env:COORDINATOR_SETTINGS_HOME\bin\orient-assemble.exe" brief --cadence session`. Read the JSON. Every `directives[]` entry names a CLI to run when not

`already_satisfied`; every `judgment_points[]` entry is an open branch to resolve yourself —

present each with its `dispositions[]`, pick, don't drop any. Don't hand-run what these compute.

**Do NOT load, summarize, or act on any handoff the orient output surfaces** — a `ready-to-fire`

directive naming one is not implicit selection. When the PM indicates they want a handoff picked

up (link, name, or "pick up that handoff"), read the full file; sets `HANDOFF_LOADED=true` for

Engage below — or the PM uses `/pickup` directly. A markdown in `state/handoffs/`, `tasks/`, or

`archive/` may already be addressed by commits landed after it was authored — verify before

treating it as pending.

<!-- engine-gap: field=handoffs.stale_advisory_reconcile producer=unknown memo=2026-08-14-doe-claude-em-three-cut-obligations-from-the-corpus-grind.md -->

**Route-to-baton default:** a memo/finding/triage item inside an active handoff's scope

(`state/handoffs/*.md`, `status: open|claimed`) gets a dated `## Routed from inbox triage

(<YYYY-MM-DD>)` note, committed with pathspec, then closed: `archive-stamp-cli resolve-memo <memo>

--decision accepted --decision-note "routed into <baton>" --realized-by "<baton>"

--in-repo-capture "<baton>"`. Stays `open` only if the capture didn't land or a PM question is

unanswered. Every other fork is `/pickup`'s.

**`tasks/`/`archive/` gitignored?** Warn — must track.

### Session residue not covered above

Bin paths below relative to the coordinator settings-home `bin/` directory — resolve per rung 0 /

Shape W in `snippets/resolve-coordinator-bin.md` (PowerShell hosts) or rung 2 (POSIX hosts).

**One shell call** for the three independent, non-gating probes below (order doesn't matter among

them — none reads another's output):

- **Safety commit**, non-negotiable, don't ask, silent no-op if nothing to commit:

`CLAUDE_INVOKING_COMMAND=workstream-start coordinator-safe-commit --blanket "chore:

workstream-start sweep — pre-orientation capture"`.

- **Setup-state self-heal**, silent: `coordinator-setup-state auto-record-if-source-is-live`.

- **Outbox drafts** (inbound staleness is already in the orient output):

`workday-start-cross-repo-memo-outbox-surface` — non-empty → surface verbatim; empty → skip.

**Branch detection** stays its own call — its outcome (which branch you end up on) gates

everything that follows: main is read-only. Stay on a non-main branch if on one; on main, run

`sync-main --quiet` (report divergence first), then create `work/{machine}/{date}` (`-2` on

collision) — superseded by the branch-day-span directive when present. Diverged from

`main` >2 days → recommend `/merge-to-main`, wait for the PM; ≤2 days → continue silently.

### Context load — not part of the shared spine

**Lessons.** Enumerate `state/lessons/*.yaml` (`query-records --type lesson`); read `CONTEXT.md`

if present. Note the count — `CLAUDE.md` is already in context.

**Action items / roadmap.** Skip if `state/.workday-start-marker` has today's date.

Otherwise read whichever of `ACTION-ITEMS.md`, `ROADMAP.md` (or their `docs/` variants) exist,

first match wins; it gets a brief active/blocked/ready summary feeding the Engage menu.

**Orientation check.** SessionStart already injected orientation context — don't re-read it. No

**Doc index / fan-out.** `docs/README.md` present → note wiki/research/plan counts;

`docs/guides/`/`docs/research/` without an index → note `/update-docs` builds one.

`fan-out-dispatch.py` — use instead of hand-authoring parallel executor prompts.

**Delegation (game-dev).** `project_type: game-dev` + `unreal` in `project_subtypes`

(`coordinator.local.md`) → dispatch `Agent(subagent_type='example-game-repo-control:ue-{domain}')` for

single-domain work (Blueprint graph needs ue-asset-author); 8 tools direct for fact-finding.

**Project-RAG.** MCP available → call `project_subsystem_profile()` (no args), report the count;

prefer `project_subsystem_profile("<name>")` over Explore — deterministic, <200ms.

---

## Engage

Choose work and load task-specific context.

### Work selection

**CRITICAL — handoff loaded?** If `HANDOFF_LOADED=true`: **the handoff IS the work order.** No

menu, no "what should this agent work on?", no listing items and waiting, no "want me to proceed?"

Read any referenced files not yet in context, then **dispatch the first action item — dispatch IS

running**, per pickup's dispatch-economics checklist (`skills/pickup/SKILL.md`). Multiple next

steps → execute in order unless the PM redirects.

**If no handoff loaded — fresh-install branch — fires ONLY when ALL hold:** no handoff loaded

(established above), AND `$HOME/.claude/.coordinator-fresh-install` exists. Consume (delete) the

sentinel BEFORE emitting anything, so this never re-fires on a later no-handoff session, then emit

the fresh-install message: points at `~/.claude` as the live install to evolve (not the upstream

`coordinator-claude` source), the onboarding handoff if present, fallback first steps (co-write

`CLAUDE.md`, `/repo-setup` the first project, `/workday-start` daily). Sentinel lifecycle detail:

wiki.

**Otherwise, the standard work menu** — each option loads its own context once picked:

1. **Implementing** — find/read the relevant plan doc; summarize the first step.

2. **Fixing a bug** — identify the failing test/error/repro; read the relevant source.

3. **Reviewing** — identify the target (commits/files/PR); load review criteria.

4. **Research / exploration** — ask what to explore; no ceremony.

5. **Maintenance** — daily health check, weekly audit, or debt triage.

5a. **Strategy/ceremonies** — `/shape`, `/goal-setting`, `/roadmap-planning`, `/spike` (mechanism

derisking; PM-gated, never EM/subagent-initiated — gating: `spike/SKILL.md` § Invoke Gating,

pipeline position: wiki)

6. **Work the backlog** — central (`coordinator-state-root.py --central`) and local

`state/improvement-queue/*.yaml`, surface depth; `state/bug-backlog/*.yaml` ≥10 open P1/P2, or

any `status: open` in `state/cross-repo-commitments/`, → advocate `/bug-blitz` (skip silently

if absent/empty).

**Red-suite predicate — independent of backlog depth.** Read `state/test-red/<machine-local get

coordinator.machine_slug>.yaml` if present (absent/malformed → skip silently, no error). Per

tier, compute the delta against the comparison baseline (`acknowledged.baseline` when live and

unexpired, else `previous.failing`), and advocate `/bug-blitz` — **naming the tier and

surfacing the delta counts, never a bare "the suite is red"** — on any of:

- `new` non-empty → "{tier}: N new failures since the acknowledged baseline" (or "since the

last run", unacknowledged).

- `acknowledged` null/voided (independent of whether `new` is also non-empty) AND `failing[]`

non-empty: **void-on-doubt** (owner unresolvable/unparseable/missing baseline) → "{tier}:

acknowledgement void: owner `<path>` unresolvable — M failing, unacknowledged." **void-on-

expiry** (`ran_at` past `expires_at`) → "{tier}: acknowledgement expired `<date>`, owner

`<path>` still open — M failing." **no acknowledgement at all** → "{tier}: M unacknowledged

failures."

- the acknowledged owner artifact is closed/terminal while `failing[]` is still non-empty →

"{tier}: owning work `<path>` closed but M failures remain."

- `failing` is `null` → "{tier}: red, failing set unavailable" — never read as clean, never

folded into a delta.

An acknowledged, unexpired red set whose delta is all-`persistent` advocates nothing from this

predicate — correct silence, not a gap. Never runs the test tier itself, never blocks on it —

only reads the record the engine's emitter already wrote.

<!-- engine-gap: field=test_red.advisory producer=unknown memo=2026-08-14-doe-claude-em-three-cut-obligations-from-the-corpus-grind.md -->

7. **Other** — ask the user to describe it; load relevant context.

`$ARGUMENTS` provided → use it directly, skip the menu. Surface the tracker's ready/executing

items and project-specific plan docs (`docs/`, `tasks/`, `tasks/plans/`) as concrete options, not

generic categories. A fresh backlog item or ad-hoc ask with no sizing-object yet routes through

`coordinator:sizing` first.

### Status report

Briefly (2 lines): repo state (uncommitted changes may be a peer's), current branch. Orientation,

not ownership.

<!-- engine-gap: field=session.repo_status_summary producer=unknown memo=2026-08-14-doe-claude-em-three-cut-obligations-from-the-corpus-grind.md -->