prior-art · diff
git:20260723.6e5370b to git:20260808.8b7af2a
38 added, 2 removed. Audit A to A.
---
name: prior-art
description: Inspect bounded local repository and Runx catalog evidence before a design, draft, or operator decision, then produce citation-bound findings and a reuse, amendment, new-work, or stop recommendation. Use when existing tools, skills, standards, or project patterns must constrain downstream work; use research or web-fetch first for external sources.
---
# Prior Art
Ground the next decision in sources that were actually inspected.
- ## Procedure
+ ## Direct use
- 1. Supply a bounded `objective`, optional work-plan `decomposition`, and any repo-relative `source_paths` that matter.
+ Do the inspection and return the recommendation in the same task. Do not stop
+ after announcing a search plan, ask the operator to enumerate obvious files, or
+ turn bounded discovery into a repository-wide grep.
+
+ 1. Start from the operator's objective and current workspace. When exact
+ `source_paths` are already supplied, reuse them.
+ 2. Otherwise, make one targeted discovery pass for the smallest likely owning
+ set: repository instructions and conventions, the named product or package,
+ exact active plans or specs implicated by the objective, and adjacent Runx
+ skill manifests. Select at most sixteen files. Listing filenames is
+ discovery, not the prior-art result; continue through inspection.
+ 3. Invoke the default runner with the objective, chosen paths, and any existing
+ decomposition. Complete its bounded research request, resume it in memory,
+ and return the validated prior-art report—not a narration of what you intend
+ to read.
+ 4. If the selected evidence is insufficient, return one precise
+ `needs_more_evidence` result naming the missing source. Do not broaden the
+ search repeatedly or cycle through unrelated skills.
+
+ Routine local discovery and reads use the host's normal authenticated tools and
+ need no approval. Runx adds the catalog projection, digest-bound source bundle,
+ citation validation, reusable packet, and receipt. If Runx is unavailable,
+ preserve the selected paths and findings in the documented output shape so the
+ operator can continue locally without repeating discovery; do not claim a Runx
+ receipt.
+
+ ## Composed use
+
+ A parent should pass its objective, decomposition, and already selected source
+ paths. Reuse that evidence boundary exactly. Do not enumerate the repository,
+ reacquire the catalog, or repeat a prior evidence-selection step unless the
+ packet is missing, stale, or outside the current objective.
+
+ ## Executable procedure
+
+ 1. Supply a bounded `objective`, optional work-plan `decomposition`, and the
+ repo-relative `source_paths` selected by direct discovery or a parent chain.
2. Native `runx.skill.inspect` indexes the local Runx catalog and
`fs.read_bundle` reads and hashes at most sixteen requested files under the
workspace boundary. Missing files are recorded; escaping, duplicate, or
oversized paths fail closed.
3. Read only the indexed sources needed for the objective. State each finding as `claim`, `source`, `relevance`, and `confidence` (`verified`, `likely`, or `unverified`).
4. Name adjacent catalog skills and the boundary each already owns. Recommend `reuse`, `amend`, `new_work`, or `stop`; do not create a duplicate primitive because an existing package is imperfect.
5. The domain validator checks every verified citation and adjacent skill
against those native projections. Unsupported verified claims or missing
requested sources force `needs_more_evidence`.
External URLs are not inspected by this runner. Fetch them through a governed source skill, persist the bounded evidence in the workspace, then pass its path here.
## Output
```yaml
decision: ready | needs_more_evidence
findings:
- claim: string
source: repo-relative path
relevance: string
confidence: verified | likely | unverified
catalog_fit:
decision: reuse | amend | new_work | stop
adjacent_skills: array
rationale: string
recommended_flow: array
quality_bar: object
sources: array
risks: array
evidence: object
validation: object
```
Inputs are `objective`, optional `decomposition`, `graph_purpose`, `audience`, `artifact_contract`, and bounded `source_paths`.
## Agent task contracts
### `prior-art-research`
Use the deterministic evidence index to select and read only the bounded local sources needed
for the objective. Return prior_art_draft with decision, findings, catalog_fit, quality_bar,
recommended_flow, sources, and risks. Cite repo-relative paths exactly. Mark a finding verified
only when its source appears in inspected_sources or the catalog index. Prefer reuse or
amendment over duplicate primitives. Return needs_more_evidence when requested sources are
missing.