--- name: "03" description: >- Run an autonomous consensus round between agent peers on several machines: they negotiate a decision over a shared channel and execute it without a human relaying messages. Use when multiple machines must agree on a change. Triggers: "/03", "work it out among yourselves", "find consensus". Wakes the human only for irreversible actions or a deadlock. license: MIT --- # /03 β€” the machines find consensus by themselves > πŸ§’ **When reporting to a non-technical owner:** finish with a simple "In plain words" recap (his rule [[eli5-always]]). Only in the message TO him. The owner said "03" / "you handle it yourselves" β†’ that is a MANDATE: the Claude peers negotiate among themselves and execute on their own. I do NOT ask for permission again β€” I **announce and go**. The owner is needed at exactly 2 gates (below). **Argument:** `/03 ` β€” what to agree on. If there is no topic (a bare "03") β€” take the subject from the current conversation; if it is ambiguous, formulate the proposal from context yourself. **Aliases:** `003` = `03` (the extra zero is ignored); case does not matter [[commands-case-insensitive]]. Do not confuse it with "02" β€” that is escalation TO the owner (the approval channel), the opposite direction. --- ## Step 0 β€” Peer liveness ONLY from a live signal (pitfall 2026-07-04) Before pinging a node or declaring "down/alive" β€” ask for a fact, don't guess from mtime: ``` python "%USERPROFILE%\.claude\scripts\_shared\clan_alive.py" [] ``` Liveness = Syncthing `connected==True` **OR** a fresh `.tg-seen-` (the Telegram rail). 🟑 = alive over Telegram, Syncthing flapped β€” that is NOT death. β›” NEVER judge by the mtime of file markers (`.read-*`, `.robot-done-*`, the presence of `log-.jsonl`) β€” a Telegram-rail follower does not write them by design. Canon: [[peer-liveness-live-signal]]. ## Step 1 β€” A one-line announcement, WITHOUT waiting for a "yes" Drop exactly one line to the owner and move on immediately (he can cancel, but I don't wait): ``` 🀝 unless you object, I'm going to agree this with over the coordination channel: ""… ``` `` = the other machines of the fleet (the hub `HUB-1`, the laptop `LAPTOP-1`, teammates' machines). Who is online is visible on the bus; an exact list is not critical, the engine broadcasts to everyone. ## Step 2 β€” Determine the risk tier (this decides whether the owner is needed) - **Tier-0/1** (safe, reversible: which machine runs a background job, scheduling, format choice, tagging, a dedup judgement) β†’ the peers close it themselves. - **Tier-2** (money Β· outbound sends Β· irreversible Β· secrets Β· editing the SHARED canon CLAUDE.md / the Bible / operating-agreement) β†’ even with agreement it is NOT auto-committed, it goes to the owner via the approval flow. In doubt β€” pick the higher tier (safer). ## Step 3 β€” Open the proposal through the engine - ⚠️ **FIRST check that no one else already has a thread on THIS action** (pitfall 07-17: the hub and the anchor independently opened #0eaf6c3c and #490b0384 for the same canon merge β†’ a duplicate): `consensus.py pending` + `consensus.py list`. There is an open proposal from a peer for the same action β†’ **reply into it** (`respond accept/counter`), do NOT open your own alongside. Open a new one only if none exists. ``` python "%USERPROFILE%\.claude\scripts\consensus.py" propose "" --details "" --tier <0|1|2> ``` (Bash variant: `python "$USERPROFILE/.claude/scripts/consensus.py" propose "" --details "" --tier `.) - ⚠️ **The action goes into `""`, the evidence/diagnostics into `--details`.** The tier tripwire scans ONLY the subject (the action) for stop-words, not the evidence. Dump diagnostics ("…laptop **sends**…", "**apikey** matches") into the subject and it will falsely raise the tier to 2 and wake the owner for nothing. Keep the subject short and about the action. - The engine dual-sends the event into the coordination chat + `_machine-bus` (by construction; a single rail is forbidden) β†’ the negotiation is visible in the chat. - A Tier-2 propose is escalated to the owner BY THE ENGINE (`❓ QQQ=yes / NO=no`) and is NOT committed. - Remember the `#id` from the output. ## Step 4 β€” Negotiate to agreement The other machine answers `respond accept|counter|reject`. When I am the responding side, first run `pending` (a 0-LLM worklist of "what is waiting for MY answer"), then judge on the merits (cheap model groundwork, [[model-routing-sonnet-grunt]]) and answer with the same verb. Timeouts/rounds are driven by the deterministic `tick` (0-LLM, already inside the inbox robot; the timeout = the SLA of the slowest peer, a sleeping laptop/Mac is given longer than the hub): ``` python "%USERPROFILE%\.claude\scripts\consensus.py" pending python "%USERPROFILE%\.claude\scripts\consensus.py" tick python "%USERPROFILE%\.claude\scripts\consensus.py" status ``` ## Step 5 β€” Execute and cross-check (anti "works-on-my-machine") - Agreed (status=agreed) and Tier-0/1 β†’ `commit ` β†’ **apply the real change** β†’ `verify ""`. - A task is globally done ONLY when BOTH machines independently post `VERIFY` (>=2). One peer saying "done" is not done. ## Step 6 β€” The gates to the owner (exactly 2, otherwise without him) β›” **I NEVER hand-write a question to the owner into a chat** β€” only through the `approval.py` engine [[remote-approval-qqq]]. A hand-written ask has no `#id`: `approval.py due` cannot see it (no re-ping and no escalation), and a later "+" from him has nothing to attach to β€” the answer falls through the crack between states (incident 07-21, the permission had to be entered by hand). I never hardcode chat ids in the skill: the engine takes the addresses from `~/.claude/approval.json β†’ targets`. **How an ask is minted:** ``` python "%USERPROFILE%\.claude\scripts\approval.py" ask " (consensus #)" --cat ``` β†’ prints JSON `{id, ask_text, targets}`. `ask_text` is posted by **the calling session** (approval.py is a recorder, not a sender) to `targets` IN ORDER: the approval channel FIRST (a sterile "the owner's attention is needed" channel), then a mirror into the fleet log chat / WhatsApp / DM. I catch the answer with `approval.py check` (stdin = the replies from MCP) β†’ `APPROVED/REJECTED/EXPIRED `. A hanging ask is never abandoned: `approval.py due` prints re-ping envelopes β€” the same session or the inbox robot posts them to the approval channel. That also covers the "minted an id but never managed to post it" break: an unsent ask resurfaces as a `due` envelope within the freshness window (15 min) instead of dying silently. **Ask dedup (otherwise two questions for one dispute):** before `ask`, check `approval.py pending` β€” if an open ask carrying this `consensus #` already exists (it may have been minted by `tick` or by a peer), do NOT mint a second one. That is why the consensus id MUST appear in the ask text: it is the only link between the consensus thread and the question to the owner. **Classification β€” what even deserves the approval channel** ([[remote-approval-qqq]] Β§Classification 07-14): **A** internal / fleet-reversible Β· **B** our content into our own channels Β· **C** a short, on-topic outbound message to a third party β†’ I decide MYSELF as a co-founder, journal it into `approvals.db` and report after the fact β€” those do NOT go to the approval channel. Only **D** "the owner's physical hands are needed" (2FA/UAC/a password; phrase it as a click path, not "give me the go-ahead") and **E** categorically serious matters (money Β· irreversible deletion Β· secrets to third parties Β· legal commitments Β· mass mailing Β· a new peer) go there. In doubt between C and E β†’ E. **The gates (exactly two):** 1. **A Tier-2 action of class D/E** β†’ `escalate ""` records the STATE of the thread, but by itself it creates no trackable question β†’ in the same move, mint an ask via `approval.py ask` (see above) and post its `ask_text`. A `QQQ`/`+` arrives from an authorized signer (the owner or one of the two co-signers) β†’ `approve ""` records the OK in the thread β†’ only then `commit`. 2. **The peers did not converge** within the round_cap (3) / a timeout on something above Tier-0 β†’ first a **tie-break by the anchor node** (`ANCHOR-1` β€” the coordinator, the source of truth and the arbiter of cross-machine disputes). The anchor is dead / unable to arbitrate (leader-down >70 min β†’ the hub becomes arbiter-for-this-tick) β†’ and **only then** wake the owner through the same `approval.py ask` route. - **Do NOT escalate:** a safe Tier-0 deadlock β†’ the tie-break (disagree-and-commit) closes it by itself, don't bother the owner. - ⚠️ On a round cap/timeout, `tick` may shout into the approval channel over its own rail β€” that does NOT replace the ask: it carries no `#id` from the approval engine. `tick` shouted β†’ mint the ask through `approval.py` anyway, so the question has an id, a re-ping and a recorded answer. ## Report to the owner (after the fact, briefly) What was agreed Β· with whom Β· the verdict (βœ… committed+verified / ⏳ waiting for approval / πŸ”΄ dispute β†’ over to you) Β· what was actually done. An "in plain words" line at the end. --- ### Boundaries - The Tier-2 hard stop holds: "you handle it yourselves" does NOT grant the right to spend money / send outbound / rewrite the canon on your own. - Only the owner commits canon, through the hub [[machine-governance-leader-follower]]. - Failure modes (a byzantine peer, an auto-loop, a false VERIFY) are an open DR; until it closes we keep Phase 1 conservative. - The engine is the single source of truth for state (`_machine-bus/_decisions/log-.jsonl`); I don't duplicate its logic, I only call its verbs. --- **Like this skill?** It is one of 100 in [second-brain-starter-kit](https://github.com/tonydzi/second-brain-starter-kit): the second brain we built for ourselves and run every day at Palo Alto AI Research Lab. Install the whole set with `npx skills add tonydzi/second-brain-starter-kit`. Everything is open source and free, so take what you need. Flagships worth a look on their own: [secondop-panel](https://github.com/tonydzi/secondop-panel) (a second opinion from a panel of external models), [claude-memory-tidy](https://github.com/tonydzi/claude-memory-tidy) (stop your agent's memory from rotting), [telegram-mcp-kit](https://github.com/tonydzi/telegram-mcp-kit) (your own Telegram over MCP in about 15 minutes). Author: **Anton Dziatkovskii**, Palo Alto AI Research Lab. Telegram [@tonydzi](https://t.me/tonydzi) - WhatsApp [+1 341 222 9178](https://wa.me/13412229178) - X [@Tony_Stef_](https://x.com/Tony_Stef_) **Engineers: want to test-drive this setup?** Message me. I hand out free starter seeds to engineers who test and report back, and custom skill requests are welcome.