Shared References
This directory contains shared reference documents used by multiple skills:
validation-contract.md- Verification requirements for accepting spawned workreferences/claude-code-latest-features.md- Claude Code feature contract (slash commands, agent isolation, hooks, settings)references/backend-claude-teams.md- Concrete examples for Claude native teams (TeamCreate+SendMessage)references/backend-codex-subagents.md- Concrete examples for Codex CLI and Codex sub-agentsreferences/backend-background-tasks.md- Fallback:Task(run_in_background=true)references/backend-inline.md- Degraded single-agent mode (no spawn)references/claude-cli-verified-commands.md- Verified Claude CLI command shapes and caveatsreferences/codex-cli-verified-commands.md- Verified Codex CLI command shapes and caveatsreferences/cli-command-failures-2026-02-26.md- Dated failure log and mitigations from live runs
These are not directly invocable skills. They are loaded by other skills (council, crank, swarm, research, implement) when needed.
---
CLI Availability Pattern
All skills that reference external CLIs MUST degrade gracefully when those CLIs are absent.
Check Pattern
# Before using any external CLI, check availability
if command -v bd &>/dev/null; then
# Full behavior with bd
else
echo "Note: bd CLI not installed. Using plain text tracking."
# Fallback: use TaskList, plain markdown, or skip
fiFallback Table
| Capability | When Missing | Fallback Behavior |
|---|---|---|
bd | Issue tracking unavailable | Use TaskList for tracking. Note "install bd for persistent issue tracking" |
ao | Knowledge flywheel unavailable | Write learnings to .agents/learnings/ directly. Skip flywheel metrics |
out-of-session substrate (ntm / ao agent) | Always-on orchestration unavailable | Run the loop in-session (/rpi, /evolve). A substrate (an NTM tmux swarm or managed-agents via ao agent) only adds always-on dispatch of whole ao rpi//evolve loops — see agent-native and docs/3.0.md |
gt | Workspace management unavailable | Work in current directory. Skip convoy/sling operations |
gh | PR/CI automation unavailable | Open PRs via the web UI; skip automated PR status/merge steps |
go | Build-from-source unavailable | Install a prebuilt ao (Homebrew / install script / release binary); no Go needed |
codex | CLI missing or model unavailable | Fall back to runtime-native agents. Council pre-flight checks CLI presence (which codex) and model availability for --mixed mode. |
cass | Session search unavailable | Skip transcript search. Note "install cass for session history" |
jq | JSON parsing unavailable | Read --json output manually or use non-JSON output modes |
rg (ripgrep) | Fast search unavailable | Fall back to grep / git grep (slower) |
| Model tier config | .agentops/config.yaml missing | Use built-in defaults (quality=opus, balanced=sonnet, budget=haiku). Tier resolution falls through to "balanced". |
Full per-tool purpose, required-vs-optional, and fallback detail: docs/dependencies.md. The README "Requirements" section summarizes; this doc page is the canonical detail.
Required Multi-Agent Capabilities
Council, swarm, and crank require a runtime that provides these capabilities. If a capability is missing, the corresponding feature degrades.
| Capability | What it does | If missing |
|---|---|---|
| Spawn subagent | Create a parallel agent with a prompt | Cannot run multi-agent. Fall back to --quick (inline single-agent). |
| Agent-to-agent messaging | Send a message to a specific agent | No debate R2. Workers run fire-and-forget. |
| Broadcast | Message all agents at once | Per-agent messaging fallback. |
| Graceful shutdown | Request an agent to terminate | Agents terminate on their own when done. |
| Shared task list | Agents see shared work state | Lead tracks manually. |
Every runtime maps these capabilities to its own API. Skills describe WHAT to do, not WHICH tool to call.
After detecting your backend (see Backend Detection below), load the matching reference for concrete tool call examples:
| Backend | Reference |
|---|---|
| Claude feature contract | skills/shared/references/claude-code-latest-features.md |
| Claude Native Teams | skills/shared/references/backend-claude-teams.md |
| Codex Sub-Agents / CLI | skills/shared/references/backend-codex-subagents.md |
| Background Tasks (fallback) | skills/shared/references/backend-background-tasks.md |
| Inline (no spawn) | skills/shared/references/backend-inline.md |
Backend Detection
Use capability detection at runtime, not hardcoded tool names. The same skill must work across any agent harness that provides multi-agent primitives. If no multi-agent capability is detected, degrade to single-agent inline mode (--quick).
Selection policy (NTM > runtime-native > beads floor):
Global opt-out first: if AGENTOPS_ORCHESTRATION=off is set, skip all spawn backends and degrade to the beads floor (single-agent inline / --quick; workers' work is tracked through bd). This mirrors the AGENTOPS_HOOKS_DISABLED=1 convention. Otherwise, select in this order:
- NTM (top tier). If
ntmis on PATH, capability-probe it withntm --robot-capabilities. When the probe confirms multi-agent primitives, use NTM as the primary backend. - Runtime-native. If NTM is unavailable: in a Claude session with
TeamCreate/SendMessage, use Claude Native Teams; in a Codex session withspawn_agent, use Codex sub-agents. If both are technically available, pick the backend native to the current runtime unless the user explicitly requests mixed/cross-vendor execution. Only use background tasks when neither native backend is available. - Beads floor. If no multi-agent capability is detected, degrade to single-agent inline mode (
--quick).
gcis NOT a selectable tier. AgentOps no longer references Gas City; out-of-session orchestration is delegated to a swappable substrate (NTM + MCP + managed-agents — see docs/3.0.md). Any residualgc-based dispatch prose in older swarm/crank reference files is historical only and is never selected.
Output-contract parity is unchanged across all tiers: workers write results to .agents/swarm/results/*.json, and the lead verifies-then-trusts those artifacts. This invariant holds whether the backend is NTM, a runtime-native team, or the beads floor.
| Operation | Codex Sub-Agents | Claude Native Teams | OpenCode Subagents | Inline Fallback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spawn | spawn_agent(message=...) | TeamCreate + Task(team_name=...) | task(subagent_type="general", prompt=...) | Execute inline |
| Spawn (read-only) | spawn_agent(message=...) | Task(subagent_type="Explore") | task(subagent_type="explore", prompt=...) | Execute inline |
| Wait | wait(ids=[...]) | Completion via SendMessage | Task returns result directly | N/A |
| Retry/follow-up | send_input(id=..., message=...) | SendMessage(type="message", ...) | task(task_id="<prior>", prompt=...) | N/A |
| Cleanup | close_agent(id=...) | shutdown_request + TeamDelete() | None (sub-sessions auto-terminate) | N/A |
| Inter-agent messaging | send_input | SendMessage | Not available | N/A |
| Debate (R2) | Supported | Supported | Not supported (no messaging) | N/A |
OpenCode limitations:
- No inter-agent messaging — workers run as independent sub-sessions
- No debate mode (
--debate) — requires messaging between judges --quick(inline) mode works identically across all backends
Backend Capabilities Matrix
Prefer native teams over background tasks. Native teams provide messaging, redirect, and graceful shutdown. Background tasks are fire-and-forget with no steering — only a speedometer and emergency brake.
| Capability | Codex Sub-Agents | Claude Native Teams | Background Tasks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Observe output | wait() result | SendMessage delivery | TaskOutput (tail) |
| Send message mid-flight | send_input | SendMessage | NO |
| Pause / resume | NO | Idle → wake via SendMessage | NO |
| Graceful stop | close_agent | shutdown_request | TaskStop (lossy) |
| Redirect to different task | send_input | SendMessage | NO |
| Adjust scope mid-flight | send_input | SendMessage | NO |
| File conflict prevention | Manual git worktree routing | Native isolation: worktree + lead-only commits | None |
| Process isolation | YES (sub-process) | Shared worktree | Shared worktree |
When to use each:
| Scenario | Backend |
|---|---|
| Quick parallel tasks, coordination needed | Claude Native Teams |
| Codex-specific execution | Codex Sub-Agents |
| No team APIs available (last resort) | Background Tasks |
Skill Invocation Across Runtimes
Skills that chain to other skills (e.g., /rpi calls /research, /validate calls /council) MUST handle runtime differences:
| Runtime | Tool | Behavior | Pattern |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | Skill(skill="X", args="...") | Executable — skill runs as a sub-invocation | Skill(skill="council", args="--quick validate recent") |
| Codex | N/A | Skills not available — inline the logic or skip | Check if Skill tool exists before calling |
| OpenCode | skill tool (read-only) | Load-only — returns <skill_content> blocks into context | Call skill(skill="council"), then follow the loaded instructions inline |
OpenCode skill chaining rules:
- Call the
skilltool to load the target skill's content into context - Read and follow the loaded instructions directly — do NOT expect automatic execution
- NEVER use slashcommand syntax (e.g.,
/council) in OpenCode — it triggers a command lookup, not skill loading - If the loaded skill references tools by Claude Code names, use OpenCode equivalents (see tool mapping below)
Cross-runtime tool mapping:
| Claude Code | OpenCode | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Task(subagent_type="...") | task(subagent_type="...") | Same semantics, different casing |
Skill(skill="X") | skill tool (read-only) | Load content, then follow inline |
AskUserQuestion | question | Same purpose, different name |
TaskCreate, TaskUpdate, TaskList, TaskGet | todo | Task tracking (Claude uses 4 tools, OpenCode uses 1) |
Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Glob, Grep | Same names | Identical across runtimes |
Rules
- Never crash — missing CLI = skip or fallback, not error
- Always inform — tell the user what was skipped and how to enable it
- Preserve core function — the skill's primary purpose must still work without optional CLIs
- Progressive enhancement — CLIs add capabilities, their absence removes them cleanly
Reference Documents
- references/substring-rename-overreach.md — Pre-rename checklist for bulk sed across same-prefix concepts
- references/cross-harness-skill-parity.md — Knowledge parity beyond audit-codex-parity.sh; codex frontmatter strictness
- references/content-hash-cache.md
- references/compaction-signals.md
- references/backend-background-tasks.md
- references/backend-claude-teams.md
- references/backend-codex-subagents.md
- references/backend-inline.md
- references/claude-code-latest-features.md
- references/claude-cli-verified-commands.md
- references/codex-cli-verified-commands.md
- references/cli-command-failures-2026-02-26.md
- references/ralph-loop-contract.md
- references/orchestration-as-prompt.md
- references/stale-scope-validation.md — planning rule loaded by plan + pre-mortem: re-validate inherited scope against HEAD before acting on deferred beads or handoff docs.
- references/strict-delegation-contract.md — canonical contract loaded by /rpi, /discovery, /validate: strict sub-skill delegation is the default for top-level orchestrators.
