Shared References

This directory contains shared reference documents used by multiple skills:

• validation-contract.md - Verification requirements for accepting spawned work
• references/backend-codex-subagents.md - Concrete examples for Codex session agents
• references/backend-background-tasks.md - Fallback: background shell tasks
• references/backend-inline.md - Degraded single-agent mode (no spawn)
• references/codex-cli-verified-commands.md - Verified Codex CLI command shapes and caveats
• references/cli-command-failures-2026-02-26.md - Dated failure log and mitigations from live runs
• references/content-hash-cache.md - SHA-256 content-based caching for file processing
• references/compaction-signals.md - Tool-call-based strategic compaction signals

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."
fi

Fallback Table

Required Multi-Agent Capabilities

Council, swarm, and crank require a runtime that provides these capabilities. If a capability is missing, the corresponding feature degrades.

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 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 (runtime-native first):

1. If running in a Codex session and spawn_agent is available, use Codex session agents as the primary backend.
2. If both are technically available, pick the backend native to the current runtime unless the user explicitly requests mixed/cross-vendor execution.
3. Only use background tasks when neither native backend is available.

OpenCode limitations:

• No inter-agent messaging — workers run as independent sub-sessions
• No follow-up mode — 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.

Skill Invocation Across Runtimes

Skills that chain to other skills (e.g., $rpi calls $research, $vibe calls $council) MUST handle runtime differences:

OpenCode skill chaining rules:

1. Call the skill tool to load the target skill's content into context
2. Read and follow the loaded instructions directly — do NOT expect automatic execution
3. NEVER use slashcommand syntax (e.g., $council) in OpenCode — it triggers a command lookup, not skill loading
4. If the loaded skill references tools by Codex names, use OpenCode equivalents (see tool mapping below)

Cross-runtime tool mapping:

Rules

1. Never crash — missing CLI = skip or fallback, not error
2. Always inform — tell the user what was skipped and how to enable it
3. Preserve core function — the skill's primary purpose must still work without optional CLIs
4. Progressive enhancement — CLIs add capabilities, their absence removes them cleanly

Reference Documents

• references/backend-background-tasks.md
• references/backend-codex-subagents.md
• references/backend-inline.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

Local Resources

references/

• references/backend-background-tasks.md
• references/backend-codex-subagents.md
• references/backend-inline.md
• references/cli-command-failures-2026-02-26.md
• references/codex-cli-verified-commands.md
• references/ralph-loop-contract.md

scripts/

• scripts/validate.sh