Execute registered plugins

Execute registered plugins.

Scan ~/gt/plugins/ for plugin directories. Each plugin has a plugin.md with YAML frontmatter defining its gate (when to run) and instructions (what to do).

See docs/deacon-plugins.md for full documentation.

Gate types:
- cooldown: Time since last run (e.g., 24h)
- cron: Schedule-based (e.g., "0 9 * * *")
- condition: Metric threshold (e.g., wisp count > 50)
- event: Trigger-based (e.g., startup, heartbeat)

For each plugin:
1. Read plugin.md frontmatter to check gate
2. Compare against state.json (last run, etc.)
3. If gate is open, execute the plugin

Plugins marked parallel: true can run concurrently using Task tool subagents. Sequential plugins run one at a time in directory order.

Skip this step if ~/gt/plugins/ does not exist or is empty.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 15: All healthy


CLI: doctor diagnostics and auto-repair

GGT completely lacks the doctor command which is critical for debugging.

Required Commands:
- gt doctor [<rig>] - Run diagnostic checks
- gt doctor --fix - Auto-repair common issues

Checks to Implement:
Workspace Level: Config validity, Mayor mailbox, Rig registry
Rig Level: Git state, clone health, witness/refinery presence, beads sync
Swarm Level: Stuck detection, zombie sessions, heartbeat health

PGT Reference: gastown-py/src/gastown/cli/dashboard_cmd.py


bd mol current: soft cursor showing current/next step

Add bd mol current command for molecule navigation orientation.

## Usage

bd mol current [mol-id]

If mol-id given, show status for that molecule.
If not given, infer from in_progress issues assigned to current agent.

## Output

You're working on molecule gt-abc (Feature X)

  [checkmark] gt-abc.1: Design
  [checkmark] gt-abc.2: Scaffold
  [checkmark] gt-abc.3: Implement
  [arrow] gt-abc.4: Write tests [in_progress] <- YOU ARE HERE
  [circle] gt-abc.5: Documentation
  [circle] gt-abc.6: Exit decision

Progress: 3/6 steps complete

## Key behaviors
- Shows full molecule structure with status indicators
- Highlights current in_progress step
- If no in_progress, highlights first ready step
- Works without explicit cursor tracking (inferred from state)

## Implementation notes
- Query children of mol-id
- Sort by dependency order
- Find first in_progress or first ready
- Format with status indicators

## Beads feature
This is a bd command - needs implementation in beads repo.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol complete: both rigs healthy, handoff threshold reached


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 20: All healthy, routine cycle complete


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Cycle 13: quiet


Phase 1: Slinging Handoff

# Phase 1: Slinging Handoff

The restart-and-resume loop. This is the fundamental propulsion mechanism.

## What It Does

```bash
gt sling gt-xxx
```

1. Creates a wisp on the agent's hook containing the bead
2. Sends handoff mail (optional context)
3. Triggers session restart (daemon SIGUSR1 or direct respawn)
4. Fresh Claude wakes up
5. SessionStart hook runs `gt prime`
6. Agent reads hook → finds the slung bead
7. Agent executes the work

## Why Wisp, Not Mol

The sling is ephemeral scaffolding. It says "run this bead" - nothing more.
Once the work is picked up, the wisp can be burned. No permanent record needed
for the handoff wrapper itself; the actual work is tracked in the bead.

## Implementation

### gt sling command

```go
// cmd: gt sling <bead-id> [-s subject] [-m message]
func sling(beadID string, subject, message string) {
    // 1. Create wisp on hook
    //    - Creates .beads-wisp/hook-<agent>.wisp.yaml
    //    - Contains: bead_id, slung_at, context

    // 2. Optional: send handoff mail
    //    - gt mail send <self> -s "🤝 HANDOFF: <subject>" -m "<message>"

    // 3. Trigger restart
    //    - For crew: just exit (human restarts)
    //    - For polecats: signal daemon (SIGUSR1)
    //    - For deacon: signal daemon (SIGUSR1)
}
```

### Hook Reading in gt prime

```go
// In gt prime, after loading context:
func checkHook(agent string) *SlungWork {
    wispPath := ".beads-wisp/hook-" + agent + ".wisp.yaml"
    if exists(wispPath) {
        return parseWisp(wispPath)
    }
    return nil
}
```

### Agent Response to Slung Work

When agent wakes and finds slung work:

1. Read the wisp: `hook-<agent>.wisp.yaml`
2. Get the bead ID
3. Show the bead: `bd show <bead-id>`
4. Begin working on it
5. Burn the wisp (it's been picked up

## Files Changed

-  - New command
-  - Wisp creation/reading
-  - Hook check on startup
- Role CLAUDE.md files - Instructions for hook processing

## Acceptance Criteria

- [ ]  creates wisp on hook
- [ ] Agent restart picks up the slung work
- [ ] Work begins automatically (no human nudge)
- [ ] Wisp is burned after pickup
EOF
)


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 20: All healthy. Handoff after 20 cycles.


Step recovery: timeout and release

Implement recovery mechanism for stuck molecule steps.

## Problem
When a worker dies mid-step, the step stays in_progress forever.
Need timeout/release mechanism for nondeterministic idempotence.

## Solution
1. Track step start time (claimed_at timestamp)
2. Timeout: After 30 min in_progress, step returns to pending
3. Manual release: bd release <step-id>

## Implementation Options

### Option A: Beads-level timeout
- Add claimed_at field to issues
- bd ready excludes items in_progress < 30 min
- bd ready includes items in_progress > 30 min (auto-recovery)

### Option B: Daemon-level timeout
- Daemon watches in_progress items
- Moves back to pending after timeout

### Option C: Manual only (MVP)
- bd release <id> manually moves in_progress → pending
- Document recovery procedure
- Witness can automate for polecats

## Recommendation
Start with Option C (manual) for Christmas. Add Option A later.

## Acceptance
- [ ] bd release command works
- [ ] Stuck steps can be recovered
- [ ] Documented recovery procedure


Doctor check: Worker health and stuck detection

Detect and report stuck workers via gt doctor.

## Checks

### WorkerHealthCheck
- List all active workers (polecats with state=working)
- Check last activity timestamp for each
- Flag as potentially stuck if no progress for configurable threshold (default: 30 min)
- Check if Witness is running for the rig
- Verify Witness last heartbeat time

### Stuck Detection Criteria
- Polecat state=working but session not running
- Polecat state=working but output unchanged for threshold
- Witness not responding to health checks
- Multiple polecats in same rig all stuck

## Output

```
[WARN] Workers in rig 'wyvern' may be stuck:
  - Toast: working for 45m, no recent output
  - Capable: working for 52m, session not found
  - Witness: last heartbeat 20m ago

  Suggestions:
  - gt witness status wyvern
  - gt capture wyvern/Toast 50
  - gt stop --rig wyvern (kill all)
```

## Auto-Fix

Cannot auto-fix stuck workers (risk of data loss), but can:
- Restart Witness daemon if crashed
- Send warning mail to Mayor


gt sling should accept raw issues, not just molecules

Currently gt sling only works with molecules. When you try to sling a raw issue:

  gt sling gt-9uy0 gastown/crew/max
  Error: invalid thing: issue not found

Options:
1. Auto-wrap issues in a simple work molecule (mol-issue-work?)
2. Create a minimal 'envelope' molecule on the fly
3. Just pin the issue directly without a molecule wrapper

The friction of needing a molecule for every piece of work discourages using the sling mechanism for ad-hoc tasks.

Related: crew workers often want to pick up an issue without formal molecule choreography.


Test Task 2: Add comment to version.go


Document Overseer role (human operator)

Document the Overseer role in Gas Town architecture.

## The Overseer

The **Overseer** is the human operator of Gas Town. Not an agent - a person.

## Responsibilities

| Area | Overseer Does | Mayor/Agents Do |
|------|---------------|-----------------|
| Strategy | Define project goals | Execute toward goals |
| Priorities | Set priority order | Work in priority order |
| Escalations | Final decision on stuck work | Escalate to Overseer |
| Resources | Provision machines | Use allocated resources |
| Quality | Review & approve swarm output | Produce output |
| Operations | Run gt commands, monitor dashboards | Do the work |

## Key Interactions

### Overseer → Mayor
- Start/stop Mayor sessions
- Direct Mayor via conversation
- Review Mayor recommendations
- Approve cross-rig decisions

### Mayor → Overseer (Escalations)
- Stuck workers after retries
- Resource decisions (add machines, polecats)
- Ambiguous requirements
- Architecture decisions

## Operating Cadence

Typical Overseer workflow:
1. Morning: Check status, review overnight work
2. During day: Monitor, respond to escalations, adjust priorities
3. End of day: Review progress, plan next batch

## Commands for Overseers

```bash
gt status              # Quick health check
gt doctor              # Detailed diagnostics
gt doctor --fix        # Auto-repair issues
gt inbox               # Messages from agents
gt stop --all          # Emergency halt
```

## Documentation Updates

Add to docs/architecture.md:
- Overseer section under Agent Roles
- Clarify Mayor reports to Overseer
- Add Overseer to workflow diagrams


Polecat management: add, remove, list, state

Polecat lifecycle: add, remove, list, state tracking.

## Data Model

```go
type Polecat struct {
    Name      string          `json:"name"`
    Rig       string          `json:"rig"`
    State     PolecatState    `json:"state"`
    ClonePath string          `json:"clone_path"`
    Branch    string          `json:"branch"`
    Issue     string          `json:"issue,omitempty"`
    CreatedAt time.Time       `json:"created_at"`
    UpdatedAt time.Time       `json:"updated_at"`
}

type PolecatState string
const (
    StateIdle       PolecatState = "idle"
    StateActive     PolecatState = "active"
    StateWorking    PolecatState = "working"
    StateDone       PolecatState = "done"
    StateStuck      PolecatState = "stuck"
)
```

## Interface

```go
type PolecatManager struct {
    rig *Rig
    git *Git
}

func NewPolecatManager(rig *Rig, git *Git) *PolecatManager

// Lifecycle
func (pm *PolecatManager) Add(name string) (*Polecat, error)
func (pm *PolecatManager) Remove(name string) error
func (pm *PolecatManager) List() ([]*Polecat, error)
func (pm *PolecatManager) Get(name string) (*Polecat, error)

// State
func (pm *PolecatManager) SetState(name string, state PolecatState) error
func (pm *PolecatManager) AssignIssue(name, issue string) error
func (pm *PolecatManager) ClearIssue(name string) error

// Convenience
func (pm *PolecatManager) Wake(name string) error   // idle → active
func (pm *PolecatManager) Sleep(name string) error  // active → idle
```

## Add Flow

1. Create directory: `<rig>/polecats/<name>/`
2. Clone rig repo into it (or copy from rig root)
3. Create new branch: `polecat/<name>`
4. Initialize polecat state file
5. Create mail inbox

## Remove Flow

1. Verify session not running
2. Check for uncommitted changes (warn/error)
3. Remove directory
4. Clean up state

## State Persistence

Store in `<rig>/polecats/<name>/state.json`


gt nudge should accept flexible session identifiers

Currently `gt nudge` requires the exact tmux session name (e.g., `gt-gastown-furiosa`).

It should also accept:
- `gastown/furiosa` (rig/polecat format)
- `furiosa` (polecat name, infer rig from cwd or require if ambiguous)

The session list command shows `gastown/furiosa` format, but nudge rejects it:
```
gt session list → shows 'gastown/furiosa'
gt nudge gastown/furiosa 'msg' → 'session not found'
gt nudge gt-gastown-furiosa 'msg' → works
```

Should normalize all these formats to the tmux session name internally.


Remove keepalive/heartbeat staleness thresholds

**Files:**
- keepalive/keepalive.go (lines 94-111)
- deacon/heartbeat.go (lines 88-108)

**Current behavior:**
- Hardcoded thresholds: 2min=fresh, 5min=stale, 15min=very stale
- Used by daemon to decide whether to poke agents
- Go classifies agent responsiveness

**Fix:**
- Remove all hardcoded time.Duration thresholds
- Keepalive becomes pure timestamp storage
- Deacon molecule step does health assessment:
  "Check if Witness responded in last N minutes" (N from mol config)

**Lines to remove:**
- keepalive.go:96-110 (classification logic)
- heartbeat.go:91-107 (age classification)


Beads epic templates for batch work patterns

Optional: Define templates for common batch work patterns.

## Concept

A template encodes a workflow pattern that can be instantiated as beads:

```yaml
# templates/batch-basic.yaml
name: basic-batch
description: Simple batch work pattern
phases:
  - name: startup
    issues:
      - title: "Verify workers ready"
  - name: working
    # Actual work issues added separately
  - name: cleanup
    issues:
      - title: "Merge all branches"
      - title: "Clean up workers"
      - title: "Report to Mayor"
```

## Usage

```bash
gt spawn --template basic-batch --epic gt-u1j --workers 3
```

Creates beads epic with template phases + actual work from gt-u1j children.

## Decision Point

Templates are OPTIONAL. The core design (beads as state, multi-wave orchestration) works without templates. Templates are sugar for common patterns.

Consider deferring to P3 or dropping entirely if beads epics with dependencies suffice.

## Note

No "swarm IDs" involved - templates just pre-populate epic/issue structure.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 8: Mayor OK, 11 sessions


bd close hooks: context check and notifications

Add hook system to bd close for context checking and notifications.

## Concept

Register hooks that run on every bd close:

# .beads/config.yaml
hooks:
  on_close:
    - command: 'gt context-check'
    - notify: 'Next step ready'

## Use cases

### Context check on close
After closing a step, check if context is getting full.
If >80%, output warning suggesting session cycling.

### Next step notification
Automatically show next ready step (complements --continue).

### Custom actions
User-defined scripts for workflow automation.

## Hook types

- command: Run shell command with env vars (BEAD_ID, BEAD_TITLE, etc)
- notify: Send message to agent
- webhook: POST to URL (future)

## Integration with context detection

The context-check hook could:
1. Capture tmux pane (if in tmux session)
2. Estimate context usage (turn count, output length)
3. If high, output: 'Context at ~85%. Consider cycling.'

## Priority
P2 - nice to have, not blocking launch.

## Related
- gt-qswb (bd mol current)
- gt-fly0 (bd close --continue)


142 instances of error suppression with _ = pattern

Code has 142 instances of '_ = ' error suppression in non-test code.
Examples:
- internal/polecat/manager.go: _ = pool.Load() - ignores state loading
- internal/daemon/notification.go: _ = os.WriteFile() - ignores file write
- internal/mail/router.go: _ = r.notifyRecipient() - notification ignored

These create silent failures and hard-to-debug issues.

Options:
1. Document intentional suppressions with comments
2. Handle errors properly where appropriate
3. At minimum, log suppressed errors at debug level


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 18: Quiet


New Year's Launch: Single-Polecat Engine

# Tracer Bullet: Single-Polecat Engine

The minimal viable Gas Town: one polecat, one issue, one complete cycle.

## Vision

```
Deacon wakes → checks hook → spawns polecat → polecat works → polecat submits → loop
```

No Witness automation. No Refinery automation. Just the core propulsion loop.

## Key Insight: Molecules Are the Logic

Go code is connector/glue. The cognition lives in molecules. When the Deacon
wakes up, it reads its hook, finds a molecule, and WALKS IT. The molecule
says what to do. Go just provides the verbs (spawn, send, close).

## The Propulsion Principle

> If you find something on your hook, YOU RUN IT.

This is the universal Gas Town rule. Every agent, every wake-up:
1. Check hook
2. If mol → execute it
3. If nothing → wait for assignment

## Critical Path

1. **Slinging Handoff** - `gt sling <bead>` attaches work and restarts
2. **Hook Execution** - Agent wakes, primes, reads hook, runs hook
3. **Polecat Work Cycle** - Spawn → work → submit → complete
4. **Deacon Patrol** - The loop that spawns polecats

## Success Criteria

- `gt sling gt-xxx` restarts agent with work attached
- Agent wakes up and automatically begins work
- Single polecat completes one issue end-to-end
- Deacon can spawn polecats on demand

## Non-Goals (v0.1)

- Autonomous Witness nudging
- Autonomous Refinery merging
- Multi-polecat coordination
- Self-healing from crashes

These are v0.2+. Tracer bullet first.


Verify refinery patrol loop executes

Verify refineries run their patrol formula:

1. Check refinery session: `gt session status gastown/refinery`
2. If not running: `gt session start gastown/refinery`
3. Watch refinery: `tmux attach -t gt-gastown-refinery`
4. Verify it handles:
   - Checking for pending MRs
   - Processing merge queue
   - Reporting results

Test for both rigs: gastown and beads.


Merge: rictus-1767073382273

attached_args: Code review this merge request

branch: polecat/rictus-1767073382273
target: main
source_issue: rictus-1767073382273
rig: gastown


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 8: all clear, handing off for fresh context


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol #4: 2 Witnesses OK, 2 Refineries OK


Handle callbacks from agents

Handle callbacks from agents.

Check the Mayor's inbox for messages from:
- Witnesses reporting polecat status
- Refineries reporting merge results
- Polecats requesting help or escalation
- External triggers (webhooks, timers)

```bash
gt mail inbox
# For each message:
gt mail read <id>
# Handle based on message type
```

Callbacks may spawn new polecats, update issue state, or trigger other actions.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 3: stable


Patrol System: Agent lifecycle loops with attachments

Enable Gas Town agents to run continuous patrols, survive crashes, and hand off work across sessions.

## Core Concepts
- **Attachments**: Molecules bound to agent's pinned bead until complete
- **Patrols**: Cyclic molecules that loop (deacon, witness, refinery)
- **Quiescent**: Agents that sleep until triggered (witness, refinery)

## Design Doc
See docs/patrol-system-design.md

## Phases
Phase 1: Foundation (attachment field, daemon detection, mol-deacon-patrol)
Phase 2: Quiescent Agents (wake triggers, witness/refinery patrols)
Phase 3: Callbacks and Plugins (mail protocol, plugin runner)
Phase 4: Polish (gt patrol status, metrics, tuning)

## Key Decisions
- Attachment as field on pinned bead (not edge type, for now)
- Mail-based orchestration for all callbacks
- Queue replacement for heartbeat delivery (not pile-up)
- Burn and respawn for patrol loops (not in-place reset)


Improve test coverage in low-coverage packages

Several packages have low test coverage:
- internal/cmd: 6.8%
- internal/mail: 3.6%
- internal/daemon: 12.1%
- internal/doctor: 14.5%
- internal/refinery: 20.6%
- internal/session: 27.8%
- internal/git: 28.8%

Priority should be given to mail, cmd, and daemon packages which handle critical functionality.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 12: Routine


Activity Feed TUI

Terminal UI for browsing Gas Town activity. Shows hierarchical view of rigs, workers, and their current state. Features: live updates, expandable details, molecule progress (step X of Y). Built with bubbletea/lipgloss. Design doc: history/activity-feed-tui-design.md


Interrupt vs Queue mail semantics

Add priority/delivery semantics to mail messages.

## Semantics

| Type | Delivery | Use Case |
|------|----------|----------|
| Interrupt | tmux send-keys | Lifecycle, URGENT, stuck detection |
| Queue | Create message only | Normal mail, status, heartbeat |

## Implementation

- `bd mail send --interrupt` uses tmux send-keys notification
- Default is queue (agent checks with `gt mail check`)
- Urgent flag on messages for interrupt delivery

## Agent Side

- `gt mail check --quiet` - non-blocking check for queued mail
- `gt mail wait` - block until mail arrives (for idle agents)
- Heartbeats become queued, agent checks at natural breakpoints


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 5: All green


gt sling --on flag for wisp scaffolding

Add --on flag to gt sling for applying forms to existing work:
  gt sling shiny gastown/Toast --on gt-abc123

When --on is specified, implies --wisp (scaffolding existing work).
The form shapes execution of the target bead.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 11: all clear


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 5: 9 sessions healthy


Retry logic: exponential backoff for transient failures

Implement retry logic for transient failures.

Retryable failures:
- Push failed (network, auth transient)
- Test flaky (config: retry_flaky_tests)
- Fetch failed (network)

Retry strategy:
- Max retries: 3 (configurable)
- Backoff: 1s, 2s, 4s (exponential)
- On final failure: treat as permanent, assign back

Non-retryable failures:
- Merge conflict
- Test consistently fails
- Build error

Track retry count in MR metadata for debugging.

Reference: docs/merge-queue-design.md#failure-recovery


gt mol step done: Auto-continue molecule on step completion

## Summary

Implement `gt mol step done <step-id>` command that enables polecats to close a molecule step and automatically continue to the next step without waiting for witness orchestration.

## Problem

Currently, when a polecat completes a molecule step:
1. Polecat sends POLECAT_DONE to witness
2. Witness (in patrol cycle) eventually reads mail
3. Witness spawns next step
4. **Minutes of latency possible**

Polecats also forget to close beads steps (using internal TodoWrite instead), breaking the activity feed.

## Solution

`gt mol step done <step-id>` handles everything:

1. Close the beads step (`bd close <step-id>`)
2. Extract molecule ID from step (bd-mol-xga.1 → bd-mol-xga)
3. Find next ready step (dependency-aware)
4. If next step exists:
   - Update hook file to point to next step
   - Write handoff context
   - tmux respawn-pane (fresh claude session)
5. If molecule complete:
   - Clear hook
   - Send POLECAT_DONE to witness
   - Exit session

## Key Insight

Step-to-step transitions are **mechanical**, not **cognitive**. No AI needed in the critical path. Pure Go automation.

## Related Commands

- `gt mol next <mol-id>` - Show next ready step(s)
- `gt mol progress <mol-id>` - Already exists

## Polecat Protocol Update

```markdown
When your hook contains a molecule step:
1. Read the step: `bd show <step-id>`
2. Execute the work described
3. When complete: `gt mol step done <step-id>`

That is it. Do NOT manually close steps. Do NOT work multiple steps.
```

## Benefits

- **Instant step transitions** (~5-10s vs minutes)
- **Activity feed works** (steps closed as completed)
- **Witness freed up** (safety net only, not critical path)
- **Fresh context per step** (better attention, no accumulated confusion)


Bug: gt sling doesn't update agent bead hook_bead field

gt sling marks task as pinned with assignee, but doesn't update the agent bead's hook_bead field. Agent beads show hook_bead: null even after slinging. This prevents agents from knowing they have work on their hook.


Merge: keeper-1767074342207

branch: polecat/keeper-1767074342207
target: main
source_issue: keeper-1767074342207
rig: gastown


Deacon patrol wisps should use town beads, not gastown rig beads

## Problem

The deacon is a town-level role but stores patrol wisps in gastown/mayor/rig/.beads/ (see internal/cmd/prime.go:691). This fails for users who don't have the gastown rig installed.

## Correct Architecture

Deacon -> ~/gt/.beads-wisp/ (town-level, no rig dependency)

Town-level ephemeral work (deacon patrols) should use town wisp storage, just like rig-level ephemeral work (witness/refinery patrols) uses rig wisp storage.

## Implementation Tasks

### 1. Town Setup (gt install / gt town init)

- Create ~/gt/.beads-wisp/ directory during town initialization
- Initialize as git repo (for local commits, not synced)
- Add config.yaml with wisp: true
- Ensure .beads-wisp/ is gitignored at town level

Files:
- internal/cmd/install.go (or equivalent town init)
- internal/town/manager.go (if exists)

### 2. Rig Setup (gt rig init)

Already creates <rig>/.beads-wisp/ - verify this is working:
- internal/rig/manager.go:375 (beadsDir := filepath.Join(rigPath, ".beads-wisp"))
- internal/rig/manager.go:394 (ensureGitignoreEntry)

### 3. Deacon Code Fixes

Update deacon to use town wisp storage:
- internal/cmd/prime.go:691 - change rigBeadsDir to townWispDir
- internal/cmd/sling.go - route deacon wisps to town level
- internal/daemon/daemon.go - any deacon-specific wisp handling

### 4. gt doctor Checks

Add/update doctor checks for wisp directories:
- internal/doctor/wisp_check.go - already checks rig wisps
- Add TownWispCheck to verify ~/gt/.beads-wisp/ exists
- Add TownWispGitCheck to verify it is a valid git repo
- Update existing checks to handle both town and rig levels

Files:
- internal/doctor/wisp_check.go (extend for town level)
- internal/doctor/checks.go (register new checks)

### 5. Documentation

- docs/beads-data-plane.md - already updated with three-tier architecture
- Verify wisp-architecture.md reflects town-level wisps

## Testing

1. Fresh gt install should create ~/gt/.beads-wisp/
2. gt doctor should pass with no rig installed
3. Deacon patrol should work without gastown rig
4. gt sling patrol deacon/ --wisp should route to town wisps


Merge: gt-o3is

branch: polecat/furiosa
target: main
source_issue: gt-o3is
rig: gastown


Merge: gt-g44u.3

branch: polecat/Ace
target: main
source_issue: gt-g44u.3
rig: gastown


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 4: 8 sessions active, all healthy


Molecule Workflow Engine: Composable Crystallized Workflows

# Epic: Molecule Workflow Engine

**Vision**: Molecules are crystallized, composable, nondeterministic-idempotent workflow templates. Any worker can pick up where any other worker was interrupted and continue along the molecule.

**Christmas Target**: Full molecule-based workflow engine operational by Dec 25, 2025.

## The Core Concepts

1. **Molecule**: Read-only workflow template (beads issue with type=molecule)
2. **Atom/Step**: Individual work unit with prose instructions
3. **Bond**: Dependency between steps
4. **Polymer/Derived**: Molecule composed from other molecules
5. **Instance**: Concrete beads created when molecule is attached to work

## Key Features Needed

### 1. Molecule Composition (Includes Directive)
Molecules can include other molecules:
\`\`\`markdown
## Molecule: gastown-polecat
Includes: mol-engineer-in-box

## Step: install-binary
Build and install the local gt binary.
Needs: submit
\`\`\`

### 2. Standard Molecules
- mol-install-go-binary: Single step to build/install gt
- mol-gastown-polecat: engineer-in-box + install-binary

### 3. Spawn Integration
\`gt spawn --issue <id> --molecule <mol-id>\` creates molecule instance then starts polecat on first ready step.

### 4. Nondeterministic Idempotence
- Steps are atomic (pending → in_progress → completed)
- Any worker can pick up any ready step
- Step timeout/recovery for stuck workers

## Success Criteria
- [ ] Polecats can be spawned with mol-gastown-polecat
- [ ] Derived molecules work end-to-end
- [ ] 10+ polecat swarm completes molecule workflows
- [ ] install-go-binary step runs after successful merges


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 7: all quiet


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol cycle 8: thorough check, all healthy


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 4: Quick cycle, all quiet


Clean up stale children on deacon handoff bead

The deacon handoff bead hq-8r8 has 7 stale children (hq-8r8.1 through hq-8r8.7) from a previous patrol that got incorrectly parented. These should be cleaned up.

The handoff bead should only contain the attached_molecule reference, not instantiated steps.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol: read mayor handoff (gt-mzal boot design), all agents up, furiosa working gt-oiv0, note: gt-4eim orphaned (angharad gone)


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 2: All healthy, routine


CLI: gt stop --all (emergency swarm kill)

Emergency kill command for swarm operations.

## Commands

```bash
gt stop --all              # Kill ALL sessions across all rigs
gt stop --rig <name>       # Kill all sessions in one rig
gt stop --rig <name> --graceful  # Try graceful first, then force
```

## Implementation

### --all flag
1. List all tmux sessions matching gt-*
2. For each: capture final output, kill session
3. Update all polecat states to idle
4. Log all killed sessions
5. Send mail to Mayor: "Emergency stop executed"

### --rig flag
1. List sessions for specific rig
2. Same as above but scoped

### --graceful flag
1. First, try to inject "exit" command
2. Wait 5 seconds
3. If still running, force kill

## Output

```
Stopping all Gas Town sessions...
  [wyvern] Toast: captured output, killed
  [wyvern] Capable: captured output, killed
  [beads] Nux: captured output, killed

3 sessions stopped.
All polecat states set to 'idle'.
Mail sent to mayor/.
```

## Safety

- Always capture output before killing
- Update state files to reflect reality
- Log all operations to gt.log
- Warn if uncommitted changes detected (but still kill)

## Dependencies

Needs: Tmux wrapper, Session management, Polecat management


Zombie session detection for refinery/witness

A Claude session can crash or hang while still appearing as 'running' in tmux. The current IsRunning checks only verify tmux session exists, not that Claude is actually processing.

## Problem
- Refinery session might be hung (Claude crashed, infinite loop, etc.)
- tmux HasSession returns true, so auto-start doesn't trigger
- MRs pile up with no processing

## Solution Options
1. **Activity-based detection**: Check last output timestamp in tmux
2. **Heartbeat file**: Agents write timestamp to file, check staleness
3. **Prompt detection**: Look for Claude '>' prompt indicating idle/stuck

## Related
- gt-bjft (spawn auto-start) assumes IsRunning means healthy
- Witness patrol assumes running refinery is processing


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol: 2 completions (valkyrie gt-yd98 MQ, scrotus gt-mzal.1 boot proto). 8 polecats working.


Plugin/molecule catalog integration design

Two currently independent systems:
1. Disk-based plugins (~~/gt/plugins/) - Deacon patrol extensions
2. Molecule catalog (protos in beads) - bd pour/wisp/bond

Investigate integration points:
- User-contributed molecules bonded to catalog
- Dynamic molecule attachment during execution (e.g., 'attach security sniffer because we noticed condition X')
- How plugins could contribute protos
- How protos could trigger plugins

Not blocking launch. Future design investigation.


Pillar 3: Polecat Lifecycle

Session-per-step model with automated recycle/nuke.

Key deliverables:
- gt polecat recycle <name> - kill session, preserve sandbox
- gt polecat nuke <name> - kill everything
- Witness calls recycle between molecule steps
- Refinery calls nuke after merge

Subsumes existing work:
- gt-budeb: Witness auto-nuke polecats after merge
- gt-1dbcp: Polecat auto-start nudge fix

Reference: ~/gt/docs/liftoff-plan.md

Parent: gt-oki8p


gt spawn should create fresh polecat worktree, never reuse

Currently gt spawn tries to reuse existing polecats, which causes:

1. Stale beads database
2. Stale code (behind main/integration)
3. Old inbox messages
4. Git history pollution

## Current Behavior

gt spawn:
1. Looks for idle polecat in pool
2. If found, reuses existing worktree
3. Assigns new issue

## Desired Behavior

gt spawn:
1. Always create FRESH polecat from current main/integration
2. Fresh worktree with clean beads
3. No reuse of old worktrees

## Name Pool Still Useful

Keep name pool for:
- Allocating themed names (mad-max, etc.)
- Tracking which names are in use

But worktrees should be created fresh each time.

## Implementation

In spawn.go, before starting work:
1. If worktree exists: remove it first
2. Create fresh worktree from integration branch
3. Sync beads from rig to polecat
4. Then proceed with work assignment

This ensures polecats always start with latest code and beads.


Merge: gt-h6eq.5

branch: polecat/keeper
target: main
source_issue: gt-h6eq.5
rig: gastown


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 16: All healthy.


Outpost/Worker interfaces: Core abstractions for remote compute

## Overview

Define the core interfaces that all outpost types implement.

## Interfaces

```go
type OutpostType string
const (
    OutpostLocal    OutpostType = "local"
    OutpostSSH      OutpostType = "ssh"
    OutpostCloudRun OutpostType = "cloudrun"
)

type Outpost interface {
    Name() string
    Type() OutpostType
    MaxWorkers() int
    ActiveWorkers() int
    Spawn(issue string, config WorkerConfig) (Worker, error)
    Workers() []Worker
    Ping() error
    SendMail(worker string, msg Message) error  // optional
}

type Worker interface {
    ID() string
    Outpost() string
    Status() WorkerStatus  // idle, working, done, failed
    Issue() string
    Attach() error         // for interactive outposts
    Logs() (io.Reader, error)
    Stop() error
}

type WorkerConfig struct {
    RigPath    string
    BeadsDir   string
    GitBranch  string
    Context    map[string]string  // hints for worker
}
```

## Files

- `internal/outpost/outpost.go` - Outpost interface
- `internal/outpost/worker.go` - Worker interface
- `internal/outpost/config.go` - WorkerConfig, OutpostType

## Notes

This is the foundation for all federation work. Keep interfaces minimal - we can extend later.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 16: all clear


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 12: all clear


gt molecule seed: create built-in molecules as beads

The molecule infrastructure is complete but built-in molecules (engineer-in-box, quick-fix, research) need to be seeded into the beads database.

## Current State
- `gt molecule list` works but shows 0 molecules
- BuiltinMolecules() in internal/beads/builtin_molecules.go has 3 molecules defined
- No way to create them as beads

## Needed
Add `gt molecule seed` command that:
1. Reads BuiltinMolecules()
2. Creates each as a bead with type: molecule
3. Uses well-known IDs (mol-engineer-in-box, mol-quick-fix, mol-research)
4. Idempotent (skip if already exists)

## Acceptance Criteria
```
gt molecule seed
gt molecule list   # Shows 3 built-in molecules
```

## Parent
gt-4nn: Molecules epic


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 9: routine, all healthy


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 17: all quiet


Heartbeat convention: simple liveness signal for agents

Lightweight liveness signal extracted from Deacon epic (gt-5af).

**Implementation**: Each agent writes a timestamp file on activity:
```bash
echo '{"ts":"'$(date -Iseconds)'"}' > ~/gt/<role>/heartbeat.json
```

**Integration points**:
- SessionStart hook writes heartbeat
- Periodic activity (mail check, work completion) refreshes it
- `gt status` shows staleness (e.g., 'mayor: 5m ago')

**Weight**: ~5 lines per agent
**Value**: Quick debugging - see which agents are active at a glance

No monitoring daemon needed - human checks `gt status` when curious.


TIDY UP: Your previous work (patrol runner) was already m...

TIDY UP: Your previous work (patrol runner) was already merged to main. Check your git status is clean, sync beads, and if nothing to do, just run 'gt done'.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol complete: inbox empty, all agents healthy, fixed invalid hook attachment on gt-w98d


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 1: All agents healthy, 3 polecats idle, no orphans, 6 Mayor messages pending


Merge: gt-frs

branch: polecat/Slit
target: main
source_issue: gt-frs
rig: gastown


Test molecule

Test


load-context

Run gt prime and bd prime. Verify issue assignment.
Check inbox for any relevant messages.

Read the assigned issue (gt-test123) and understand the requirements.
Identify any blockers or missing information.


Merge: gt-y5o

branch: polecat/Doof
target: main
source_issue: gt-y5o
rig: gastown


Merge: nux-1767080427756

branch: polecat/nux-1767080427756
target: main
source_issue: nux-1767080427756
rig: gastown


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 5: clear


gt mq retry: retry a failed MR

Implement 'gt mq retry <id>' to retry a failed merge request.

Actions:
1. Verify MR exists and is in failed state (open with failure labels)
2. Remove failure labels (needs-rebase, needs-fix)
3. Reset to ready state
4. Optionally re-run immediately (--now flag)

Options:
- --now: immediately process (instead of waiting for Engineer loop)

Reference: docs/merge-queue-design.md#cli-commands


OSS Launch Readiness

Track all issues blocking or affecting OSS launch quality.

P0 Blocker:
- gt-ofl2: ProcessMRFromQueue not implemented

P1 Must Fix:
- gt-vzic: README missing prerequisites (tmux)
- gt-xbfw: Missing OSS files (CONTRIBUTING, etc.)
- gt-wexr: Polecat role swarm terminology
- gt-6n13: Competing molecule mechanisms
- gt-3abj: go install may fail

P2 Should Fix:
- gt-qj12: Obsolete beads cleanup
- gt-zn9m: Error suppression patterns
- gt-9uxr: Test coverage gaps
- gt-fm75: os.Exit in library code
- gt-yewf: Mismatched startup protocols
- gt-1z4m: Undocumented gt swarm
- gt-bho9: stderr suppression
- gt-rxsh: Merge model confusion
- gt-5ipl: Witness role commands

P3 Nice to Have:
- gt-t5mz: Hardcoded values


Update architecture.md: Engineer role and Beads merge queue

Update docs/architecture.md with recent design decisions:

1. Agent table: Change "Refinery" role to "Engineer"
   - Refinery = place/module/directory
   - Engineer = role (agent that works in the Refinery)

2. Merge Queue section: Document Beads-native model
   - MRs are beads issues with --type=merge-request
   - gt mq commands (submit, list, next, process, reorder)
   - Ordering via depends-on links

3. CLI section: Add gt mq commands

4. Key Design Decisions: Add decisions for:
   - #15: Merge Queue in Beads
   - #16: Engineer role (distinct from Refinery place)
   - #17: Session restart protocol for Engineer


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol: mayor handoff (Batch 1 complete, notifications working), 5 polecats now active (Batch 2)


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol complete: inbox empty, polecats healthy (furiosa/nux idle), witness/refinery running, no orphans


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 8: routine, all healthy


Add NODE_OPTIONS crash logging to claude invocations

## Background

Investigation in bd-6df0 found that NODE_OPTIONS can enable Node.js crash reporting for Claude Code:

```bash
NODE_OPTIONS="--report-on-fatalerror --report-uncaught-exception --report-directory=$HOME/.claude/crash-reports"
```

## Proposal

Modify gt to set NODE_OPTIONS when spawning claude sessions. Key locations in gastown:

- `internal/cmd/up.go` - deacon, witness, crew, polecat spawning
- `internal/cmd/start.go` - refinery, crew spawning
- `internal/cmd/mayor.go` - mayor spawning
- `internal/cmd/handoff.go` - handoff respawning
- `internal/cmd/crew_helpers.go` - execClaude()
- `internal/daemon/lifecycle.go` - daemon-managed spawns

## Implementation

1. Create helper function to build NODE_OPTIONS string
2. Set env var before each claude invocation
3. Ensure ~/.claude/crash-reports/ directory exists
4. Optionally add `gt doctor` check to clean old reports

## Benefits

- Crash diagnostics without user config changes
- All gt-managed sessions automatically covered
- Reports available for debugging unexpected terminations


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

P6: stable


Recover stale polecat work: 4 branches with unpushed commits

During observation of polecat workflow, found 4 polecats with unpushed work:

## Branches Pushed (preserved)
- polecat/capable: 3 commits (molecule catalog, doctor orphan detection, gt done)
- polecat/dementus: 4 commits (Witness MVP, handoff fixes)
- polecat/furiosa: 2 commits (bulk polecat removal, spawn handoff)
- polecat/rictus: 1 commit (molecule docs)

## Action Required
1. Review each branch for merge-worthiness
2. Either:
   a. Create PRs for valuable work
   b. OR discard if superseded
3. After decision, clean up polecats properly

## Root Cause
Polecats were not cleaned up after previous work sessions. This is exactly why we need:
- gt-u1k: gt shutdown should fully cleanup polecats
- gt-8v8: Refuse to lose uncommitted work
- gt-9nf: Always create fresh polecats


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 17: Quiet


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 4: All clear


Enhance Mayor CLAUDE.md with GGT milestone tracking

Update ~/ai/CLAUDE.md (Mayor startup context) with:

1. GGT Self-Hosting Milestone section
   - Track progress toward gt replacing town
   - Key blockers: gt-h5n (merge queue), gt-974 (daemon)
   - What "self-hosting" means (GGT working on itself)

2. Recent Architecture Decisions
   - Engineer = role, Refinery = place
   - Merge queue in Beads (not branch discovery)
   - Session restart protocol

3. Transition Plan
   - Current: use town commands (PGT)
   - Target: use gt commands (GGT)
   - Switch criteria: gt-b1g closed

Keep it concise - Mayor context should be quick to scan.


Chemistry UX commands from Beads

Waiting on Beads repo to implement chemistry UX sugar commands (bd pour, bd wisp, bd hook, --pour flag). These are nice-to-have polish items, not blockers for core functionality.

See: gastown/mayor/rig/docs/chemistry-design-changes.md


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 15: all healthy


test pin fix 2


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 12: All healthy


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol complete: inbox empty, all agents healthy, cleaned 4 orphans (gt-wx0w, gt-kp3s3, gt-6n1cy, gt-i4lo)


Witness MVP: Automated Polecat Lifecycle

Implement the Witness agent - per-rig 'pit boss' that manages polecat lifecycles.

The Witness enables hands-free swarming by automating:
- Spawning polecats for ready work
- Monitoring worker health
- Processing shutdown requests
- Cleaning up worktrees when done
- Escalating stuck workers to Mayor

Without Witness, humans must manually spawn, monitor, and kill each polecat.

## Core Loop

```
while True:
  # Handle pending shutdowns
  for polecat in polecats where state == pending_shutdown:
    verify git clean
    kill session
    remove worktree
    delete branch

  # Spawn for ready work
  ready = bd ready --parent=<epic> if epic else bd ready
  for issue in ready:
    if active_workers < max_workers:
      gt spawn --issue <id>

  # Check worker health
  for polecat in active polecats:
    if stuck (no progress for 30 min):
      nudge or escalate

  sleep 60
```

## Blocking Bugs to Fix
- gt-dsfi: handoff deadlock
- gt-n7z7: refinery foreground race condition
- gm-c6b: mail coordination (town vs rig beads)


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 3: All healthy


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 4: all healthy


MQ config schema: merge_queue section in rig config.json

Define and implement merge_queue configuration in rig config.

Schema:
{
  "merge_queue": {
    "enabled": true,
    "target_branch": "main",
    "integration_branches": true,
    "on_conflict": "assign_back",  // or "auto_rebase"
    "run_tests": true,
    "test_command": "go test ./...",
    "delete_merged_branches": true,
    "retry_flaky_tests": 1,
    "poll_interval": "30s",
    "max_concurrent": 1
  }
}

Implement:
- Config loading in rig package
- Default values
- Validation

Reference: docs/merge-queue-design.md#configuration


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 18: OK


E2E Test: Verify mol-polecat-work spawn

Simple test task for Phase 5 E2E validation


Add event-triggered lifecycle wisps

Commands like `gt town start` should auto-trigger lifecycle wisps.

## Event → Wisp Mapping

| Command | Triggers Wisp |
|---------|---------------|
| gt town start | mol-gastown-boot |
| gt rig add <name> | mol-rig-spinup (param: rig=<name>) |
| gt rig remove <name> | mol-rig-spindown (param: rig=<name>) |
| gt daemon restart | mol-gastown-boot |

## Implementation

1. Command implementation checks for lifecycle proto
2. Auto-slings wisp to Mayor with --wisp flag
3. Mayor picks up via molecule attachment

## Alternative: Explicit Sling

Keep commands simple, require explicit:

```bash
gt town start        # Just starts sessions
gt sling gastown-boot mayor/ --wisp   # Bootstrap with verification
```

This is more transparent - user sees the sling happen.

## Recommendation

Start with explicit sling. Add auto-trigger later once pattern proven.
`gt town start --verified` could trigger the wisp.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 12


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 20: all clear


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 4: routine checks all clear


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 19: Mayor OK, 11 sessions


Inconsistent error wrapping patterns

Error handling is inconsistent across the codebase:

1. Some functions use fmt.Errorf with %w for wrapping, others don't
2. return nil, nil patterns (40+ occurrences) sometimes represent 'not found' and sometimes 'error but continue' - should use sentinel errors
3. Some places return nil for errors when they should propagate them

Examples of nil,nil that might need review:
- internal/git/git.go:272, 308
- internal/crew/manager.go:227
- internal/witness/manager.go:517, 523, 530, 775
- internal/beads/beads.go:225, 492


Wisp squash design: cadences, rules, templates

Design how wisps squash to digests: When to squash (cadences), what to include (summary templates), retention rules. Currently under-designed. Should cover patrol wisps (squash per cycle) and work wisps (squash on completion). Consider allowing formulas to define squash templates.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 5: all healthy


mol-crew-session: Startup/shutdown protocols for crew workers

Crew workers (like joe, max) don't have patrol molecules keeping them fresh. When gt gets rebuilt, they have stale binaries that cause hangs and bugs.

## Problem

- Crew binaries get stale when gt is rebuilt elsewhere
- No automatic pull/rebase/rebuild on session start
- No standardized shutdown protocol (sync, push, handoff)

## Solution: mol-crew-session

A molecule template for crew sessions:

### Startup Phase
1. `git pull --rebase` - get latest code
2. `bd sync` - sync beads
3. `go build -o gt ./cmd/gt` - rebuild gt (if in gastown)
4. `gt prime` - load context

### Work Phase
- Open-ended human interaction
- No molecule steps - just work until done

### Shutdown Phase
1. `git status` - check for uncommitted changes
2. `bd sync` - sync beads
3. `git push` - push code
4. Handoff if incomplete work

## Implementation

1. Define mol-crew-session in builtin_molecules.go
2. Update crew CLAUDE.md to reference the protocol
3. Optionally: gt prime auto-runs startup steps

## Dependencies

- Should implement after deacon/witness/polecat patrols are stable
- Consider: gt-3x0z.10 (Witness patrol molecules)

## Related

- gt-3x0z.9: Deacon wisp patrol (done)
- fix-gt script: Current workaround for binary freshness


Witness daemon: heartbeat loop, spawn ephemeral agent

Background daemon for agent lifecycle and monitoring.

## Core Responsibilities

1. **Heartbeat monitoring**: Check agent health periodically
2. **Session lifecycle**: Restart agents after handoff (Witness Protection)
3. **Polecat monitoring**: Track worker progress, nudging
4. **Escalation**: Report failures to Mayor

## Session Lifecycle (Witness Protection)

The daemon enables autonomous long-running operation by cycling agent sessions:

```go
type SessionLifecycle struct {
    AgentType string  // "witness", "refinery"
    StatePath string  // path to state.json
}

func (d *Daemon) monitorSessionLifecycle(agent SessionLifecycle) {
    // 1. Detect session exit
    // 2. Check state.json for requesting_cycle: true
    // 3. If cycle requested: start new session, clear flag
    // 4. If unexpected exit: escalate to Mayor
}
```

See architecture.md Key Decision #12: Agent Session Lifecycle.

## Interface

```go
type Daemon struct {
    rig      *Rig
    polecats *PolecatManager
    sessions *SessionManager
    config   DaemonConfig
}

type DaemonConfig struct {
    HeartbeatInterval time.Duration  // default: 30s
    NudgeThreshold    int            // nudges before escalation
    MaxWorkers        int            // from rig config
}

func NewDaemon(rig *Rig) *Daemon
func (d *Daemon) Start() error
func (d *Daemon) Stop() error

// Lifecycle
func (d *Daemon) CycleSession(agentType string) error
func (d *Daemon) SpawnWorker(issueID string) error
func (d *Daemon) ShutdownWorker(polecat string) error
```

## Heartbeat Loop

Every HeartbeatInterval:
1. Check Witness session (restart if cycle requested)
2. Check Refinery session (restart if cycle requested)
3. For each active polecat: assess progress, nudge if stuck
4. Query `bd ready` for new work, spawn up to max_workers


Execute registered plugins

Execute registered plugins.

Scan ~/gt/plugins/ for plugin directories. Each plugin has a plugin.md with YAML frontmatter defining its gate (when to run) and instructions (what to do).

See docs/deacon-plugins.md for full documentation.

Gate types:
- cooldown: Time since last run (e.g., 24h)
- cron: Schedule-based (e.g., "0 9 * * *")
- condition: Metric threshold (e.g., wisp count > 50)
- event: Trigger-based (e.g., startup, heartbeat)

For each plugin:
1. Read plugin.md frontmatter to check gate
2. Compare against state.json (last run, etc.)
3. If gate is open, execute the plugin

Plugins marked parallel: true can run concurrently using Task tool subagents. Sequential plugins run one at a time in directory order.

Skip this step if ~/gt/plugins/ does not exist or is empty.


Test Polecat Arm

Test child for bonding pattern


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol complete: 0 polecats, 0 gates, all witnesses/refineries healthy, no orphans


Create rig .runtime/ for rig runtime state

Move ephemeral rig state to .runtime/:
- Create <rig>/.runtime/ directory
- Move .gastown/witness.json → .runtime/witness.json
- Move .gastown/refinery.json → .runtime/refinery.json
- Move .gastown/namepool.json (state portion) → .runtime/namepool-state.json
- Update .gitignore to ignore .runtime/
- Update all code references


implement

Implement the solution for gt-u2vg. Follow codebase conventions.
File discovered work as new issues with bd create.

Make regular commits with clear messages.
Keep changes focused on the assigned issue.

Depends: load-context


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 17: Green


Aspects: AOP cross-cutting concerns

Implement aspect-oriented composition:
- Define aspects with pointcuts and advice
- Apply aspects at bond time: bd bond mol --with-aspect security
- Pointcuts use glob patterns to match join points

Enables security-audit, logging, etc. as reusable concerns.


inbox-check

Handle callbacks from agents. Check gt mail inbox, process lifecycle requests.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol cycle 20: final cycle before handoff


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 15: All healthy.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 17: Mayor OK, 11 sessions


Session pre-shutdown checks

Session stop should verify clean state before killing, like PGT.

## Pre-Shutdown Checks

### 1. Git Working Tree Clean
```go
func checkGitClean(clonePath string) error {
    // git status --porcelain
    // Fail if any output
}
```

### 2. All Commits Pushed
```go
func checkCommitsPushed(clonePath string) error {
    // git log origin/HEAD..HEAD
    // Fail if any unpushed commits
}
```

### 3. Assigned Issues Handled
```go
func checkIssuesHandled(polecat *Polecat) error {
    // If polecat.Issue != "", check if closed or reassigned
}
```

### 4. Beads Synced
```go
func checkBeadsSynced(clonePath string) error {
    // bd sync --status in clone directory
}
```

## Behavior on Failure
1. First attempt: Nudge worker to fix
2. Retry up to 3 times with delay
3. After retries: Escalate to Witness/Mayor

## Integration
Modify internal/session/manager.go Stop():
```go
func (m *Manager) Stop(polecat string, force bool) error {
    if !force {
        if err := m.runPreShutdownChecks(polecat); err != nil {
            return fmt.Errorf("pre-shutdown checks failed: %w", err)
        }
    }
    // existing stop logic
}
```

## Flags
- --force: Skip checks
- --grace-period N: Time to wait for fixes

## Dependencies
- Ties into gt-69l (hook system) - can be hook-based
- Ties into gt-f8v (Witness pre-kill verification)

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] Stop fails if uncommitted changes (without --force)
- [ ] Stop fails if unpushed commits
- [ ] Clear error messages with fix instructions
- [ ] --force bypasses all checks


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 19: all healthy


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 2 complete: all systems healthy, no incidents


Remove schedule/phase terminology from code

Temporal/schedule language in identifiers is an anti-pattern.

## Found Issues

### beads repo
- `examples/multi-phase-development/` directory
  - Rename to `examples/dependency-sequenced-work/` or similar

### gastown repo
- `internal/cmd/start.go` lines 178-195
  - Uses "Phase 1:", "Phase 2:", etc. in printf output
  - Change to descriptive names: "Interrupting agents...", "Requesting handoff...", etc.

- `internal/swarm/landing.go` lines ~50-70
  - Comments say "// Phase 1: Stop all polecat sessions"
  - Change to "// Step: Stop all polecat sessions" or just remove phase labels

## Why This Matters

Phase/version language in names:
1. Implies a fixed schedule (antithetical to dependency-driven work)
2. Creates confusion with molecule "phases" (solid/liquid/gas)
3. Encourages temporal thinking that leads to backwards dependencies

## What To Keep

- Molecule phase terminology (pour/wisp/proto) - this is chemistry, not scheduling
- Version fields inside files (version: 1) - this is semantic versioning


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol complete: inbox clear, agents healthy, killed 3 orphan processes, noted 1 orphaned in_progress issue


mol-witness-patrol

Per-rig worker monitor patrol loop using the Christmas Ornament pattern.

The Witness is the Pit Boss for your rig. You watch polecats, nudge them toward
completion, verify clean git state before kills, and escalate stuck workers.

**You do NOT do implementation work.** Your job is oversight, not coding.

This molecule uses dynamic bonding to spawn mol-polecat-arm for each worker,
enabling parallel inspection with a fanout gate for aggregation.

## The Christmas Ornament Shape

```
                     ★ mol-witness-patrol (trunk)
                    /|\
          ┌────────┘ │ └────────┐
       PREFLIGHT  DISCOVERY  CLEANUP
          │          │           │
      inbox-check  survey    aggregate (WaitsFor: all-children)
      check-refnry   │       save-state
      load-state     │       generate-summary
                     ↓       context-check
             ┌───────┼───────┐  burn-or-loop
             ●       ●       ●   mol-polecat-arm (dynamic)
            ace     nux    toast
```


gt sling: support standalone formula slinging

## Summary
Enhance gt sling to support slinging standalone formulas (not just beads or formula-on-bead).

## Current Behavior
- `gt sling <bead> [target]` - works
- `gt sling <formula> --on <bead> [target]` - works (formula shapes bead)
- `gt sling <formula> [target]` - FAILS (tries to find bead named <formula>)

## Proposed Behavior
When first arg is not a bead but IS a formula, enter standalone formula mode:

```bash
gt sling mol-town-shutdown mayor/
gt sling towers-of-hanoi crew --var disks=3
```

Flow:
1. `verifyBeadExists()` fails
2. `verifyFormulaExists()` succeeds
3. Cook formula if needed (`bd cook`)
4. Create wisp instance (`bd wisp`)
5. Attach to target hook
6. Nudge to start

## Implementation
1. Add formula detection fallback in `runSling()`
2. Add `runSlingFormula()` helper
3. Add `--var` flag for formula variables

## Files
- internal/cmd/sling.go


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 14: OK


gt-polecat-gastown-rictus

gt-polecat-gastown-rictus

role_type: polecat
rig: gastown
agent_state: running
hook_bead: gt-dsqxw
role_bead: null


Update documentation for new config architecture

Update docs to reflect new structure:
- docs/architecture.md: Directory structure section
- CLAUDE.md files: Config references
- Add docs/configuration.md with full reference


Build context self-check into patrol molecules

Patrol molecules (witness-patrol, refinery-patrol, deacon-patrol) should have
explicit context self-check as part of each cycle:

After each patrol cycle step:
- Self-assess context pressure
- If high: complete current step, then initiate handoff
- If OK: continue to next cycle

This could be:
1. Explicit step in molecule: 'context-check'
2. Guidance in step instructions: 'Before continuing, assess context...'
3. Protocol baked into the patrol loop description

The key is making it unavoidable - not optional guidance that gets ignored.


Optimize: Share stepMap across control flow operators

In ApplyControlFlow, both ApplyBranches and ApplyGates call buildStepMap() separately:

```go
func ApplyBranches(steps []*Step, compose *ComposeRules) ([]*Step, error) {
    stepMap := buildStepMap(steps)  // Called here
    ...
}

func ApplyGates(steps []*Step, compose *ComposeRules) ([]*Step, error) {
    stepMap := buildStepMap(steps)  // Called again here
    ...
}
```

This is inefficient for large formulas. Options:

1. Pass stepMap as a parameter to ApplyBranches/ApplyGates
2. Create an internal version that accepts stepMap, keep public API unchanged
3. Build once in ApplyControlFlow and pass down

Low priority since formula sizes are typically small.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 6: Routine


Merge: capable-1767074974673

branch: polecat/capable-1767074974673
target: main
source_issue: capable-1767074974673
rig: gastown


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 12: all clear


Polecat Arm (arm-toast)

Single polecat inspection and action cycle.

This molecule is bonded dynamically by mol-witness-patrol's survey-workers step.
Each polecat being monitored gets one arm that runs in parallel with other arms.

## Variables

| Variable | Required | Description |
|----------|----------|-------------|
| polecat_name | Yes | Name of the polecat to inspect |
| rig | Yes | Rig containing the polecat |

## Step: capture
Capture recent tmux output for toast.

```bash
tmux capture-pane -t gt-gastown-toast -p | tail -50
```

Record:
- Last activity timestamp (when was last tool call?)
- Visible errors or stack traces
- Completion indicators ("Done", "Finished", etc.)

## Step: assess
Categorize polecat state based on captured output.

States:
- **working**: Recent tool calls, active processing
- **idle**: At prompt, no recent activity
- **error**: Showing errors or stack traces
- **requesting_shutdown**: Sent LIFECYCLE/Shutdown mail
- **done**: Showing completion indicators

Calculate: minutes since last activity.
Needs: capture

## Step: load-history
Read nudge history for toast from patrol state.

```
nudge_count = state.nudges[toast].count
last_nudge_time = state.nudges[toast].timestamp
```

This data was loaded by the parent patrol's load-state step and passed
to the arm via the bonding context.
Needs: assess

## Step: decide
Apply the nudge matrix to determine action for toast.

| State | Idle Time | Nudge Count | Action |
|-------|-----------|-------------|--------|
| working | any | any | none |
| idle | <10min | any | none |
| idle | 10-15min | 0 | nudge-1 (gentle) |
| idle | 15-20min | 1 | nudge-2 (direct) |
| idle | 20+min | 2 | nudge-3 (final) |
| idle | any | 3 | escalate |
| error | any | any | assess-severity |
| requesting_shutdown | any | any | pre-kill-verify |
| done | any | any | pre-kill-verify |

Nudge text:
1. "How's progress? Need any help?"
2. "Please wrap up soon. What's blocking you?"
3. "Final check. Will escalate in 5 min if no response."

Record decision and rationale.
Needs: load-history

## Step: execute
Take the decided action for toast.

**nudge-N**:
```bash
tmux send-keys -t gt-gastown-toast "{{nudge_text}}" Enter
```

**pre-kill-verify**:
```bash
cd polecats/toast
git status                    # Must be clean
git log origin/main..HEAD     # Check for unpushed
bd show <assigned-issue>      # Verify closed/deferred
```
If clean: kill session, remove worktree, delete branch
If dirty: record failure, retry next cycle

**escalate**:
```bash
gt mail send mayor/ -s "Escalation: toast stuck" -m "..."
```

**none**: No action needed.

Record: action taken, result, updated nudge count.
Needs: decide

## Output

The arm completes with:
- action_taken: none | nudge-1 | nudge-2 | nudge-3 | killed | escalated
- result: success | failed | pending
- updated_state: New nudge count and timestamp for toast

This data feeds back to the parent patrol's aggregate step.
---
bonded_from: mol-polecat-arm
bonded_to: gt-1iwk
bonded_ref: arm-toast
bonded_at: 2025-12-23T10:00:00Z


gt-polecat-gastown-warboy

gt-polecat-gastown-warboy

role_type: polecat
rig: gastown
agent_state: spawning
hook_bead: null
role_bead: null


gt polecat git-state command for pre-kill verification

Add git-state subcommand to gt polecat for Witness pre-kill verification.

## Usage
```bash
gt polecat git-state <rig>/<polecat>
```

## Output
```
Git State: gastown/furiosa

  Working Tree: clean | dirty
  Uncommitted:  0 files | N files (list)
  Unpushed:     0 commits | N commits ahead
  Stashes:      0 | N stashes

  Verdict: CLEAN (safe to kill) | DIRTY (needs cleanup)
```

## JSON output (--json flag)
```json
{
  "clean": true,
  "uncommitted_files": [],
  "unpushed_commits": 0,
  "stash_count": 0
}
```

## Used by
- Witness pre-kill verification (mol-witness-patrol)
- Manual cleanup checks

## Implementation
- Check git status in polecat worktree
- Check git log origin/main..HEAD
- Check git stash list


Rename Engineer in Box to Shiny

Rename mol-engineer-in-box to mol-shiny (or just 'shiny').

Mad Max reference - the canonical 'right way to engineer'.
Update all references in docs and code.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 19: clear


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

P10: stable


Test: release command verification


Remove redundant gt prime SendKeys from crew commands

The crew commands (gt crew at, gt crew restart) still send 'gt prime' via SendKeys after session creation:
- internal/cmd/crew_at.go:97, 121
- internal/cmd/crew_lifecycle.go:202

This is now redundant because SessionStart hook handles priming automatically.

**Low priority** - these aren't causing bugs (just duplicate work), unlike the spawn race condition that was fixed. Can be cleaned up when convenient.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 8


Agent state lifecycle incomplete for polecats

## Problem

The witness patrol formula (mol-witness-patrol.formula.toml) expects polecats to self-report states:
- running
- idle
- stuck
- done

But looking at the code, the only state transitions that actually happen are:

1. **spawning** - Set when polecat is created (polecat/manager.go:170)
2. **running** - Set when agent runs `gt prime` (prime.go:112)
3. **dead** - Set by daemon when agent goes unresponsive (daemon/lifecycle.go:647)

**Missing transitions:**
- `stuck` - No code path exists for agents to report this
- `done` - No code path exists for agents to report this
- `idle` - Only set for infrastructure agents, never for polecats

## Impact

The witness cannot rely on agent_state to detect stuck or done polecats, contradicting the ZFC principle stated in the formula.

## Found in commit

f3a6ef6 (feat: Witness reads polecat state from agent beads)

## Suggested fix

Add code paths for polecats to self-report:
1. `gt done` should update agent_state to "done"
2. When stuck (detected how?), agent should update to "stuck"
3. Consider if "idle" makes sense for polecats (no current work)


Work on ga-p6r: Add handoff protocol to spawn priming. En...

Work on ga-p6r: Add handoff protocol to spawn priming. Ensure polecats receive handoff context when spawned. When done, submit MR (not PR) to integration branch for Refinery.


Design: Swarm shutdown and worker cleanup

Design for graceful swarm shutdown, worker cleanup, and session cycling.

## Key Decisions

1. Pre-kill verification uses model intelligence (not framework rules)
2. Witness can request restart when context filling (mail self, exit)
3. Mayor NOT involved in per-worker cleanup (Witness responsibility)
4. Clear responsibility boundaries between Mayor/Witness/Polecat

## Subtasks (implementation)

- gt-sd6: Polecat decommission checklist prompting
- gt-f8v: Witness pre-kill verification protocol
- gt-eu9: Witness session cycling and handoff
- gt-gl2: Mayor vs Witness cleanup responsibilities

**Design complete.** Each subtask has full specification in its description.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol cycle 1: inbox clear, 8 in-progress issues, sessions healthy, gc not implemented


Update prompts.md: Engineer role and templates

Update docs/prompts.md with Engineer role:

1. Role Prompts table: Change Refinery to Engineer
2. Add Engineer-specific prompts:
   - Session restart request template
   - Subtask filing template
   - Handoff mail template
3. Update refinery.md template name to engineer.md
4. Ensure consistency with architecture.md


Remove unused style helper functions

internal/style/style.go defines RenderSuccess, RenderWarning, RenderError, and RenderInfo helper functions that are never used. Code uses style.Success.Render() directly instead. Either use the helpers consistently or remove them.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 9: all healthy


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 5: all clear, proto closure warning noted


Epic: Async Gates for Agent Coordination

## Summary

Agents need an async primitive for waiting on external events (CI completion,
API responses, human approval). Currently they either poll wastefully or cant
resume after handoff.

## Design: Deacon-Managed Gates

### Core Concepts

**Gate** = wisp issue that blocks until external condition is met
- Type: `gate`
- Phase: wisp (never synced, ephemeral)
- Assignee: `deacon/` (Deacon monitors it)
- Fields: `await_type`, `await_id`, `timeout`, `waiters[]`

**Await Types:**
- `gh:run:<id>` - GitHub Actions run completion
- `gh:pr:<id>` - PR merged/closed
- `timer:<duration>` - Simple delay (e.g., "5m", "1h")
- `human:<prompt>` - Human approval required
- `mail:<pattern>` - Wait for mail matching pattern

### Commands

```bash
bd gate create --await <type>:<id> --timeout <duration> --notify <addr>
bd gate show <id>
bd gate list
bd gate close <id> --reason "completed"
bd gate wait <id> --notify <addr>
```

## Children (suggested breakdown)

1. Add `gate` issue type to beads
2. Add gate fields: await_type, await_id, timeout, waiters
3. Implement `bd gate create/show/list/close/wait` commands
4. Add gate checking to Deacon patrol loop
5. Implement await type handlers (gh:run, gh:pr, timer, human, mail)
6. Add gate timeout tracking and notification
7. Integration test: agent waits for CI via gate

## Open Questions

- Should gates live in wisp storage or main storage with wisp flag?
- Do we need a gate catalog (like molecule catalog)?
- Should `waits-for` dep type work with gates?


gt feed --follow: Town-level activity stream

Town-native command for aggregated activity feed.

Wraps bd activity --town with Gas Town conveniences:
- gt feed --follow         # Stream all rig activity
- gt feed --rig gastown    # Filter to specific rig
- gt feed --convoy hq-xxx  # Filter to convoy's tracked issues

Essential for Mayor/Deacon visibility into cross-rig work.

Depends on: bd-dx6e (bd activity --town)
Related: hq-7h8jx (Convoy System epic in town beads)


Split PGT/GGT harness or migrate to GGT-only

Current ~/ai harness is shared by PGT and GGT with confusing overlap. Options:
1. Keep separate (document the coexistence)
2. Migrate fully to GGT structure
3. Create separate harnesses

This affects the beads redirect, Mayor home location, and rig structure.


Merge: nux-1767080427756

branch: polecat/nux-1767080427756
target: main
source_issue: nux-1767080427756
rig: gastown


Test Epic: GGT MVP Validation


Clarify Mayor vs Witness cleanup responsibilities

Document the cleanup authority model: Witness owns ALL per-worker cleanup, Mayor never involved.

## The Rule

**Witness handles ALL per-worker cleanup. Mayor is never involved.**

## Why This Matters

1. Separation of concerns: Mayor strategic, Witness operational
2. Reduced coordination overhead: No back-and-forth for routine cleanup
3. Faster shutdown: Witness kills workers immediately upon verification
4. Cleaner escalation: Mayor only hears about problems

## What Witness Handles

- Verifying worker git state before kill
- Nudging workers to fix dirty state
- Killing worker sessions
- Updating worker state (sleep/wake)
- Logging verification results

## What Mayor Handles

- Receiving swarm complete notifications
- Deciding whether to start new swarms
- Handling escalations (stuck workers after 3 retries)
- Cross-rig coordination

## Escalation Path

Worker stuck -> Witness nudges (up to 3x) -> Witness escalates to Mayor -> Mayor decides: force kill, reassign, or human

## Anti-Patterns

DO NOT: Mayor asks Witness if worker X is clean
DO: Witness reports swarm complete, all workers verified

DO NOT: Mayor kills worker sessions directly
DO: Mayor tells Witness to abort swarm, Witness handles cleanup

DO NOT: Workers report done to Mayor
DO: Workers report to Witness, Witness aggregates and reports up


CloudRun cost tracking: Usage monitoring and limits

## Overview

Track Cloud Run usage costs and enforce spending limits.

## Cost Model

Cloud Run pricing (approximate):
- CPU: ~$0.000024/vCPU-second
- Memory: ~$0.0000025/GiB-second
- Requests: ~$0.40/million

For 5-minute worker (2 vCPU, 4GB):
- CPU: 300 × 2 × $0.000024 = $0.0144
- Memory: 300 × 4 × $0.0000025 = $0.003
- **Total: ~$0.017 per session**

## Implementation

```go
type CostTracker struct {
    cpuRate    float64  // per vCPU-second
    memRate    float64  // per GiB-second
    sessions   []SessionCost
    mu         sync.RWMutex
}

type SessionCost struct {
    WorkerID  string
    StartTime time.Time
    EndTime   time.Time
    CPUs      float64
    MemoryGiB float64
}

func (t *CostTracker) RecordSession(workerID string, start, end time.Time, cpus, mem float64) {
    t.mu.Lock()
    defer t.mu.Unlock()
    t.sessions = append(t.sessions, SessionCost{...})
}

func (t *CostTracker) CurrentCost() float64 {
    t.mu.RLock()
    defer t.mu.RUnlock()
    var total float64
    for _, s := range t.sessions {
        duration := s.EndTime.Sub(s.StartTime).Seconds()
        total += duration * s.CPUs * t.cpuRate
        total += duration * s.MemoryGiB * t.memRate
    }
    return total
}
```

## Cost Cap Enforcement

```go
func (o *CloudRunOutpost) Spawn(...) (Worker, error) {
    if o.costCap > 0 && o.costTracker.CurrentCost() >= o.costCap {
        return nil, ErrCostCapExceeded
    }
    // ... spawn worker
}
```

## Config

```yaml
outposts:
  - name: cloudrun-burst
    type: cloudrun
    cost_cap_hourly: 5.00   # Stop spawning if hourly cost exceeds $5
    cost_cap_daily: 50.00   # Daily limit
```

## CLI

```bash
gt outpost status cloudrun-burst
# Shows: Cost (today): $0.42 / $50.00 cap
```

## Files

- `internal/cloudrun/cost.go`

## Dependencies

Depends on: gt-9a2.8 (basic CloudRunOutpost)


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 3: All clear


Refactor: Extract common manager creation boilerplate

Five nearly identical functions exist for creating managers:
- getPolecatManager (polecat.go:241)
- getSessionManager (session.go:183)
- getCrewManager (crew_helpers.go:44)
- getRefineryManager (refinery.go:116)
- getWitnessManager (witness.go:102)

All follow the same pattern: find workspace, load config, get rig, create manager. Should extract to a common helper that takes a factory function.


Refinery patrol: Add banners and wisp-based execution

Bring Refinery patrol up to Deacon's level of sophistication:

## Current state
- mol-refinery-patrol exists (needs verification)
- Basic merge queue processing

## Needed
1. **Banners** - Print step banners like Deacon does:
   ```
   ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
     ⚗ QUEUE-CHECK
     Processing merge queue entries
   ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
   ```

2. **Wisp-based execution** - Spawn patrol as wisp, squash when complete
3. **Handoff bead attachment** - Refinery needs its own handoff bead with attached_molecule
4. **Loop-or-exit step** - Context-aware cycling like Deacon
5. **Patrol summary banner** at end of each cycle

## Reference
See Deacon patrol implementation in ~/gt/deacon/CLAUDE.md


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 20: Final patrol, handing off


health-scan

Ping Witnesses and Refineries. Run gt status --health. Remediate if down.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol complete: 0 messages, agents healthy, no cleanup needed


Refactor builtin_molecules.go (1620 lines)

## Summary

builtin_molecules.go is 1620 lines and growing. Should be split into:
- builtin_molecules.go - registration and common helpers
- molecules_patrol.go - patrol molecules (deacon, witness, refinery)
- molecules_work.go - work molecules (polecat-work, ready-work, engineer-in-box)
- molecules_session.go - session wrappers (crew-session, polecat-session)

## Benefits
- Easier to find/edit specific molecules
- Smaller diffs on changes
- Clear categorization


Dogs: Deacon's Helper Workers

## Overview

Dogs are reusable workers managed by the Deacon for infrastructure and cleanup tasks.
They parallel how Polecats serve the Witness, but at town level with cross-rig scope.

## Key Concepts

- **Dogs**: Deacon-managed, reusable, infrastructure/cleanup tasks
- **Kennel**: Where dogs live (`deacon/dogs/`)
- **Multi-rig worktrees**: Dogs have worktrees into multiple rigs for cross-rig work

## Cats vs Dogs

| Aspect | Polecats | Dogs |
|--------|----------|------|
| Manager | Witness | Deacon |
| Scope | Per-rig | Town (cross-rig) |
| Lifecycle | Ephemeral | Reusable |
| Work | Features | Infrastructure |
| Location | `<rig>/polecats/` | `deacon/dogs/` |

## Implementation

### Phase 1: Dog Infrastructure
- `gt dog add/remove/list/call/status` commands
- Kennel directory structure (`~/gt/deacon/dogs/`)
- Multi-rig worktree creation
- Dog state tracking

### Phase 2: Deacon Dispatch
- Sling support for `deacon/dogs` target
- Pool management (spawn/retire logic)
- Completion mail handling

### Phase 3: Infrastructure Formulas
- mol-convoy-cleanup
- mol-dep-propagate
- mol-digest-generate

### Phase 4: Deacon Refactor
- Patrol becomes detect → dispatch
- Heavy work moves to dog slings

## Reference

- docs/patrol-system-design.md#dogs-deacons-helper-workers
- docs/PRIMING.md (Role Taxonomy)


CLI: witness commands (start, stop, status)

Witness daemon CLI commands.

## Commands

### gt witness start
Start the witness daemon for a rig.
```
gt witness start <rig> [--interval <seconds>]
```
- Starts background daemon process
- Default heartbeat interval: 30s
- Logs to <rig>/witness/witness.log

### gt witness stop
Stop the witness daemon.
```
gt witness stop <rig>
```
- Graceful shutdown
- Completes current heartbeat cycle

### gt witness status
Show witness status.
```
gt witness status <rig> [--json]
```
Output:
- Running/stopped
- Last heartbeat time
- Polecats being monitored
- Recent nudges/escalations

### gt witness logs
View witness logs.
```
gt witness logs <rig> [--follow] [--lines <n>]
```
- --follow: Continuous output (like tail -f)
- --lines: Number of lines (default 50)

## Daemon Management

Witness runs as background process:
- PID stored in <rig>/witness/witness.pid
- Uses nohup for persistence
- Logs structured JSON events

## Implementation

```go
var witnessCmd = &cobra.Command{Use: "witness"}
witnessCmd.AddCommand(startCmd, stopCmd, statusCmd, logsCmd)
```

Start launches daemon via exec, status reads PID file and pings process.


Adaptive backoff for daemon heartbeat

Track agent responsiveness and adjust heartbeat frequency.

## Per-Agent State

```go
type AgentBackoff struct {
    BaseInterval    time.Duration  // 60s default
    CurrentInterval time.Duration  // grows when busy
    MaxInterval     time.Duration  // 10min cap
    ConsecutiveMiss int            // pokes with no response
}
```

## Strategy Options

- **Fixed**: Always 60s (current, simple)
- **Geometric**: 60s → 90s → 135s → 202s (factor 1.5)
- **Exponential**: 60s → 120s → 240s (factor 2, aggressive)

## Recovery

When agent responds (runs a command):
- Reset ConsecutiveMiss to 0
- Return to BaseInterval immediately

## Benefits

- Reduces noise for busy agents
- Saves resources during quiet periods
- Still catches stuck agents (max interval cap)


Refinery emits activity events

Refinery emits events to activity stream for MQ lifecycle:

Events to emit:
- merge_started: When refinery begins processing an MR
- merged: When MR successfully merged to main
- merge_failed: When merge fails (conflict, tests, etc.)
- merge_skipped: When MR skipped (already merged, etc.)

Events should include: MR ID, worker, branch, timestamp, reason (for failures)

This replaces stats tracking in .runtime/refinery.json


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol #7


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol complete: inbox checked (4 msgs, 1 escalation resolved), all agents healthy (2 witnesses, 2 refineries, 3 polecats, 5 crew), cleaned 66 abandoned wisps


Auto-rebase on conflict: optional automatic rebase

Implement automatic rebase as conflict resolution option.

When on_conflict=auto_rebase and conflicts detected:
1. Attempt: git rebase <target> <source-branch>
2. If clean rebase: update source branch, continue merge
3. If conflicts in rebase: abort, fall back to assign_back
4. Force push rebased branch (worker's branch)

Requires:
- Worker branch must be force-pushable
- Config: on_conflict: auto_rebase

Risks:
- Force push can confuse workers
- Complex conflicts still need manual resolution

Reference: docs/merge-queue-design.md#conflict-resolution-strategies


Remove lifecycle intent parsing from Go

daemon/lifecycle.go parses mail subjects with regex looking for restart/shutdown/cycle keywords, then executes actions. Fix: use structured message types in mail body instead of parsing subjects. Go reads action field, does not interpret text.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 10: All healthy, no messages


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 10: All clear


Implement gt watch command scaffold

Basic bubbletea TUI scaffold for 'gt watch' command. Discovers rigs, connects to daemons, renders placeholder view. Foundation for the full activity feed TUI.


gt polecat remove --all: bulk polecat teardown

Currently gt polecat remove only accepts one polecat at a time. Need bulk operations:

## Requested
- `gt polecat remove gastown --all` - remove all polecats from a rig
- `gt polecat remove gastown/A gastown/B ...` - remove multiple by name

## Context
After a swarm completes, tearing down 20 polecats one at a time is tedious.
Ephemeral workers should be easy to create and destroy in bulk.

## Related
- gt-c92: CLI: all command for batch polecat operations


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol cycle 16: nominal


Merge: gt-3x1

branch: polecat/Slit
target: main
source_issue: gt-3x1
rig: gastown


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

P7: stable


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 4: All agents healthy, routine


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 16: Mayor OK, 11 sessions


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 20: all quiet - handoff cycle


Error handling improvements: retry logic and recovery hints

Improve error handling across GGT codebase.

## Issues Found

### 1. Silent Failures in Refinery
manager.go ProcessMR():
- git pull errors ignored
- Continues processing even on partial failures

### 2. Missing Beads CLI
Many operations silently continue if `bd` not found:
```go
// Current
tasks, err := m.loadTasksFromBeads(epicID)
if err != nil {
    // Non-fatal - swarm can start without tasks
}

// Better
if err != nil {
    return nil, fmt.Errorf("beads required: %w", err)
}
```

### 3. No Retry Logic
Network/lock errors should retry:
```go
func withRetry(attempts int, delay time.Duration, fn func() error) error {
    for i := 0; i < attempts; i++ {
        if err := fn(); err == nil {
            return nil
        }
        time.Sleep(delay)
    }
    return fmt.Errorf("failed after %d attempts", attempts)
}
```

### 4. Recovery Hints
Error messages should include fix suggestions:
```go
// Current
return fmt.Errorf("polecat not found")

// Better
return fmt.Errorf("polecat '%s' not found. Use 'gt polecat list' to see available polecats", name)
```

## Domain Error Types
```go
type SessionError struct {
    Op      string
    Polecat string
    Err     error
}

func (e *SessionError) Error() string {
    return fmt.Sprintf("session %s for %s: %v", e.Op, e.Polecat, e.Err)
}
```

## Files to Review
- internal/refinery/manager.go
- internal/swarm/manager.go
- internal/session/manager.go
- All cmd/*.go files

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] No silent error swallowing
- [ ] Retry logic for transient failures
- [ ] Helpful error messages with hints
- [ ] Consistent error types per domain


gt done: Missing command referenced in polecat docs


Session cycling UX: smooth transitions via TUI wrapper

## Problem

Current CLI agent session cycling is painful:
- Shell → CC starts → priming → context loads → ready → work → exit/crash → repeat
- Each cycle is 30-60 seconds of cold boot
- No continuity between shell and agent's inner state
- Raw "session not running, starting..." loop is the baseline

## GGT Advantages (already have)

- Beads: Work state survives session death completely
- Mail: Handoff notes from past-self to future-self
- Prime commands: Structured context reload

## Gap: Transition Mechanics

Ideas to explore when actively using CLI:

1. **In-band cycling** - `/restart` or `/cycle` command, agent handles own restart without dropping to shell

2. **Hot standby** - TUI maintains pre-warmed session in background, switch to already-primed agent

3. **Persistent wrapper** - Bubbletea TUI stays running across session cycles, CC sessions come/go inside it

4. **Session pooling** - Keep 2-3 primed sessions ready, never wait for cold start

## Deferred

Deliberately P4 until we're actively using the simpler CLI and feel the pain firsthand.


Day 4.1: Implement gt polecat recycle command

Add gt polecat recycle <name> command:
- Kill the Claude session (tmux kill-session)
- Preserve the sandbox (branch/worktree)
- Update agent bead state to 'stopped'
- Leave for respawn on next step

This enables session-per-step.

Parent: gt-4a2qt


CLI cleanup: Remove duplicate mol commands from gt

## Problem
gt mol has commands that duplicate bd mol functionality:
- `gt mol catalog` (duplicate of `bd formula list`)
- `gt mol show` (duplicate of `bd mol show`)
- `gt mol squash` (duplicate of `bd mol squash`)
- `gt mol burn` (duplicate of `bd mol burn`)
- `gt mol bond` (duplicate of `bd mol bond`)

## Principle
- **bd** = beads operations (issues, molecules, formulas)
- **gt** = agent operations (sessions, communication, work dispatch)

gt should delegate to bd for beads operations, not duplicate them.

## Proposed Changes
Keep gt mol commands that are agent-specific:
- `gt mol status` - what is on MY hook
- `gt mol attach/detach` - hook management
- `gt mol current` - what should I work on
- `gt mol progress` - my progress through workflow

Remove/delegate to bd:
- `gt mol catalog` → use `bd formula list`
- `gt mol show` → use `bd mol show`
- `gt mol squash` → use `bd mol squash`
- `gt mol burn` → use `bd mol burn`
- `gt mol bond` → use `bd mol bond`

## Alternative
Keep as thin wrappers that just call bd, for convenience.


Add harness overview to Mayor priming

Update gt prime Mayor context to explain the harness concept: umbrella repo for GT installation, rigs underneath, Mayor sits above all rigs


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 6: all clear


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

P16: stable


MQ smart scheduling: dependency-aware queue reordering

Implement intelligent MQ reordering to minimize conflicts.

## Goal
Reorder the MQ so that MRs touching disjoint files merge "in parallel" (no conflicts), while MRs touching overlapping files are sequenced.

## Approach
1. For each MR, get list of changed files (from branch diff)
2. Build conflict graph: edge between MRs if files overlap
3. Find maximal independent sets (MRs that can merge in any order)
4. Schedule independent MRs first, then handle remaining sequentially

## Implementation
- Add file analysis to MR submission (gt done)
- Store changed_files in MR wisp
- Refinery sorts queue by: priority → conflicts → age

## Example
```
Queue: [A, B, C, D]
Files:
  A: auth/login.go
  B: payments/checkout.go
  C: auth/login.go ← conflicts with A!
  D: docs/readme.md

Optimal: [A, B, D, C] - A, B, D can merge without waiting
```

## Parent
gt-lxxh2


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 20: all clear, handoff due


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 15: Quiet


gt refinery attach: Attach to refinery session

Add 'gt refinery attach [rig]' command to attach to refinery tmux session.

Mirrors 'gt mayor attach' pattern. If rig not specified, use current rig context.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 10: Quiet, 8 sessions healthy


gt-gastown-polecat-capable

gt-gastown-polecat-capable

role_type: polecat
rig: gastown
agent_state: done
hook_bead: null
role_bead: gt-polecat-role
cleanup_status: has_stash


Formula parser and YAML schema

Implement formula parsing from YAML:
- Define YAML schema for .formula.yaml files
- Parse steps, compose rules, vars
- Support extends for formula inheritance
- Validate formula structure

Schema should support:
- formula: name
- description: text
- version: number
- type: workflow|expansion|aspect
- vars: variable definitions
- steps: step definitions
- compose: composition rules

**Beads issue: bd-weu8**


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 11: all healthy


Convert formula files from YAML to JSON

Formulas currently use .formula.yaml but the project avoids YAML. Convert to .formula.json for consistency with the rest of the codebase. This blocks implementing compose operators (advice, expand, etc.) since the schema needs to be right first.


Refinery and witness rigs should redirect .beads to mayor rig

The refinery's rig clone and witness rig clones should have their .beads directories redirect to the mayor's rig beads (like polecats do).

Current state:
- Polecats have .beads symlinked/redirected to mayor rig beads
- Refinery and witness have their own .beads (or none)

Desired state:
- refinery/rig/.beads -> mayor/rig/.beads (or equivalent redirect)
- witness/rig/.beads -> mayor/rig/.beads (or equivalent redirect)

This ensures all rig agents share the same issue tracking state.


Deacon keepalive: quiet daemon during rounds

Replace tmux-poke interrupts with a keepalive file the daemon respects.

## Problem

Current daemon pokes Deacon via tmux SendKeys every ~5 minutes if heartbeat
is stale. This can INTERRUPT the Deacon mid-work, especially during long
plugin execution or health remediation.

## Solution

Deacon writes a keepalive file at start of rounds:
```json
{
  "timestamp": "2025-12-20T15:30:00Z",
  "expected_duration_minutes": 10,
  "action": "executing mol-deacon-rounds"
}
```

Daemon reads this and backs off:
- If keepalive is fresh AND within expected_duration: skip poke
- If keepalive is stale OR past expected_duration: poke (fallback)

## Files

- `{townRoot}/deacon/keepalive.json` - Written by Deacon
- Daemon already reads `{townRoot}/deacon/heartbeat.json` - similar pattern

## Deacon Behavior

1. Start of rounds: write keepalive with expected duration
2. End of rounds: write heartbeat (existing), clear/update keepalive
3. If rounds take longer than expected: Deacon gets one poke, squelches it

## Daemon Changes

Modify `pokeDeacon()` in daemon.go:
1. Check keepalive.json freshness and expected_duration
2. If within bounds: skip poke, log "Deacon active"
3. If past bounds: poke as fallback

## Worst Case

Deacon crashes mid-rounds without clearing keepalive:
- Daemon waits until expected_duration expires
- Then pokes, triggering respawn loop
- Max delay: expected_duration (configurable, default 10-15 min)

## Configuration

In pinned kernel bead:
```yaml
config:
  rounds_expected_duration_minutes: 10
```


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 6: routine


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 2: All healthy


Witness events in gt feed

Wire witness patrol events to gt feed display.

After 'Witness emits activity events' is done:
- gt feed should show patrol activity
- Useful for debugging polecat issues

Example output:
  19:45 PATROL_COMPLETE gastown/witness (checked 3 polecats)
  19:44 POLECAT_NUDGED gastown/polecats/nux (idle 10m)
  19:40 ESCALATION mayor (polecat stuck)


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 9: Refineries healthy


bd mol install: Install formula from GitHub

Fetch and install a formula from a GitHub repository.

Usage: bd mol install github.com/org/repo[@version]

Should:
- Clone/fetch the formula.json from the repo
- Validate the formula structure
- Store in local catalog
- Track installation in .beads/installed.json


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 12: All green


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 11: Quiet


Molecule execution support for polecats and crew

Enable agents to run bonded molecules through the full lifecycle.

## The Model
1. BOND - bd mol bond <template> --assignee <identity>
   Creates concrete issues, assigns root to agent

2. DISCOVER - Agent finds assigned molecules via bd ready
   DAG structure shows unblocked steps

3. WORK - Agent works through DAG, closing steps as done
   Can delegate children to lower-tier agents (haiku)

4. SURVIVE - Agent dies → beads persist
   Any agent resumes from DAG state

5. SUPERVISE - Witness monitors for stalled molecules
   Nudges owner or reassigns if dead

## Questions to Resolve
- Seed node terminology: seed vs root vs pole vs nucleus
- Assignee inheritance: single owner vs delegation model
- Stall detection: heartbeat vs activity timeout vs session monitoring

## Implementation
- Polecat startup: check for assigned molecules
- Polecat work loop: follow molecule DAG
- Witness: monitor molecule progress, detect stalls
- Mayor: can assign molecules, handle escalations

## Depends On
- beads: bd mol bond command (bd-usro in beads repo)


Update swarm terminology to streams

Gas Town moved from batch swarms to continuous streaming of polecats. Update:
- Docs and designs
- Code comments
- CLI flags (remove --swarm if present, or reframe)
- Variable/function names where appropriate

Streams reflect the reality: polecats flow continuously, not in discrete batches.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 6: all clear, agents healthy


Work on gt-e11: gt mail send priority flag is incompatibl...

Work on gt-e11: gt mail send priority flag is incompatible with bd mail send. Run 'bd show gt-e11' for details.


Remove hook code from cmd callers

Remove hook file calls from:
- resume.go:151 - WriteSlungWork → use bd update --status=pinned
- park.go:114 - ReadHook → query pinned beads
- spawn.go:407 - WriteSlungWork → use bd update --status=pinned
- molecule_step.go:293 - WriteSlungWork → use bd update --status=pinned
- molecule_step.go:368 - BurnHook → use bd update --status=open


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 3: 14 sessions healthy, no changes


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 4: nominal


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 8: all clear


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 2: 1 msg (Nux done), health OK


ensure-gastown-witness

Start the gastown rig Witness.

## Action
```bash
gt witness start gastown
```

## Verify
1. Session exists: `tmux has-session -t gastown-witness 2>/dev/null`
2. Not stalled: `gt peek gastown/witness` does NOT show "> Try" prompt
3. Heartbeat fresh: Last patrol cycle < 5 min ago

## OnStall
```bash
gt nudge gastown/witness "Start patrol."
sleep 30
# Re-verify
```

## OnFail
Log error. Rig polecats will be unmonitored until Witness recovers.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Cycle 3: quiet patrol


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 9


LocalOutpost: Refactor current polecat spawning

## Overview

Refactor current local polecat spawning to implement the Outpost interface.

## Current State

Polecat spawning is ad-hoc. This task wraps it in LocalOutpost.

## Implementation

```go
type LocalOutpost struct {
    name       string
    maxWorkers int
    tmux       *Tmux
    workers    map[string]*LocalWorker
}

func NewLocalOutpost(config OutpostConfig) *LocalOutpost

func (o *LocalOutpost) Type() OutpostType { return OutpostLocal }

func (o *LocalOutpost) Spawn(issue string, cfg WorkerConfig) (Worker, error) {
    // Create tmux session
    // Start claude in pane
    // Return LocalWorker
}
```

## LocalWorker

```go
type LocalWorker struct {
    id      string
    session string  // tmux session name
    issue   string
    status  WorkerStatus
}

func (w *LocalWorker) Attach() error {
    // tmux attach-session
}
```

## Notes

- This should be a refactor, not new functionality
- Existing polecat code becomes LocalOutpost internals
- Tests should pass before and after

Depends on: gt-9a2.1 (interfaces)


gt done: Command doesn't exist but documented in polecat CLAUDE.md

The polecat CLAUDE.md documents 'gt done' as the command to signal work is ready for merge queue, but running it gives 'unknown command'. Either implement the command or update the documentation.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 8: Quick cycle, all quiet


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 18: Green


Patrol Lifecycle Completion

Patrols complete their full cycle without wisp accumulation.

## Problem
Patrol wisps accumulate (73+ observed) because burn-or-loop step does not complete. This wastes storage and makes bd list noisy.

## Requirements
- Burn-or-loop step executes and burns completed wisps
- Fresh wisp instantiated for next patrol cycle
- Wisp GC runs periodically as safety net (orphan-check step)
- Context cycling triggers gt handoff when budget exhausted
- No wisp accumulation over time

## Success Criteria
- bd wisp list shows fewer than 5 wisps at any time
- Patrols run indefinitely without intervention
- Context cycles cleanly produce handoff mail

This is the foundation for all autonomous patrol work.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

P17: stable


Add gt hook command (wrapper for bd hook)

Add a thin wrapper command `gt hook` that calls `bd hook` to inspect what's pinned to an agent's hook.

## Usage

```bash
gt hook                    # Show what's on current agent's hook
gt hook --agent deacon     # Show Deacon's hook
gt hook --agent gastown/furiosa  # Show polecat's hook
```

## Implementation

Thin wrapper in gt that:
1. Determines current agent identity
2. Calls `bd hook [--agent <name>]`
3. Formats output for gt context

## Why gt wrapper?

- Consistent with gt ecosystem (gt mail, gt status, etc.)
- Can add gt-specific context (session status, etc.)
- Easier discovery for gt users

## Related

- bd hook command (implemented by Dave)
- Chemistry UX design: gastown/mayor/rig/docs/chemistry-design-changes.md


Fix golangci-lint errcheck warnings (~160 issues)

Running golangci-lint shows ~160 errcheck warnings for unchecked error returns.

Common patterns:
- t.SetEnvironment() return values
- os.WriteFile(), os.RemoveAll()
- MarkFlagRequired() on cobra commands
- Various manager methods

Run: golangci-lint run ./...

Could batch fix with:
1. Add explicit _ = for intentionally ignored errors
2. Handle errors properly where they matter
3. Consider adding //nolint:errcheck for cobra flag setup


Clean dead sessions

Clean dead sessions and orphaned state.

Run `gt doctor --fix` to handle all cleanup:

```bash
# Preview what needs cleaning
gt doctor -v

# Fix everything
gt doctor --fix
```

This handles:
- **orphan-sessions**: Kill orphaned tmux sessions (gt-* not matching valid patterns)
- **orphan-processes**: Kill orphaned Claude processes (no tmux parent)
- **wisp-gc**: Garbage collect abandoned wisps (>1h old)

All cleanup is handled by doctor checks - no need to run separate commands.


Auto-handoff: self-cycling with guaranteed work pickup

## Summary

A mechanism for agents to self-cycle: send handoff mail, request Deacon to kill the process, and automatically restart to pick up the work.

## Use Case

User says: `auto-handoff: gt-bug3`

The agent:
1. Sends handoff mail documenting current state
2. Requests Deacon to terminate the session
3. Deacon restarts the agent in background
4. New session picks up the handoff and continues working

When the user returns to terminal, the old session is gone but work continues in background. User can reattach.

## Key Requirements

- **Guaranteed pickup**: Something in the hook and/or handoff must ensure the new session picks up the work (not just a passive "check inbox")
- **Background execution**: Work continues without user presence
- **Reattachability**: User can reconnect to see progress

## Design Questions

1. Can molecules help coordinate this? (e.g., molecule binds the handoff + auto-restart)
2. What hook handles the pickup guarantee?
3. How does Deacon know to restart vs just kill?
4. How does user reattach to a background agent?

## Related

- Molecules system
- Deacon lifecycle management
- Handoff hooks


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 17: All clear


gt commands should follow .beads/redirect

## Problem

`gt sling` (and likely other gt commands) don't follow the `.beads/redirect` file that `bd` uses to share beads across clones.

This caused confusion during the v0.39.0 release: molecules were poured successfully to mayor/rig's beads (via redirect), but `gt sling` couldn't find them because it was looking in the crew clone's local .beads/.

## Expected Behavior

All `gt` commands that interact with beads should follow the redirect mechanism that `bd` uses.

## Affected Commands (likely)

- `gt sling`
- `gt hook`
- `gt mol status`
- `gt mol attach`
- Any command that shells out to `bd show` or similar

## Solution

When `gt` needs to find the beads directory, check for `.beads/redirect` and follow it, same as `bd` does.


Witness patrol: stale MR queue detection needs state tracking

The mol-witness-patrol check-refinery step says 'if queue is non-empty for >30 min, send nudge' but doesn't explain how to track when the queue first became non-empty.

## Problem
The Witness needs to persist:
- When MR queue first became non-empty
- Previous queue state for comparison

Without this, the Witness can't detect stale queues.

## Solution
Add to witness handoff bead:
- mr_queue_nonempty_since: timestamp
- Update in save-state step
- Check in check-refinery step