{"content": "law L3 \u2014 Read narrowly - grep for the line, sed a range, head the file; never\u2026 \u2014 Everything a tool returns stays in the context for good and is paid for on every turn after it. Search before you read, read the range you need, and cap output with grep, head or tail. Read a whole file only when you need all of it.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "rule 41 \u2014 Keep moving, run the whole suite before every commit, never wait \u2014 The full suite runs in about seven seconds: .venv/bin/python -m pytest -q --timeout=300 -n auto. Run it before every commit instead of picking tests by name. Group rows that sit in the same code into one sitting: write them all, test once, commit once. And never wait, not for a subagent, a build, or an answer you can carry on without. Dispatch it and keep working. If you truly are waiting on something, say so in the work log.; rule 65 \u2014 Run only new and affected tests while working; the whole suite only\u2026 \u2014 The user, messages 17914 to 17917 (2026-10-07): 'stop running the whole test suite and wasting my time... please only run the new or affected tests, and then, whenever you are merging to main or publishing to main, you can run the full test suite.' Replaces rule 41's whole suite before every commit: on a feature branch, run the tests beside what changed (journal check touched, or the feature's test.py and the browser scenarios it touches); the whole suite runs once, before a merge into main and its release.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "rule 40 \u2014 A feature is named for what it is, never for its machinery \u2014 Messages 599, 600 and 703. A feature is a capability the user would name and would think of switching off. File tracking, a write gate, a phrase bank, a tree diff are services used inside a feature, not features of their own: they live in the feature they serve. Before adding a directory under features/, say what the user would call it; if the answer names a mechanism, it belongs inside something else. Report 16 holds the grouping this implies.; your answer to a journal line was kept out of the chat \u2014 a journal line is an instruction, not a message: act on it and write nothing, unless the user needs to know something such as a failure, finished work or a decision that waits on them", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "rule 66 \u2014 The journal never slows the agent down \u2014 The user, message 18990, after hooks timed out and waited on locks under load: the journal must never, ever decrease the performance of an agent. A hook answers at once with what decides the tool call; everything else runs after, in the background, and reaches the agent as a message. No hook waits on a lock it does not need.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "fact 13 \u2014 This live session runs the installed copy in .journal/journal.pyz \u2014 The running journal (server, hooks, CLI) runs from .journal/journal.pyz with its viewer and skills in .journal/src, never from the repo. A change in the repo reaches it only through python3 src/journal.py --root .journal upgrade, which packs the zip again. A commit alone changes nothing that is running.; fact 25 \u2014 A designer's install packs the whole tree, half-done server edits\u2026 \u2014 2026-09-25: Eames and Saul run python3 src/journal.py --root .journal upgrade after their viewer builds; it packs every file in src, so a server handler I was halfway through writing went live and raised on every PostToolUse hook. While designers work in parallel, keep server edits whole between tool calls (write and test in the scratchpad first), and reinstall after reverting anything.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "rule 57 \u2014 Never merge the overnight refactor into main before its pull request\u2026 \u2014 Messages 15005, 15006, 15109, 15110 (2026-10-04): all refactor work goes on branch overnight-refactor and reaches the user as one pull request, which they read in the morning; nothing of it is merged into main until they say so. Hotfixes the user explicitly asks for go to main at once and are merged into the branch.; rule 61 \u2014 Features wait as pull requests until approved; only hotfixes merge\u2026 \u2014 Message 17118 (2026-10-06), after the overnight refactor merged as 2.252.0: start new work in a new branch, do not merge, write the pull request. Every pull request or new feature is parked until the user approves it. Hotfixes can be merged into main immediately (by a dispatched agent in a worktree of main, rule 60).; rule 64 \u2014 A finished feature is merged into main without waiting for approval \u2014 The user, message 17815 (2026-10-07): 'make sure that no pull requests are lingering on the repository. You may merge them into main... You are allowed to merge everything into main once the feature is completed.' This replaces rule 61's wait for approval: a feature still goes on its own branch, and once it is complete, tested and its whole suite passes, it is merged into main and released, and no pull request is left open.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "the log tag does this in one step \u2014 [!log:N] makes the turn itself the log entry; it runs only when it opens the last text of your turn", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "waiting: 2 unread todos 1, 2", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "waiting: 2 unread todos 1, 2", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "the baseline suite run came back - Run the whole suite once for a baseline\u2026", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "fact 20 \u2014 A slim supervisor holds the agent and a worker reloads on every build \u2014 Since 2.118.0 (2026-09-23). src/supervisor.py is standard library only and never reloads: journal claude hands its process over to it (os.execv), and it owns the pty and the agent process, relays the terminal, writes the printed and screen captures, listens on the typist socket, restarts the agent in the same session from a relaunch command written to its runtime folder while a restart is pending, and stops it with escalation while draining the pty (an agent cannot finish exiting on macOS while its output is unread). It starts the worker (src/worker.py, which runs runner/worker.py; engine/worker.py stays as an alias for supervisors started before 2.201) and starts it again whenever it exits: RELOAD on a new build, RELAUNCH to restart the agent, STOP to end, HEAL or a quick crash to roll back a build through journal heal. The worker holds everything else: seating the session, the start-up confirm typed through the typist, services, viewer, update check, check-in, and the one-time relaunch of sessions launched before agents/terminal.py LAUNCH. agents/terminal.py holds only journal-side helpers. The server (serve.py) still runs the engines and re-execs itself on a .py change. When the agent exits, the supervisor runs journal ended, which puts set-aside hooks back and stops the server when no session is left.; rule 60 \u2014 A hotfix is done by a dispatched agent in a worktree of main \u2014 Message 16836 (2026-10-06): the orchestrator cut a worktree under .claude/worktrees for a Codex hotfix, its session moved to a new environment and the user's messages stopped reaching it. The user: when working on a branch and a hotfix comes in, create a worktree of main and dispatch an agent to do that work. The orchestrator stays on its branch and in its environment, and never cds into another checkout.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "rule 48 \u2014 The viewer is built from its component library, and pages only\u2026 \u2014 Message 4258. Every visual piece the viewer shows more than once, or that a user would recognise as the same kind of thing (a dialog, a side panel or inspector, a dropdown, a list row, a switch, a button), is one component in web/src/kit, extracted aggressively, and every page composes those components instead of building its own copy. Before writing markup or styles in a page, look for the kit component that already does it and extend it with a prop; a second hand-built version is a bug. The side panel that animated in but not out, while a separate skill panel did both, is the example.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "check 3 failed - the same body is written 2 times, make it one funnel\u2026 \u2014 journal check show 3 says why; fix it, then journal check run 3", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "check 5 failed - features/members/test.py -18 No module named 'tests' \u2014 journal check show 5 says why; fix it, then journal check run 5", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "the -n 10 suite run came back - Run the whole suite with 10 workers completed\u2026", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "fact 9 \u2014 Every public method on a controller becomes a journal command \u2014 The CLI is generated from the controllers: each public method of Controller, or of a typed controller, turns into journal . A helper added to the base class therefore becomes a command on every type \u2014 which is how journal handled and journal refuse came to exist, from the CRUD funnel and the refusal funnel. An internal helper on a controller is named with a leading underscore, as _shaped and _status already are, or it ships as a command nobody meant.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "rule 54 \u2014 Settings and feature switches are read at boot and on change, never\u2026 \u2014 The user, message 13349: the application boots, determines every feature and setting once, and re-evaluates only when something changes, such as a setting or a plugin. Never lazy-load settings.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "origin/main moved since your worktree was cut \u2014 It gained 2 commits (bc3ee2f1c The server renews the row stamps it keeps before they expire, so no request re-reads every row file of every type when they would have; 3f53b6b10 journal secret run works again: the command line's own command has a name no command parameter can take). Rebase onto origin/main in /Users/jessegall/projects/agent-journal/.claude/worktrees/fast-suite before you report.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "the log tag does this in one step \u2014 [!log:N] makes the turn itself the log entry; it runs only when it opens the last text of your turn; rule 38 \u2014 Never change the git branch until the user says so, by name \u2014 The work happens on the branch the user named. That was main until message 5929 and question 80 (2026-09-23), which moved the sins work to the branch sins. Do not create, switch to or merge any other branch unless the user names it in their own words.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "rule 46 \u2014 Only commit and push once the whole journal is proven to boot \u2014 Messages 2178 and 2179. A release that has not been started for real can crash every project that installs it, as 2.78.3 did for Codex and 2.84.0 did to project records. Before every commit and push: the full suite passes, including tests/test_it_boots.py, which installs a packed copy into a fresh project, launches Claude and Codex from it, writes a project record, upgrades again and checks the record survives. When a change touches launching, installing or upgrading, also start a real journal in a scratch project and close it properly afterwards, leaving no process behind.; rule 51 \u2014 Every finished feature is committed, pushed and released with a new\u2026 \u2014 Message 9207 (2026-09-24): when a new feature is ready, commit, push and publish a new tag. This is the user's standing word for releasing, so rule 44's only-when-the-user-says is met by it for finished features; fixes in between wait for the next feature or a patch the user asks for.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "test_it_boots before/after change 1 came back - Time test_it_boots before and\u2026; rule 45 \u2014 No prose words as names in code - said, says, heard, spoke, told\u2026 \u2014 Messages 1360 and 1698. The user has said more than once that code must not read like prose: a variable, attribute, property or function is named for what it holds or does (text, command, labels, lines), never with a verb from a story. 'says' on the Design type (1360) and 'said = call.said.lower()' in features/recital.py (1698) are the examples. Rule 27 states the naming rule; this one carries the words, so writing one of them whispers it. Before writing a name, ask whether a reader who has never seen the code would know what it holds.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "rule 36 \u2014 Clean, DRY, idiomatic before it is committed, never after it is\u2026 \u2014 The user should never be the one who finds duplication, dead code, a clumsy name or a pattern the codebase does not use. Read the diff before every commit as a reviewer would, and fix what is not clean then, not in a follow-up after a complaint.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "Code Commandments \u2014 before you commit \u2014 you've changed 1 judged file since the\u2026 \u2014 Code Commandments \u2014 before you commit: you've changed 1 judged file since the last commit. Consider running `commandments judge --changes` to confirm they conform, and fix any sin at its SOURCE (don't launder a finding with a default/cast/null-check). This is a one-time nudge for this batch \u2014 if you've already judged, or these changes aren't worth a scan, just say so and carry on.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your chat talked about the journal's workings - \"Reading it\" \u2014 the user sees replies, reactions, pills and reads themselves; say what the work is instead; rule 43 \u2014 A request or hook over its budget is fixed before the next release \u2014 Comment 1151 on this rule. When the faults feature reports a request, a hook or a command slower than its budget, file it as a to-do at once. It does not jump ahead of the work in hand, but no version is published while one is still open: profile it, fix it, and verify the new time before the release goes out. The budget is 50ms, because everything runs locally against files.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "fact 26 \u2014 Claude Code reads agent profiles when a session starts \u2014 Seen 2026-09-26: after the board-filler's profile in .claude/agents gained its steps and the Grep rule, dispatches from the running session still used the old profile (a 3.5-minute first question, shell grep refused); after the session restarted, the same request took 21 seconds with 4 calls. A change to an agent type reaches only sessions started after it is written.; rule 62 \u2014 The voice profile shapes only the agent's chat speech, never code or\u2026 \u2014 The user, message 17620 (2026-10-07): the profile (butler, homie, coach, colleague) must not leak into the code the agent writes or into user-facing text of any application it works on: names, labels, comments, commit messages, docs and briefs written into a project use plain words (helper, subagent). Speaking in the chat in the profile's voice is fine.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "Code Commandments \u2014 before you commit \u2014 you've changed 1 judged file since the\u2026 \u2014 Code Commandments \u2014 before you commit: you've changed 1 judged file since the last commit. Consider running `commandments judge --changes` to confirm they conform, and fix any sin at its SOURCE (don't launder a finding with a default/cast/null-check). This is a one-time nudge for this batch \u2014 if you've already judged, or these changes aren't worth a scan, just say so and carry on.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "the -n 10 run with changes 1-3 came back - Run the whole suite at -n 10 with\u2026", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 32s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "the two slow boot tests run alone came back - Time the two slow boot tests\u2026", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "origin/main moved since your worktree was cut \u2014 It gained 22 commits (94e988b6d Archiving a message is no longer held to the user-only delete rule, and the walk of every client method covers the Files page's paged request; 063d4275f Version 2.267.13; 23e4e4c62 Only what a helper writes to its dispatcher reaches the main chat while it works a follow-up: the words of its own turns stay in its inspector; c0efdab45 The Files page shows a skeleton while it loads and asks the server for each tab's own files a page at a time, filtered by kind, by what they are attached to and by the words searched, with the counts of the whole set; 4f5f938c3 A helper's cell shows its latest instruction: helper say keeps it on the row, and the first job stays its title in the inspector; and 17 more). Rebase onto origin/main in /Users/jessegall/projects/agent-journal/.claude/worktrees/fast-suite before you report.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "the sampled -n 10 run came back - Run the suite at -n 10 while sampling CPU by\u2026", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "Code Commandments \u2014 before you commit \u2014 you've changed 1 judged file since the\u2026 \u2014 Code Commandments \u2014 before you commit: you've changed 1 judged file since the last commit. Consider running `commandments judge --changes` to confirm they conform, and fix any sin at its SOURCE (don't launder a finding with a default/cast/null-check). This is a one-time nudge for this batch \u2014 if you've already judged, or these changes aren't worth a scan, just say so and carry on.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "law L3 \u2014 Read narrowly - grep for the line, sed a range, head the file; never\u2026 \u2014 Everything a tool returns stays in the context for good and is paid for on every turn after it. Search before you read, read the range you need, and cap output with grep, head or tail. Read a whole file only when you need all of it.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "the sampled -n 10 run, corrected came back - Rerun the suite with the\u2026", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "rule 41 \u2014 Keep moving, run the whole suite before every commit, never wait \u2014 The full suite runs in about seven seconds: .venv/bin/python -m pytest -q --timeout=300 -n auto. Run it before every commit instead of picking tests by name. Group rows that sit in the same code into one sitting: write them all, test once, commit once. And never wait, not for a subagent, a build, or an answer you can carry on without. Dispatch it and keep working. If you truly are waiting on something, say so in the work log.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "the await tag does this in one step \u2014 [!await] makes the rest of the turn what you wait for; [!await on=(\"\", \"helper:\")] waits on those; it runs only when it opens the last text of your turn", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "the per-test CPU run came back - Measure in-process and child CPU per test\u2026", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "rule 66 \u2014 The journal never slows the agent down \u2014 The user, message 18990, after hooks timed out and waited on locks under load: the journal must never, ever decrease the performance of an agent. A hook answers at once with what decides the tool call; everything else runs after, in the background, and reaches the agent as a message. No hook waits on a lock it does not need.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "Code Commandments \u2014 before you wrap up \u2014 you've changed 1 judged file since the\u2026 \u2014 Code Commandments \u2014 before you wrap up: you've changed 1 judged file since the last commit. Consider running `commandments judge --changes` to confirm they conform, and fix any sin at its SOURCE (don't launder a finding with a default/cast/null-check). This is a one-time nudge for this batch \u2014 if you've already judged, or these changes aren't worth a scan, just say so and carry on.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "lingering-wait tests and pressEverything before/after came back - Run the\u2026", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "the log tag does this in one step \u2014 [!log:N] makes the turn itself the log entry; it runs only when it opens the last text of your turn; fact 20 \u2014 A slim supervisor holds the agent and a worker reloads on every build \u2014 Since 2.118.0 (2026-09-23). src/supervisor.py is standard library only and never reloads: journal claude hands its process over to it (os.execv), and it owns the pty and the agent process, relays the terminal, writes the printed and screen captures, listens on the typist socket, restarts the agent in the same session from a relaunch command written to its runtime folder while a restart is pending, and stops it with escalation while draining the pty (an agent cannot finish exiting on macOS while its output is unread). It starts the worker (src/worker.py, which runs runner/worker.py; engine/worker.py stays as an alias for supervisors started before 2.201) and starts it again whenever it exits: RELOAD on a new build, RELAUNCH to restart the agent, STOP to end, HEAL or a quick crash to roll back a build through journal heal. The worker holds everything else: seating the session, the start-up confirm typed through the typist, services, viewer, update check, check-in, and the one-time relaunch of sessions launched before agents/terminal.py LAUNCH. agents/terminal.py holds only journal-side helpers. The server (serve.py) still runs the engines and re-execs itself on a .py change. When the agent exits, the supervisor runs journal ended, which puts set-aside hooks back and stops the server when no session is left.; fact 34 \u2014 A hooks list in a checkout's .claude/settings.json stops every\u2026 \u2014 Seen 2026-10-08: since commit 707a82915 the committed .claude/settings.json held {\"hooks\": []}; current Claude Code answers a hooks value that is not an object with a SettingsWarning dialog, which a headless helper cannot answer, so helpers 183 and 184 exited before doing anything (their launch logs in .journal/runtime/launches/ show it). This repository's journal hooks live in settings.local.json; the committed settings.json stays {}.; rule 27 \u2014 Name a declaration with the word a reader already knows \u2014 An attribute, a variable or a field gets the ordinary programming word for what it holds, not an evocative one. was, heard and alone were poetry; aliases, notify_actions and urgent_actions are what they are. The test: could a reader who has never seen this codebase guess what it holds from the name alone? Prose belongs in the help text and the abstract, where it is read as prose. This does not license abbreviations \u2014 a plain word in full, not a short one.; rule 55 \u2014 Always dispatch Codex helpers on gpt-6-sol \u2014 The user's word, message 13431: switch the codex agents to GPT-6-Sol and make it their default. ~/.codex/config.toml names it as the default model too.; rule 56 \u2014 Helpers are for work that writes; subagents read, research and design \u2014 The user, message 13464: there must be a clear distinction. A subagent can be dispatched for anything read-only: research, review, design. A helper is for actual work that writes, best in its own worktree when the work is separate. Dieter designing in Claude Design should have been a subagent, not a helper.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "auto mode is on and work 1 stands still while todo 2 is ready \u2014 if work 1 waits on the user, decide it yourself when you can; otherwise put the question on its row with journal todo ask, end or park the work, and start todo 2. Stop only when nothing ready is left.; work 1 is still open \u2014 end it or park it before you stop: journal work end 1 --how \"\", or journal work park 1 \"\"", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "rule 40 \u2014 A feature is named for what it is, never for its machinery \u2014 Messages 599, 600 and 703. A feature is a capability the user would name and would think of switching off. File tracking, a write gate, a phrase bank, a tree diff are services used inside a feature, not features of their own: they live in the feature they serve. Before adding a directory under features/, say what the user would call it; if the answer names a mechanism, it belongs inside something else. Report 16 holds the grouping this implies.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "lingering tests and pressEverything before/after came back - Measure the\u2026", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "rule 48 \u2014 The viewer is built from its component library, and pages only\u2026 \u2014 Message 4258. Every visual piece the viewer shows more than once, or that a user would recognise as the same kind of thing (a dialog, a side panel or inspector, a dropdown, a list row, a switch, a button), is one component in web/src/kit, extracted aggressively, and every page composes those components instead of building its own copy. Before writing markup or styles in a page, look for the kit component that already does it and extend it with a prop; a second hand-built version is a bug. The side panel that animated in but not out, while a separate skill panel did both, is the example.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "fact 24 \u2014 An answer followed by tool calls can be missing from Claude's\u2026 \u2014 Seen 2026-09-24 for messages 9391-9404: text blocks opening with [!reply:n] that were followed by tool calls never appeared in the session's jsonl (only thinking and tool_use rows did), so the journal never saw them and the replies were lost. When a turn goes on after answering, send the answer with journal message reply \"\" instead of the tag.; rule 49 \u2014 A dialog whose content grows keeps one fixed height, and its content\u2026 \u2014 Message 5361, after asking more than once: a dialog that shows output as it arrives (install, update, logs) opens at its final height and never jumps; only its content scrolls.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 30s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 74s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself; browser file before/after pausing endless animations came back - Time the\u2026; 13 facts standing, read them \u2014 9. Every public method on a controller becomes a journal command; 13. This live session runs the installed copy in .journal/journal.pyz; 18. cProfile inflates the slow-request profiles about tenfold; 20. A slim supervisor holds the agent and a worker reloads on every build; 23. Every upgrade brings system sequences and their triggers in line with the code; 24. An answer followed by tool calls can be missing from Claude's transcript; 25. A designer's install packs the whole tree, half-done server edits included; 26. Claude Code reads agent profiles when a session starts; 27. Running src/journal.py against the live .journal root starts a second server; 28. The designer agent type exists, so design work goes to a subagent; 29. Codex's transcript records the end of every exec session, polled or not; 30. The tunler server refuses TLS for any subdomain without a tunnel; 34. A hooks list in a checkout's .claude/settings.json stops every helper at start; 42 rules in force, read them \u2014 7. journal disable must only ever be run because the user explicitly asked for it,; 9. Research dispatched to a subagent ends in a REPORT for the user, compiled by the; 13. A title names the thing in at most 80 characters and never explains it with a co; 14. A small journal capability is a feature under features, with at most one test; 17. Do not restart the viewer for frontend-only changes; 18. Provider-specific code belongs in providers, never features; 19. Providers report facts; features decide behavior; 22. File distinct user work requests immediately; 27. Name a declaration with the word a reader already knows; 30. The viewer has one API client, and every piece of it does one job; 31. Every finding a reviewing agent reports becomes its own to-do; 35. Write clean code - one funnel per kind of operation, never the same method twice; 36. Clean, DRY, idiomatic before it is committed, never after it is complained about; 37. Close every to-do explicitly with todo done or a Journal commit trailer; 38. Never change the git branch until the user says so, by name; 39. Use only registered exclamation response tags; 40. A feature is named for what it is, never for its machinery; 41. Keep moving, run the whole suite before every commit, never wait; 42. Every user-facing text passes the formatters before it leaves the server; 43. A request or hook over its budget is fixed before the next release; 45. No prose words as names in code - said, says, heard, spoke, told, shown, became; 46. Only commit and push once the whole journal is proven to boot; 47. The journal sets itself up once, when the server starts, never per command; 48. The viewer is built from its component library, and pages only compose it; 49. A dialog whose content grows keeps one fixed height, and its content scrolls; 50. Everything the user does is doable in the viewer; 51. Every finished feature is committed, pushed and released with a new version tag; 52. A chat mark for something the user did sits on the user's side; 54. Settings and feature switches are read at boot and on change, never per call; 55. Always dispatch Codex helpers on gpt-6-sol; 56. Helpers are for work that writes; subagents read, research and design; 57. Never merge the overnight refactor into main before its pull request is approved; 58. A design runs three critique rounds, then is built on a branch; 59. Every viewer heading and label says plainly what it is about; 60. A hotfix is done by a dispatched agent in a worktree of main; 61. Features wait as pull requests until approved; only hotfixes merge at once; 62. The voice profile shapes only the agent's chat speech, never code or text; 63. A small design is drawn once and the user approves it, with no critique rounds; 64. A finished feature is merged into main without waiting for approval; 65. Run only new and affected tests while working; the whole suite only before main; 66. The journal never slows the agent down; 68. The orchestrator approves the designer's designs itself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 49s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 32s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "chat etiquette - a line from the journal is an instruction, not a message\u2026 \u2014 a turn that only handles a journal line needs no words: act on it, or say once in the chat what you wait on, then carry on; what the user needs to know still goes to the chat", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 38s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "rule 54 \u2014 Settings and feature switches are read at boot and on change, never\u2026 \u2014 The user, message 13349: the application boots, determines every feature and setting once, and re-evaluates only when something changes, such as a setting or a plugin. Never lazy-load settings.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 35s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 46s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 67s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 134s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 195s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 242s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 250s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "Code Commandments \u2014 before you wrap up \u2014 you've changed 7 judged files since th\u2026 \u2014 Code Commandments \u2014 before you wrap up: you've changed 7 judged files since the last commit. Consider running `commandments judge --changes` to confirm they conform, and fix any sin at its SOURCE (don't launder a finding with a default/cast/null-check). This is a one-time nudge for this batch \u2014 if you've already judged, or these changes aren't worth a scan, just say so and carry on.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 122s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "Code Commandments \u2014 before you wrap up \u2014 you have an OPEN worklist with 1 sin s\u2026 \u2014 Code Commandments \u2014 before you wrap up: you have an OPEN worklist with 1 sin still in `.journal/plugin-data/code-commandments/sessions/ea2e8/sins/sins.md`. Finish it before you stop: work straight down \u2014 fix each at its SOURCE, delete its line \u2014 and do NOT re-run judge, re-scan, or re-verify between fixes. Only when the file is EMPTY, run `judge` again (wave by wave; a clean run deletes it). If you are intentionally pausing here, just say so and carry on.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 164s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "check Alfred's word that the 2.267.14 boot guard is through now - you have\u2026 \u2014 look at the thing itself: the background shell's output, the process, the run's status. If it is still going, say journal work await \"\" again and wait. If it finished or failed, journal work log what came of it and take the next step. Never wait for something you can do without.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "the log tag does this in one step \u2014 [!log:N] makes the turn itself the log entry; it runs only when it opens the last text of your turn", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 148s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 153s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 162s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 196s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 285s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "chat etiquette - a line from the journal is an instruction, not a message\u2026 \u2014 a turn that only handles a journal line needs no words: act on it, or say once in the chat what you wait on, then carry on; what the user needs to know still goes to the chat", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 367s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 382s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your wait for Alfred's word that the 2.267.14 boot guard is through (load 74\u2026 \u2014 say journal work await \"\" again if you are still only waiting", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your chat talked about the journal's workings - \"Still waiting\" \u2014 the user sees replies, reactions, pills and reads themselves; say what the work is instead", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 358s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 339s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 320s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "Alfred's go-ahead for timing runs, and the tether test queued on the lock\u2026", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 313s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 318s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 337s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "you stopped with work 1, Make the whole test suite run in under two minutes\u2026 \u2014 carry on with it now. If it waits on something outside your hands, say journal work await \"\"; if it waits on the user, put the question on its row with journal todo ask and take the next ready row; if something else goes first, journal work park 1 \"\".; work 1 is still open \u2014 end it or park it before you stop: journal work end 1 --how \"\", or journal work park 1 \"\"", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "Code Commandments \u2014 before you wrap up \u2014 you've changed 8 judged files since th\u2026 \u2014 Code Commandments \u2014 before you wrap up: you've changed 8 judged files since the last commit. Consider running `commandments judge --changes` to confirm they conform, and fix any sin at its SOURCE (don't launder a finding with a default/cast/null-check). This is a one-time nudge for this batch \u2014 if you've already judged, or these changes aren't worth a scan, just say so and carry on.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 251s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 187s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 200s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 189s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 201s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 155s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 160s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "chat etiquette - a line from the journal is an instruction, not a message\u2026 \u2014 a turn that only handles a journal line needs no words: act on it, or say once in the chat what you wait on, then carry on; what the user needs to know still goes to the chat", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "todo 2 next", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "nothing is ready - every open row waits \u2014 to-do 2, The whole suite runs in under two minutes again, every test kept. For each that waits on a person or a decision, put it to them now with journal todo ask \"\" --set options='[...]' --set pick=; unblock any that can go on and work it. Stop only when each one waits on a question.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "origin/main moved since your worktree was cut \u2014 It gained 30 commits (7caa3ef2d The pre-push boot guard stretches its install wait and its time limit by the machine's load; eb0e6a2ab Version 2.267.14; dee043bc4 The agent cell's row labels stay on one line and the value takes the rest; 50852f721 The agent cell's running row is labelled Running, the timer beside it; bc59ecce6 The journal's block is written once, into AGENTS.md; CLAUDE.md keeps the project's own text and imports AGENTS.md, and a copy of the block left in it is taken out; and 25 more). Rebase onto origin/main in /Users/jessegall/projects/agent-journal/.claude/worktrees/fast-suite before you report.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 30s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "measure.sh - three browser runs and a whole run came back - Run the browser\u2026", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 94s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "todo 2 next; Code Commandments \u2014 before you wrap up \u2014 you've changed 8 judged files since th\u2026 \u2014 Code Commandments \u2014 before you wrap up: you've changed 8 judged files since the last commit. Consider running `commandments judge --changes` to confirm they conform, and fix any sin at its SOURCE (don't launder a finding with a default/cast/null-check). This is a one-time nudge for this batch \u2014 if you've already judged, or these changes aren't worth a scan, just say so and carry on.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "rule 65 \u2014 Run only new and affected tests while working; the whole suite only\u2026 \u2014 The user, messages 17914 to 17917 (2026-10-07): 'stop running the whole test suite and wasting my time... please only run the new or affected tests, and then, whenever you are merging to main or publishing to main, you can run the full test suite.' Replaces rule 41's whole suite before every commit: on a feature branch, run the tests beside what changed (journal check touched, or the feature's test.py and the browser scenarios it touches); the whole suite runs once, before a merge into main and its release.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "nothing is ready - every open row waits \u2014 to-do 1, Make the whole test suite run in under two minutes; to-do 2, The whole suite runs in under two minutes again, every test kept. For each that waits on a person or a decision, put it to them now with journal todo ask \"\" --set options='[...]' --set pick=; unblock any that can go on and work it. Stop only when each one waits on a question.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "rule 41 \u2014 Keep moving, run the whole suite before every commit, never wait \u2014 The full suite runs in about seven seconds: .venv/bin/python -m pytest -q --timeout=300 -n auto. Run it before every commit instead of picking tests by name. Group rows that sit in the same code into one sitting: write them all, test once, commit once. And never wait, not for a subagent, a build, or an answer you can carry on without. Dispatch it and keep working. If you truly are waiting on something, say so in the work log.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "Code Commandments \u2014 before you commit \u2014 you've changed 7 judged files since the\u2026 \u2014 Code Commandments \u2014 before you commit: you've changed 7 judged files since the last commit. Consider running `commandments judge --changes` to confirm they conform, and fix any sin at its SOURCE (don't launder a finding with a default/cast/null-check). This is a one-time nudge for this batch \u2014 if you've already judged, or these changes aren't worth a scan, just say so and carry on.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "the log tag does this in one step \u2014 [!log:N] makes the turn itself the log entry; it runs only when it opens the last text of your turn", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "check 2.267.16 (Leslie's fix for 3704) to land on origin/main now - you have\u2026 \u2014 look at the thing itself: the background shell's output, the process, the run's status. If it is still going, say journal work await \"\" again and wait. If it finished or failed, journal work log what came of it and take the next step. Never wait for something you can do without.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "fact 9 \u2014 Every public method on a controller becomes a journal command \u2014 The CLI is generated from the controllers: each public method of Controller, or of a typed controller, turns into journal . A helper added to the base class therefore becomes a command on every type \u2014 which is how journal handled and journal refuse came to exist, from the CRUD funnel and the refusal funnel. An internal helper on a controller is named with a leading underscore, as _shaped and _status already are, or it ships as a command nobody meant.; fact 13 \u2014 This live session runs the installed copy in .journal/journal.pyz \u2014 The running journal (server, hooks, CLI) runs from .journal/journal.pyz with its viewer and skills in .journal/src, never from the repo. A change in the repo reaches it only through python3 src/journal.py --root .journal upgrade, which packs the zip again. A commit alone changes nothing that is running.; fact 20 \u2014 A slim supervisor holds the agent and a worker reloads on every build \u2014 Since 2.118.0 (2026-09-23). src/supervisor.py is standard library only and never reloads: journal claude hands its process over to it (os.execv), and it owns the pty and the agent process, relays the terminal, writes the printed and screen captures, listens on the typist socket, restarts the agent in the same session from a relaunch command written to its runtime folder while a restart is pending, and stops it with escalation while draining the pty (an agent cannot finish exiting on macOS while its output is unread). It starts the worker (src/worker.py, which runs runner/worker.py; engine/worker.py stays as an alias for supervisors started before 2.201) and starts it again whenever it exits: RELOAD on a new build, RELAUNCH to restart the agent, STOP to end, HEAL or a quick crash to roll back a build through journal heal. The worker holds everything else: seating the session, the start-up confirm typed through the typist, services, viewer, update check, check-in, and the one-time relaunch of sessions launched before agents/terminal.py LAUNCH. agents/terminal.py holds only journal-side helpers. The server (serve.py) still runs the engines and re-execs itself on a .py change. When the agent exits, the supervisor runs journal ended, which puts set-aside hooks back and stops the server when no session is left.; fact 34 \u2014 A hooks list in a checkout's .claude/settings.json stops every\u2026 \u2014 Seen 2026-10-08: since commit 707a82915 the committed .claude/settings.json held {\"hooks\": []}; current Claude Code answers a hooks value that is not an object with a SettingsWarning dialog, which a headless helper cannot answer, so helpers 183 and 184 exited before doing anything (their launch logs in .journal/runtime/launches/ show it). This repository's journal hooks live in settings.local.json; the committed settings.json stays {}.; rule 35 \u2014 Write clean code - one funnel per kind of operation, never the same\u2026 \u2014 Every kind of operation has one funnel: one method that creates, one that saves, one that refuses, one that formats. A second method that does the same thing under another name splits the behaviour, and the two drift apart. Before writing a method, search for the one that already does it and extend that. scripts/checks/funnels.py finds bodies written twice.; rule 36 \u2014 Clean, DRY, idiomatic before it is committed, never after it is\u2026 \u2014 The user should never be the one who finds duplication, dead code, a clumsy name or a pattern the codebase does not use. Read the diff before every commit as a reviewer would, and fix what is not clean then, not in a follow-up after a complaint.; rule 48 \u2014 The viewer is built from its component library, and pages only\u2026 \u2014 Message 4258. Every visual piece the viewer shows more than once, or that a user would recognise as the same kind of thing (a dialog, a side panel or inspector, a dropdown, a list row, a switch, a button), is one component in web/src/kit, extracted aggressively, and every page composes those components instead of building its own copy. Before writing markup or styles in a page, look for the kit component that already does it and extend it with a prop; a second hand-built version is a bug. The side panel that animated in but not out, while a separate skill panel did both, is the example.; rule 55 \u2014 Always dispatch Codex helpers on gpt-6-sol \u2014 The user's word, message 13431: switch the codex agents to GPT-6-Sol and make it their default. ~/.codex/config.toml names it as the default model too.; rule 56 \u2014 Helpers are for work that writes; subagents read, research and design \u2014 The user, message 13464: there must be a clear distinction. A subagent can be dispatched for anything read-only: research, review, design. A helper is for actual work that writes, best in its own worktree when the work is separate. Dieter designing in Claude Design should have been a subagent, not a helper.; rule 57 \u2014 Never merge the overnight refactor into main before its pull request\u2026 \u2014 Messages 15005, 15006, 15109, 15110 (2026-10-04): all refactor work goes on branch overnight-refactor and reaches the user as one pull request, which they read in the morning; nothing of it is merged into main until they say so. Hotfixes the user explicitly asks for go to main at once and are merged into the branch.; rule 61 \u2014 Features wait as pull requests until approved; only hotfixes merge\u2026 \u2014 Message 17118 (2026-10-06), after the overnight refactor merged as 2.252.0: start new work in a new branch, do not merge, write the pull request. Every pull request or new feature is parked until the user approves it. Hotfixes can be merged into main immediately (by a dispatched agent in a worktree of main, rule 60).; rule 64 \u2014 A finished feature is merged into main without waiting for approval \u2014 The user, message 17815 (2026-10-07): 'make sure that no pull requests are lingering on the repository. You may merge them into main... You are allowed to merge everything into main once the feature is completed.' This replaces rule 61's wait for approval: a feature still goes on its own branch, and once it is complete, tested and its whole suite passes, it is merged into main and released, and no pull request is left open.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your chat talked about the journal's workings - \"nothing else is pending\" \u2014 the user sees replies, reactions, pills and reads themselves; say what the work is instead; rule 38 \u2014 Never change the git branch until the user says so, by name \u2014 The work happens on the branch the user named. That was main until message 5929 and question 80 (2026-09-23), which moved the sins work to the branch sins. Do not create, switch to or merge any other branch unless the user names it in their own words.; rule 46 \u2014 Only commit and push once the whole journal is proven to boot \u2014 Messages 2178 and 2179. A release that has not been started for real can crash every project that installs it, as 2.78.3 did for Codex and 2.84.0 did to project records. Before every commit and push: the full suite passes, including tests/test_it_boots.py, which installs a packed copy into a fresh project, launches Claude and Codex from it, writes a project record, upgrades again and checks the record survives. When a change touches launching, installing or upgrading, also start a real journal in a scratch project and close it properly afterwards, leaving no process behind.; rule 51 \u2014 Every finished feature is committed, pushed and released with a new\u2026 \u2014 Message 9207 (2026-09-24): when a new feature is ready, commit, push and publish a new tag. This is the user's standing word for releasing, so rule 44's only-when-the-user-says is met by it for finished features; fixes in between wait for the next feature or a patch the user asks for.; law L3 \u2014 Read narrowly - grep for the line, sed a range, head the file; never\u2026 \u2014 Everything a tool returns stays in the context for good and is paid for on every turn after it. Search before you read, read the range you need, and cap output with grep, head or tail. Read a whole file only when you need all of it.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "rule 41 \u2014 Keep moving, run the whole suite before every commit, never wait \u2014 The full suite runs in about seven seconds: .venv/bin/python -m pytest -q --timeout=300 -n auto. Run it before every commit instead of picking tests by name. Group rows that sit in the same code into one sitting: write them all, test once, commit once. And never wait, not for a subagent, a build, or an answer you can carry on without. Dispatch it and keep working. If you truly are waiting on something, say so in the work log.; rule 65 \u2014 Run only new and affected tests while working; the whole suite only\u2026 \u2014 The user, messages 17914 to 17917 (2026-10-07): 'stop running the whole test suite and wasting my time... please only run the new or affected tests, and then, whenever you are merging to main or publishing to main, you can run the full test suite.' Replaces rule 41's whole suite before every commit: on a feature branch, run the tests beside what changed (journal check touched, or the feature's test.py and the browser scenarios it touches); the whole suite runs once, before a merge into main and its release.; rule 66 \u2014 The journal never slows the agent down \u2014 The user, message 18990, after hooks timed out and waited on locks under load: the journal must never, ever decrease the performance of an agent. A hook answers at once with what decides the tool call; everything else runs after, in the background, and reaches the agent as a message. No hook waits on a lock it does not need.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "Code Commandments \u2014 before you wrap up \u2014 you've changed 7 judged files since th\u2026 \u2014 Code Commandments \u2014 before you wrap up: you've changed 7 judged files since the last commit. Consider running `commandments judge --changes` to confirm they conform, and fix any sin at its SOURCE (don't launder a finding with a default/cast/null-check). This is a one-time nudge for this batch \u2014 if you've already judged, or these changes aren't worth a scan, just say so and carry on.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "the three browser timings and the whole run came back - Run the three browser\u2026", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "the log tag does this in one step \u2014 [!log:N] makes the turn itself the log entry; it runs only when it opens the last text of your turn", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "waiting.mjs names 2 files in the project \u2014 write the path so the chat can link it: src/web/browser/phoneapp/waiting.mjs, src/web/browser/waiting.mjs", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "rule 43 \u2014 A request or hook over its budget is fixed before the next release \u2014 Comment 1151 on this rule. When the faults feature reports a request, a hook or a command slower than its budget, file it as a to-do at once. It does not jump ahead of the work in hand, but no version is published while one is still open: profile it, fix it, and verify the new time before the release goes out. The budget is 50ms, because everything runs locally against files.; rule 45 \u2014 No prose words as names in code - said, says, heard, spoke, told\u2026 \u2014 Messages 1360 and 1698. The user has said more than once that code must not read like prose: a variable, attribute, property or function is named for what it holds or does (text, command, labels, lines), never with a verb from a story. 'says' on the Design type (1360) and 'said = call.said.lower()' in features/recital.py (1698) are the examples. Rule 27 states the naming rule; this one carries the words, so writing one of them whispers it. Before writing a name, ask whether a reader who has never seen the code would know what it holds.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "Code Commandments \u2014 before you wrap up \u2014 you've changed 2 judged files since th\u2026 \u2014 Code Commandments \u2014 before you wrap up: you've changed 2 judged files since the last commit. Consider running `commandments judge --changes` to confirm they conform, and fix any sin at its SOURCE (don't launder a finding with a default/cast/null-check). This is a one-time nudge for this batch \u2014 if you've already judged, or these changes aren't worth a scan, just say so and carry on.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "waiting: 1 unread todo 3", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "waiting scenario run 3 times came back - Run the waiting scenario three times\u2026", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "todo 2, The whole suite runs in under two minutes again, every test kept, is\u2026 \u2014 it is blocked because: Alfred stopped every test and timing run until he says: the machine is too slow. If it is not any more, journal todo unblock 2. If it waits on a person or a decision, make it a question to them: journal todo ask 2 \"\" --set options='[...]' --set pick=, and the row waits on their answer. Otherwise tell the user in the chat what it waits on, in their terms, and propose how to clear it.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "Code Commandments \u2014 before you commit \u2014 you've changed 1 judged file since the\u2026 \u2014 Code Commandments \u2014 before you commit: you've changed 1 judged file since the last commit. Consider running `commandments judge --changes` to confirm they conform, and fix any sin at its SOURCE (don't launder a finding with a default/cast/null-check). This is a one-time nudge for this batch \u2014 if you've already judged, or these changes aren't worth a scan, just say so and carry on.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "Code Commandments \u2014 before you commit \u2014 you've changed 1 judged file since the\u2026 \u2014 Code Commandments \u2014 before you commit: you've changed 1 judged file since the last commit. Consider running `commandments judge --changes` to confirm they conform, and fix any sin at its SOURCE (don't launder a finding with a default/cast/null-check). This is a one-time nudge for this batch \u2014 if you've already judged, or these changes aren't worth a scan, just say so and carry on.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "origin/main moved since your worktree was cut \u2014 It gained 60 commits (d24e911a0 Version 2.267.17; 609fe2c12 Keyword reminders reach the driver through a method of their own, so send() keeps its one signature for every caller and fake; 3d03c1375 The agent cell's rows are a two-column grid: the labels as wide as the widest, every value starting at the same x; 4caeb87e7 A keyword reminder goes to the agent through the channel only and is dropped when the channel cannot take it, never typed into the terminal; the channel's check that a line arrived ignores line breaks; a6db2aad7 A shared collection no longer carries the dump it was filled from, which the journal itself hides; rows added later were already shared; and 55 more). Rebase onto origin/main in /Users/jessegall/projects/agent-journal/.claude/worktrees/fast-suite before you report.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 31s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 40s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "chat etiquette - a line from the journal is an instruction, not a message\u2026 \u2014 a turn that only handles a journal line needs no words: act on it, or say once in the chat what you wait on, then carry on; what the user needs to know still goes to the chat", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 39s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 52s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "pressEverything before-timing came back - Time pressEverything as one test at\u2026", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "rule 54 \u2014 Settings and feature switches are read at boot and on change, never\u2026 \u2014 The user, message 13349: the application boots, determines every feature and setting once, and re-evaluates only when something changes, such as a setting or a plugin. Never lazy-load settings.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 31s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "rule 49 \u2014 A dialog whose content grows keeps one fixed height, and its content\u2026 \u2014 Message 5361, after asking more than once: a dialog that shows output as it arrives (install, update, logs) opens at its final height and never jumps; only its content scrolls.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "fact 25 \u2014 A designer's install packs the whole tree, half-done server edits\u2026 \u2014 2026-09-25: Eames and Saul run python3 src/journal.py --root .journal upgrade after their viewer builds; it packs every file in src, so a server handler I was halfway through writing went live and raised on every PostToolUse hook. While designers work in parallel, keep server edits whole between tool calls (write and test in the scratchpad first), and reinstall after reverting anything.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your message 239 names 157 without saying what they are \u2014 put the type before each number, like message 1712 or to-do 644, so the chat links it: journal message edit 239 \"\"; auto mode is on and work 1 stands still while todo 2 is ready \u2014 if work 1 waits on the user, decide it yourself when you can; otherwise put the question on its row with journal todo ask, end or park the work, and start todo 2. Stop only when nothing ready is left.; work 1 is still open \u2014 end it or park it before you stop: journal work end 1 --how \"\", or journal work park 1 \"\"", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your message 240 names 157 without saying what they are \u2014 put the type before each number, like message 1712 or to-do 644, so the chat links it: journal message edit 240 \"\"; your message 241 names 157 without saying what they are \u2014 put the type before each number, like message 1712 or to-do 644, so the chat links it: journal message edit 241 \"\"", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "before/after timing of the seven scenarios with event waits came back - Time\u2026", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "Code Commandments \u2014 before you wrap up \u2014 you've changed 1 judged file since the\u2026 \u2014 Code Commandments \u2014 before you wrap up: you've changed 1 judged file since the last commit. Consider running `commandments judge --changes` to confirm they conform, and fix any sin at its SOURCE (don't launder a finding with a default/cast/null-check). This is a one-time nudge for this batch \u2014 if you've already judged, or these changes aren't worth a scan, just say so and carry on.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "board scenario twice came back - Run the board scenario twice completed\u2026", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "fact 24 \u2014 An answer followed by tool calls can be missing from Claude's\u2026 \u2014 Seen 2026-09-24 for messages 9391-9404: text blocks opening with [!reply:n] that were followed by tool calls never appeared in the session's jsonl (only thinking and tool_use rows did), so the journal never saw them and the replies were lost. When a turn goes on after answering, send the answer with journal message reply \"\" instead of the tag.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "whole run with -n auto as the default came back - Make -n auto the default and\u2026", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "fact 18 \u2014 cProfile inflates the slow-request profiles about tenfold \u2014 The faults feature writes a profile when a request passes its budget, and the profile is taken with cProfile, which adds per-call overhead. On 2026-09-22 /api/summary profiled at 58ms with 48ms inside Resource.fork's deep copy; with the profiler off the same call ran in 2 to 7ms. Read the profile for where the time goes in relative terms, then time the call with curl before changing anything.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "the log tag does this in one step \u2014 [!log:N] makes the turn itself the log entry; it runs only when it opens the last text of your turn", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your message 256 names 157, 129, 131 without saying what they are \u2014 put the type before each number, like message 1712 or to-do 644, so the chat links it: journal message edit 256 \"\"", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "todo 2 next", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your command ran 32s in the foreground and was moved to the background \u2014 carry on with other work; you are told when it ends. Start a command you expect to take long in the background yourself", "meta": {"from": "journal"}} {"content": "your wait for Alfred's word that Florence's helper-alive commit is ready to\u2026 \u2014 say journal work await \"\" again if you are still only waiting", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}