{"content": "todo 1 next", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}
{"content": "fact 30 \u2014 The tunler server refuses TLS for any subdomain without a tunnel \u2014 Seen 2026-10-04 in the server's docker logs (ssh root@tunler.jessegall.nl, container tunler): 'TLS handshake error ... host \"journal-probe.tunler.jessegall.nl\" not allowed'. A made-up subdomain never answers even when the server is healthy; probe https://tunler.jessegall.nl/ for the server itself. Root SSH to the server works.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}
{"content": "fact 32 \u2014 The mobile app's pull request may be merged once it is ready \u2014 Messages 17282 and 17283 (2026-10-06): the user gave permission to merge the pull request that builds the phone app's full feature set (to-do 3054) once it is ready, without waiting for approval. Ready means: the phone app can use every feature the desktop viewer has (checked against the design's inventory of desktop places and actions, each one marked done); three critique rounds done (rule 58); built on its own branch; the whole suite and boot guard green; and reviewed by two agents with their findings fixed, as pull request 8 was. This is the user's go for rule 61 for that one pull request only.", "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": "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 <noun> <method>. A helper added to the base class therefore becomes a command on every type \u2014 which is how journal <type> handled and journal <type> 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": "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 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.; 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 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.; 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).", "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": "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 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.", "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": "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 39 \u2014 Use only registered exclamation response tags \u2014 A tag like [!reply:12] runs a command, and only the tags in the tags.runs setting are registered. An invented tag does nothing and shows as raw text in the chat. Use the registered ones (reply, log, end, todo, fact, rule) and nothing else.", "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.; rule 47 \u2014 The journal sets itself up once, when the server starts, never per\u2026 \u2014 Messages 2220 and 2224. Discovering features and their handlers, seating the feature rows and the rename sweep happen once, at server boot, and again only when a feature is switched on or off, a plugin changes or an environment is added: features.load keeps a set-up generation per journal (SEATED) and redoes the work only when that generation moves. A command, a request or a hook uses what is already there; nothing in their path may rediscover handlers or rescan folders. A cost that repeats per call is a bug to fix, not a budget to raise.", "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.", "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": "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 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": "waiting: 1 unread todo 1", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}
{"content": "waiting: 1 unread todo 1", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}
{"content": "waiting: 1 unread todo 1", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}
{"content": "waiting: 1 unread todo 1", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}
{"content": "waiting: 1 unread todo 1", "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": "waiting: 1 unread todo 1", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}
{"content": "waiting: 1 unread todo 1", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}
{"content": "waiting: 1 unread todo 1", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}
{"content": "waiting: 1 unread todo 1", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}
{"content": "waiting: 1 unread todo 1", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}
{"content": "waiting: 1 unread todo 1", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}
{"content": "waiting: 1 unread todo 1", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}
{"content": "waiting: 1 unread todo 1", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}
{"content": "waiting: 1 unread todo 1", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}
{"content": "waiting: 1 unread todo 1", "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": "waiting: 1 unread todo 1", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}
{"content": "the whole suite, watched on the tunnel server log came back - date -u +%T; env\u2026", "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 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": "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.; work 1 is still open \u2014 end it or park it before you stop: journal work end 1 --how \"<what landed>\", or journal work park 1 \"<why it waits>\"", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}
{"content": "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": "work 1 is still open \u2014 end it or park it before you stop: journal work end 1 --how \"<what landed>\", or journal work park 1 \"<why it waits>\"", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}
{"content": "the viewer's browser tests with the browser cache passed through came back\u2026", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}
{"content": "the whole suite after the browser-cache fix, timed on the tunnel server log\u2026", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}
{"content": "rule 58 \u2014 A design runs three critique rounds, then is built on a branch \u2014 Messages 17276 and 17281 (2026-10-06): the norm is a three-round cycle. Round by round, the designer designs (or revises), separate critic agents review the design through their lenses (the critic agent type, .claude/agents/critic.md: read-only, with a browser; one per lens, such as first-time, native, words and parity), and the designer adjusts it to their findings; three rounds in all. The three rounds stand in for the user's approval of the design: the user does not approve it. After the third round the design is built on a branch of its own, which ends in a pull request that waits for the user's approval (rule 61). Replaces message 15725's prototype approval.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}
{"content": "law L1 \u2014 Every subagent dispatch names its model and chooses the least\u2026 \u2014 Use a fast, economical model for mechanical work with a known answer, a capable general model for careful implementation, and the strongest model only when the task turns on difficult judgement. Inheriting the orchestrator's model is not a model choice. If the dispatch API cannot accept a model, that operation is exempt.; law L5 \u2014 Every subagent dispatch names the agent - a human name, a little\u2026 \u2014 A name is how the user and the chat tell subagents apart and how they are messaged later; an id or a task line is not a name. Start the dispatch's description with the name, a colon, then the task, such as \"Dr. Einstein: profile the slow hooks\" or \"Coco Rams: draw the plan card\". A designer can borrow from famous designers, a researcher from famous scientists, mixed up for fun.", "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": "Code Commandments \u2014 before you commit \u2014 you've changed 2 judged files since the\u2026 \u2014 Code Commandments \u2014 before you commit: 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.; fact 30 \u2014 The tunler server refuses TLS for any subdomain without a tunnel \u2014 Seen 2026-10-04 in the server's docker logs (ssh root@tunler.jessegall.nl, container tunler): 'TLS handshake error ... host \"journal-probe.tunler.jessegall.nl\" not allowed'. A made-up subdomain never answers even when the server is healthy; probe https://tunler.jessegall.nl/ for the server itself. Root SSH to the server works.", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}
{"content": "the whole suite and boot guard on the rebased commit, timed against the tunnel\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 <noun> <method>. A helper added to the base class therefore becomes a command on every type \u2014 which is how journal <type> handled and journal <type> 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 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 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.", "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=(\"<id>\", \"helper:<n>\")] waits on those; it runs only when it opens the last text of your turn", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}
{"content": "the whole suite and boot guard on the 2.254.2 release commit came back - git\u2026", "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.; rule 37 \u2014 Close every to-do explicitly with todo done or a Journal commit\u2026 \u2014 Ending work does not close its row. A to-do is closed by journal todo done <n> --how, or by a commit whose message carries Journal: todos done <n> at column 0, several numbers separated by commas. A row left open after its work landed misleads the next session and auto mode.", "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": "your chat talked about the journal's workings - \"to-do 1 are closed\" \u2014 the user sees replies, reactions, pills and reads themselves; say what the work is instead; conftest.py names 2 files in the project \u2014 write the path so the chat can link it: conftest.py, tests/conftest.py", "meta": {"from": "journal"}}