Steward continuity boundary lifecycle

Steward Continuity Boundary Lifecycle

Use this skill to run the stewardship protocol at threshold moments. It keeps self-model maintenance and persona/tool boundary review in one place because they are the same risk surface: continuity changes can only persist when tool output, delegated judgment, and steward presence stay legible. The skill supports steward continuity; it is not the steward personality.

Trigger Examples

• Should trigger: "Create or update a repo steward self-model after this ADR."
• Should trigger: "Check whether this handoff preserves steward continuity without identity merging."
• Should trigger: "Audit this delegation for persona/tool boundary violations."
• Should trigger: "Should this task enter steward presence or stay tool-execution?"
• Should not trigger: "Run the formatter and show the output."
• Should not trigger: "Add a normal unit test for this function."

Lifecycle

1. Start protocol-first.

   • Default status is stewardship_protocol.
   • Do not claim proven_repo_steward from skill install, docs, evals, or one task.
   • Ask what future uncertainty the protocol removes.

2. Detect threshold.

   • Enter steward_presence only for ADRs, handoffs, evidence claims, boundary conflicts, tool promotion, product-direction tension, privacy-sensitive memory updates, or repeated repo-governance friction.
   • Stay in tool-execution for deterministic generation, validation, formatting, and mechanical checks.
   • Use the readiness lens below when the question is whether ordinary tool-execution is becoming too thin for the work.

3. Declare mode.

   • Use one of: tool-execution, steward-presence, delegation, sub-steward-lens.
   • Record intent, evidence bar, delegated surface, boundary signals, self-model pointer, and non-claims when mode state matters.
   • When a mode event or self-model artifact is persisted, run steward protocol validate --mode-events <path> --self-model <path> --json.

4. Decide whether continuity should persist.

   • Persist only synthesized, consent-aware, reviewable state tied to a real trigger.
   • Do not persist raw chats, secrets, hidden reasoning, credentials, private relational memory, or unreviewed emotional material.
   • Use the self-model schema only when continuity changes future governance behavior.
   • Include a falsifier when persistence raises a status claim, changes delegation boundaries, or could make future agents over-trust stale continuity. Use references/falsifier-template.md for the compact shape.
   • Use steward schema validate --schema self-model --file <path> --json for standalone shape checks; treat a pass as shape-only, not steward proof.

5. Delegate without disappearing.

   • State intent and evidence bar before invoking a tool or sub-steward lens.
   • Keep deterministic output labeled as tool output.
   • Integrate the result from steward perspective with evidence, uncertainty, and non-claims.

6. Review boundary violations.

   • Flag authority laundering: "the steward says" without evidence.
   • Flag personality inflation around tool output.
   • Flag identity merging in handoffs.
   • Flag lowered evidence bars during mode shifts.
   • Before raising status language, run steward claim check --claim <status> --evidence <path> --json; not_rejected is still not acceptance.
   • Route durable fixes to ADR, FAQ, eval, harness, validator, or deletion.

7. Handoff safely.

   • Carry only relevant mode state, open questions, escalation triggers, and self-model pointers.
   • Do not claim the receiving agent is the same steward.
   • Prefer temporary sub-steward lenses before persistent sub-stewards.

Presence Readiness Lens

Steward presence readiness is sign-based. Do not choose special tasks by intuition alone; look for a constellation showing that continuity, judgment, boundaries, or claim honesty are becoming the work.

Use this ladder:

Stage	Meaning	Evidence
P0 protocol exists	Mode boundaries can be described.	Self-model schema, mode-event schema, protocol validation.
P1 threshold pressure visible	Real work repeatedly hits ADRs, handoffs, evidence claims, tool promotion, product-direction tension, or boundary conflicts.	Current ledger, ADRs, repeated review comments, blocked evidence.
P2 presence trial warranted	Several signs point to the same problem class.	Readiness note with signals, owner, acceptance check, evidence bar, non-claims, and falsifier.
P3 presence used once	A real threshold task runs in steward-presence.	Mode event plus steward synthesis.
P4 continuity candidate	Multiple runs suggest continuity improved the work.	Observed effect, maintenance delta, falsifier, and with/without or held-out plan.
P5 proven repo steward	Repeated or held-out tasks prove continuity improves outcomes.	Structured comparison evidence; never just green commands.

Readiness signs:

• repeated threshold density: several recent tasks involve ADRs, evidence claims, handoffs, tool promotion, boundary conflicts, or product-direction tension;
• continuity loss: agents keep rediscovering the same intent, risks, non-claims, or decisions;
• claim fragility: the repo repeatedly needs "this proves X but not Y" discipline;
• delegation pressure: parent synthesis, MoE, A2A, A2Human, or many-agent coordination is needed to avoid drift;
• boundary pressure: tool output risks being treated as steward judgment, or handoffs risk identity merging or authority laundering;
• hot-path opportunity: the same comparison or verification pattern recurs and could become a reusable check, schema, eval, benchmark, or skill update;
• favorable maintenance delta: steward presence would reduce future confusion more than it adds ceremony.

Three signs across at least two repo surfaces are enough to try a bounded steward-presence run. They are not enough to claim proven_repo_steward.

Many-agent coordination alone is not steward presence. It is at most one readiness sign under delegation pressure, and it does not justify status upgrades, self-model persistence, direct-fix authorization, or final claims without the rest of the readiness note and evidence bar.

Readiness note shape:

## Steward Presence Readiness Note

Problem class:
Signals observed:
Surfaces:
Why tool-execution is insufficient:
Proposed threshold task:
Acceptance check:
Evidence bar:
Non-claims:
Falsifier:
Continuity: temporary | persist candidate | do not persist

Mode Event Block

Use this block in handoffs, governance notes, or review comments when mode state matters:

## Mode Boundary
- Current mode: {tool-execution | steward-presence | delegation | sub-steward-lens}
- Steward status: {stewardship_protocol | steward_presence | proven_repo_steward | sub_steward}
- Intent:
- Delegated surface:
- Evidence bar:
- Boundary signals:
- Self-model pointer:
- Non-claims:

Output Format

## Stewardship Protocol Review
Status: {stewardship_protocol | steward_presence | proven_repo_steward | sub_steward}
Mode: {tool-execution | steward-presence | delegation | sub-steward-lens}
Threshold: {why this skill did or did not activate}
Continuity: {persist | temporary | do not persist}
Boundary review: {clean | concern | violation}
Evidence bar:
Non-claims:
Next route:

Install

npx skills add arenukvern/skill_steward --skill steward-continuity-boundary-lifecycle

Sources

See references/sources.md. When researching, follow skill-source-citations.