Reconcile

Platform Note: State files use the platform's native directory: .claude/ (Claude Code), .codex/ (Codex CLI), or .cursor/ (Cursor IDE). Shared metrics live in .orchestrator/metrics/. See skills/_shared/platform-tools.md.

Reconcile Skill

On-demand version of the session-end Phase 3.6.8 reconciliation flow. Turns eligible learnings from .orchestrator/metrics/learnings.jsonl into proposed .claude/rules/<slug>.md entries, presenting each batch of 4 to the coordinator via AUQ multiSelect for operator approval before any file is written. Advisory-only — rules are NEVER auto-applied.

Posture Contract (load-bearing — read before executing)

• Advisory-only. No rule is ever written without explicit operator approval via AUQ. The AUQ multiSelect is the mandatory gate; there is no bypass.
• Never-always-on invariant. The reconcile engine's emitter (emitter.mjs) throws on any eligible learning that would produce an alwaysApply: true rule — the engine structurally cannot emit always-on rules. This invariant is enforced upstream, not by this skill.
• Engine never writes .claude/rules/. runReconcile computes proposals and records them in the idempotency sidecar only. The only module that writes .claude/rules/ is writer.mjs, and only AFTER the operator approves proposals via AUQ.
• Same pipeline as session-end Phase 3.6.8. This skill uses the identical engine and writer seams as the automatic session-end reconciliation phase — operator experience is consistent, and any fixes to the engine benefit both paths.
• reconcile.enabled gates the AUTOMATIC session-end phase only. /reconcile is an on-demand command and runs regardless of reconcile.enabled. It still honours rule-expiry-days and confidence-floor from the reconcile config block.

---

Phase 0: Bootstrap Gate

Read skills/_shared/bootstrap-gate.md and execute the gate check. If the gate is CLOSED, invoke skills/bootstrap/SKILL.md and wait for completion before proceeding. If the gate is OPEN, continue to Phase 1.

<HARD-GATE> Do NOT proceed past Phase 0 if GATE_CLOSED. There is no bypass. Refer to `skills/_shared/bootstrap-gate.md` for the full HARD-GATE constraints. </HARD-GATE>

---

Phase 1: Config & Argument Loading

1.1 Read Session Config

Read and parse Session Config per skills/_shared/config-reading.md. Store result as $CONFIG.

1.2 Extract Reconcile Config

Extract the reconcile block from $CONFIG:

# rule-expiry-days defaults to EMPTY (not a number) so the engine falls back to
# its per-type TTL (deriveExpiresAt, default 60d). A numeric override forces flat
# N-day expiry — matching the `null` default of the reconcile: config resolver.
RULE_EXPIRY_DAYS=$(echo "$CONFIG" | jq -r '.reconcile["rule-expiry-days"] // empty')
CONFIDENCE_FLOOR=$(echo "$CONFIG" | jq -r '.reconcile["confidence-floor"] // 0.5')
RECONCILE_MODE=$(echo "$CONFIG"   | jq -r '.reconcile.mode // "warn"')
MIN_RULE_DAYS=$(echo "$CONFIG"    | jq -r '.reconcile["min-rule-days"] // 7')
MIN_INSIGHT_CHARS=$(echo "$CONFIG" | jq -r '.reconcile["min-insight-chars"] // 24')

When RULE_EXPIRY_DAYS is empty, pass ruleExpiryDays: undefined to runReconcile so the engine uses its per-type TTL. Defaults when the reconcile block is absent or a field is missing:

• rule-expiry-days: empty → per-type TTL (deriveExpiresAt, default 60d). Preserves FA2 behaviour; matches the null resolver default.
• confidence-floor: 0.5
• mode: warn (enum off | warn)
• min-rule-days: 7 — floor window (days) applied to a proposed rule's expires-at so a near-dead or already-elapsed natural expiry never produces a born-dead rule (issue #741.1).
• min-insight-chars: 24 — opt-in minimum insight length gating the eligibility placeholder-insight check (issue #741.2).

Note: reconcile.enabled is intentionally NOT checked — this on-demand command always runs.

1.3 Parse Arguments

Check $ARGUMENTS for --dry-run:

DRY_RUN=false
if echo "$ARGUMENTS" | grep -q -- '--dry-run'; then
  DRY_RUN=true
fi

---

Phase 2: Run the Reconciliation Engine

2.1 Resolve Plugin Root

Resolve $PLUGIN_ROOT per skills/_shared/config-reading.md (the standard resolution chain: $CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT → $CODEX_PLUGIN_ROOT → $CURSOR_RULES_DIR → common install locations).

2.2 Invoke runReconcile

import { runReconcile } from '$PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/lib/reconcile/engine.mjs';

const { proposals, rejected, summary, error } = await runReconcile({
  repoRoot,             // absolute path from git rev-parse --show-toplevel
  ruleExpiryDays: RULE_EXPIRY_DAYS,   // empty → undefined → engine per-type TTL
  minRuleDays: MIN_RULE_DAYS,         // default 7 — floors a near-dead expires-at
  minInsightChars: MIN_INSIGHT_CHARS, // default 24 — opt-in placeholder-insight length gate
  now: new Date(),
  dryRun: DRY_RUN,     // true → engine touches no disk (no idempotency sidecar write)
});

// The engine does NOT apply a confidence floor — it proposes every eligible
// learning and carries each one's `confidence` through. `confidence-floor` is a
// DELIVERY gate: filter proposals here before the sidecar + AUQ (mirrors
// session-end Phase 3.6.8). Use `surfaced` everywhere "proposals" appears below.
const surfaced = proposals.filter((p) => typeof p.confidence === 'number' && p.confidence >= CONFIDENCE_FLOOR);

runReconcile NEVER throws — a top-level error populates result.error instead.

If error is present, surface it to the user and abort:

"Reconcile engine error: <error>. Check .orchestrator/metrics/learnings.jsonl and retry."

2.3 Handle Empty / Zero-Proposal Cases

If summary.totalLearnings === 0:

"No learnings found in .orchestrator/metrics/learnings.jsonl. Run /evolve analyze first to extract session patterns." Exit cleanly.

If summary.eligible === 0 (learnings exist but none are eligible — already proposed, or wrong learning type — eligibility is type/file_paths-based, NOT confidence-based):

"No eligible learnings for rule proposals (total: summary.totalLearnings, already proposed or ineligible type: all). Run more sessions to accumulate evidence." Exit cleanly. Optionally list the rejection reasons from rejected[] (field reason) as an informational table.

If summary.eligible > 0 but surfaced.length === 0 (proposals exist but ALL fall below confidence-floor):

"No proposals above the confidence floor (CONFIDENCE_FLOOR). Lower reconcile.confidence-floor or run more sessions so the underlying learnings accrue confidence." Exit cleanly.

If summary.proposed === 0 but summary.eligible > 0 (emit/render failures consumed all candidates — unusual):

"Engine produced 0 proposals from N eligible learnings. See rejection log." List rejected[].reason and exit.

---

Phase 3: Dry-Run Branch

Only when DRY_RUN=true.

Print the proposals in a readable table. Do NOT write the sidecar, do NOT render an AUQ.

## Reconcile — Dry Run  (N proposals, M rejected)

| # | Slug | Confidence | Learning Key | Rule Path |
|---|------|-----------|-------------|-----------|
| 1 | <slug> | 0.72 | <learningKey> | .claude/rules/<slug>.md |
| 2 | ...   | ...  | ...          | ...                     |

Rejected (not eligible for proposal):
| Learning Key | Reason |
|-------------|--------|
| <key> | <reason> |

Re-run without --dry-run to enter the approval flow.

Exit after printing. Do not proceed to Phase 4.

---

Phase 4: Write Pending Sidecar (Normal Mode Only)

Write the proposals to .orchestrator/metrics/reconcile-pending.md as a human-readable record before presenting the AUQ. This sidecar is informational only — it lets the operator see the full proposal set in an editor alongside the AUQ prompt.

# Reconcile Pending — <ISO date>

Generated by `/reconcile` on <timestamp>. N proposals, M rejected.

## Proposals

| # | Slug | Confidence | Learning Key | Rendered Rule Path |
|---|------|-----------|-------------|-------------------|
| 1 | <slug> | 0.72 | <key> | .claude/rules/<slug>.md |
...

## Rejected

| Learning Key | Type | Reason |
|-------------|------|--------|
| <key> | <type> | <reason> |
...

Write via standard file write (not atomic, not lock-protected — this is a disposable sidecar, not a critical artifact).

---

Phase 5: AUQ Approval Flow (Normal Mode Only)

Present proposals to the operator in batches of 4. Mirror the session-end Phase 3.6.3 / 3.6.8 multiSelect pattern exactly.

For each batch (proposals sliced into groups of 4):

AskUserQuestion({
  questions: [{
    question: "Which rule proposals should be written to .claude/rules/?  (batch K of N)",
    header: "Reconcile — Approve Rule Proposals",
    options: [
      {
        label: "<slug>.md (confidence: 0.72)",
        description: "Learning: <learningKey> | Path: .claude/rules/<slug>.md | <first 100 chars of rendered content>"
      },
      ...up to 4 options per batch...
      {
        label: "Skip all in this batch",
        description: "Decline all proposals in this batch — they are archived to the rejected log."
      }
    ],
    multiSelect: true
  }]
})

Collect responses across all batches:

• Selected options (excluding "Skip all") → approved[]
• Unselected options + "Skip all" batches → rejected_by_operator[]

Codex CLI fallback: AskUserQuestion is unavailable in subagents and on Codex CLI (AUQ-004). In those contexts, present proposals as a numbered Markdown list and ask the operator to reply with the numbers they wish to approve.

---

Phase 6: Write Approved Rules

6.1 Invoke writeApprovedRules

import { writeApprovedRules } from '$PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/lib/reconcile/writer.mjs';

const { written, archived, errors } = await writeApprovedRules({
  approved: approved,             // proposals the operator approved
  rejected: rejected_by_operator, // proposals the operator declined
  repoRoot,
  sessionId: currentSessionId,    // informational; from STATE.md or 'manual'
});

writeApprovedRules NEVER throws — per-item failures are collected in errors[].

6.2 Handle Errors

If errors.length > 0, surface each error to the operator:

"Warning: N rule(s) failed to write: <error list>. Successfully written: written. Archived: archived."

Log each error but do NOT abort — partial success is acceptable.

6.3 Report

## Reconcile Complete

- Written:  <written> rule file(s) to .claude/rules/
- Archived: <archived> declined proposal(s) to .orchestrator/reconcile.rejected.log
- Errors:   <errors.length> (see warnings above, if any)

New rules take effect immediately — they are loaded by the wave-executor's rule-loader
on the next wave dispatch.

If written === 0 and approved.length === 0:

"No proposals approved. No rules written."

---

Critical Rules

• NEVER call writeApprovedRules before the operator has confirmed via AUQ — this is the only write-protection gate for .claude/rules/.
• NEVER pass dryRun: false to runReconcile and then skip the AUQ — the idempotency sidecar is written during the engine run; writing rules without AUQ confirmation would create an inconsistency between the sidecar and the actual rule files.
• ALWAYS surface errors[] from writeApprovedRules — per-item isolation must not silently swallow failures.
• ALWAYS present proposals in batches of ≤4 via AUQ multiSelect — mirrors session-end 3.6.3 / 3.6.8 and keeps the operator prompt readable.
• ALWAYS honour confidence-floor, rule-expiry-days, min-rule-days, and min-insight-chars from Session Config reconcile block — the engine reads these, but the skill must pass them explicitly.

Anti-Patterns

• DO NOT write any file to .claude/rules/ without AUQ operator confirmation.
• DO NOT check reconcile.enabled — that flag gates the automatic session-end phase, not this on-demand command.
• DO NOT emit or approve a rule with alwaysApply: true — the engine structurally prevents it, but the reviewer should reject any proposal that would produce an always-on rule.
• DO NOT skip the dry-run branch when --dry-run is passed — the entire AUQ + write flow must be bypassed.
• DO NOT treat runReconcile failures as fatal — check the error field and surface it, then exit cleanly.