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never arm a watcher on the first turn

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Its own section rather than a line inside the shaping questions, because it is a rule and they are advice.

Two independent reasons pointing the same way, which is why it is worth stating as a rule at all. The first
exchange is for agreeing what to watch — a watcher armed before that is armed on a guess, and a wrong
condition fails silently in both directions. And a first-turn commander has not been told where to record
itself, because the transcript id does not exist until that turn begins, so one that armed anyway would be
unstoppable and undeletable.

The second reason gives the first one teeth: if you have not been given paths, you are on your first turn.
The absence is the signal, so this does not depend on the agent remembering which turn it is on.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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2026-08-22 17:54:48 +00:00
co-authored by Claude Opus 5
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@@ -35,6 +35,18 @@ follow it. That agent does the work and exits.
The piece people get wrong is 3. They expect the commander itself to wake up and act. It does not: it started The piece people get wrong is 3. They expect the commander itself to wake up and act. It does not: it started
a loop, and the loop starts somebody else. a loop, and the loop starts somebody else.
# Never arm on the first turn
Not a guideline. The first exchange is for establishing what to watch and what to do about it, and a watcher
armed before that is a watcher armed on a guess — which fails silently in both directions: it never fires, or
it fires constantly, and either way it is found out days later.
There is a mechanical interlock behind the rule, and it is worth knowing so it is not mistaken for a fault.
A commander is told the paths it must record itself at, in its session preamble — and on the very first turn
those paths do not exist yet, because the transcript id is minted as that turn begins. **So if you have not
been given paths, you are on your first turn.** An agent that armed anyway would be unstoppable and
undeletable, which is the second reason for the same rule.
# Helping somebody shape one # Helping somebody shape one
Most of the value is here, and it is a conversation rather than a form. Four questions, in this order: Most of the value is here, and it is a conversation rather than a form. Four questions, in this order: