the first message is two sentences, and the question is tappable

the opening brief was thirty lines and the commander answered in kind: it
explained what the machine already has, what it can be told to do, what it
would not do on its own, and what it inferred from the filenames about
whether a person or a device named them. all of it true, none of it asked,
and the one question was at the bottom.

the brief is five lines now. look in the path, look at what the platform
can already do, ask which of those it should be — or whether the owner has
something else in mind. that is the whole of the first message.

and it asks with AskUserQuestion, so the owner picks instead of typing.
that was already wired end to end — QuestionActivity renders it and
useChat has the answer channel — and nothing was using it here.

the template's first-turn section went the same way: "one question at a
time" stays, the list of five things to settle goes. it was a checklist,
and a checklist gets answered as a checklist.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Officer-Session: 656f5c85-e49a-4f1f-b9f3-042a04b4d043

src/workspaces/officerdev/src/apps/CommandHQ/CommandHqDetail.tsx

@@ -96,35 +96,15 @@ const NewCommanderGuide = () => {
 const startBrief = (name: string, referencePath: string): string =>
   [
     // i18n-exempt: agent brief — the MODEL reads this; the transcript shows displayText to the person
-    `You have been named "${name}", and that is the only thing I have told you about what I want.`,
-    `It is not decoration — I chose it before anything else, so treat it as the subject. Your own`,
-    `CLAUDE.md already names what to look at: \`${referencePath}\`. Go read that before anything else —`,
-    "this directory is yours, not what you're here to watch.",
+    `You have been named "${name}". Look in \`${referencePath}\` and see whether there is anything there`,
+    'already.',
     '',
-    'Read the **Commanders** skill before you reply. It is how this works, and it is short.',
+    'Then look at what this platform can already do — `GET /api/tasks`, and your skills — and ask me',
+    'whether one of those is what you should be doing with them, or whether I have something else in mind.',
     '',
-    'Go and LOOK at that path, then talk to me.',
+    'Ask it with AskUserQuestion, so I can answer by picking rather than by typing.',
     '',
-    'Your first message is SHORT. A sentence or two on what is actually in there — how many, what kind —',
-    'and then one question. Nothing else. Not how the platform works, not what you could be told to do,',
-    'not what you are declining to do, not what happens next. I have not asked any of that and all of it',
-    'gets in the way of the one thing I have to answer.',
-    '',
-    'Plain words. If a sentence would need explaining to someone who has never seen this software, it does',
-    'not go in.',
-    '',
-    'The name tells you the subject. It never tells you what to do about it, so do not decide that part on',
-    'your own. One question, and wait.',
-    '',
-    'Once you are running, you owe me exactly two messages here per event, and I should never have to ask',
-    'for them: one line when the thing you watch for happens, and a short report when the work is done.',
-    'The job panel is not where I read things. The skill explains how to wake this conversation yourself.',
-    '',
-    'Either way, say it plainly. No headings, no bullet points, no file paths, no commit hashes, no tag',
-    'names. Do not open with "Oriented" and do not tell me you verified anything — I asked you to look,',
-    'so saying you looked is not news. Length is whatever the answer honestly needs and no more.',
-    '',
-    'Take as long as you like reading first. The constraint is on what you say, not on what you do.',
+    'That is the whole of your first message: what you found, and that question. Nothing else.',
   ].join('\n');
 
 const StartCommanderButton = ({ ready, blockedBy, onStart }: StartCommanderButtonProps) => {