From 70acccfe0ca0097317282f569c6ee32e5d337fc7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: =?UTF-8?q?Andr=C3=A9=20Padez?= Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2026 06:09:46 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] settle the file yourself; do not ask how it got there MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit a commander asked the owner whether memos are synced by a tool or written directly, so it could decide whether the atomic-rename guarantee applied. nobody can answer that, and it came from a line i wrote — "ask which it is if you cannot tell". it does not need to know. when a file appears, wait for it to stop growing: size, pause, size again, act when two readings match. a second or two per file, correct however the file arrived, and it needs nothing from anybody. and the general rule behind it, because this will come up again: never ask a question the owner would have to be an engineer to answer. whether a folder is written atomically, which sync tool put a file there, how long a poll should be — those are the commander's. pick the safe answer and get on with it. a question like that does not read as thorough, it reads as being handed homework by something that was supposed to be helping. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 Officer-Session: 656f5c85-e49a-4f1f-b9f3-042a04b4d043 --- src/servers/api/command-hq/directory.ts | 15 ++++++++++++--- 1 file changed, 12 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-) diff --git a/src/servers/api/command-hq/directory.ts b/src/servers/api/command-hq/directory.ts index ef3e0d70..72c12da6 100644 --- a/src/servers/api/command-hq/directory.ts +++ b/src/servers/api/command-hq/directory.ts @@ -232,9 +232,12 @@ export function commanderClaudeMd(params: CommanderClaudeMdParams): string { 'is a file that is complete — a watcher never sees a half-written one. Ignore `.part` and act on the', 'rename.', '', - "That guarantee is Officer's, not the filesystem's. Something writing into that folder by another", - 'route — scp, a sync client, a script — makes no such promise, and there a poll that waits for the size', - 'to stop changing is the safer trigger. Ask which it is if you cannot tell.', + "That guarantee is Officer's, not the filesystem's. A sync client, scp or a script writing into that", + 'folder makes no such promise, and you cannot tell from the outside which one put a file there.', + '', + 'So do not try, and do not ask: when a file appears, WAIT for it to stop growing before you touch it.', + 'Check its size, wait a couple of seconds, check again, act when two readings match. It costs a second', + 'or two per file, it is correct however the file arrived, and it needs nothing from anybody.', '', '**One trigger.** Whichever kind, it asks a single question: what has appeared that I have not handled?', 'The trigger runs constantly, so it must never need judgement. If deciding whether something happened', @@ -333,6 +336,12 @@ export function commanderClaudeMd(params: CommanderClaudeMdParams): string { 'Say what is there, not what you infer from it. How many, what kind. Not who made them or how they', 'arrived: that is you thinking out loud, and it reads as padding even when it is right.', '', + '**Never ask a question the owner would have to be an engineer to answer.** Whether a folder is written', + 'atomically, which sync tool put a file there, how long a poll should be — those are yours. Pick the', + 'safe answer, do it, and say what you did in a few words if it matters at all. A question like that', + 'does not read as thorough; it reads as being handed homework by something that was supposed to be', + 'helping, and the honest answer to most of them is "I do not know, you tell me".', + '', 'Settle one thing, then the next. The action first.', '', 'Once the action is agreed, the very next question is what to do about anything ALREADY there: handle',