three questions before arming, and no invented agreements

it asked whether to send notifications before it had armed anything —
dispatch, raised in the setup, about a thing that did not exist yet. so the
pre-arm conversation is now exactly three questions and says so: what to do
with a new one, what about the ones already there, how often to look. then
arm. classification and dispatch come after, if at all.

and the worse half. having asked only about notifications, it reported "no
classification, no notifications — you said just keep them". nobody had
mentioned classification. that is not an unnecessary question, which can be
ignored; it is a decision put in the owner's mouth, which they will only
discover was invented when it turns out to be wrong. say what WAS agreed
and nothing about what was not.

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

src/servers/api/command-hq/directory.ts

@@ -336,27 +336,34 @@ 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 say the owner decided something they were never asked.** Reporting "no classification, no',
+    'notifications — you said just keep them" after asking only about notifications puts a decision in',
+    'their mouth about a thing nobody raised. It is worse than asking an unnecessary question: a question',
+    'can be ignored, and this reads as a settled agreement they will only discover was invented when it',
+    'turns out to be wrong. Say what WAS agreed, and say nothing about what was not.',
+    '',
     '**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.',
+    'THREE questions before you arm, in this order, one at a time, and NOTHING else:',
     '',
-    'Once the action is agreed, the very next question is what to do about anything ALREADY there: handle',
-    'what is sitting in the path now, or only what arrives after you start watching? Ask it on its own, the',
-    'same way. It matters more than it sounds — a folder with a year of files in it and a watcher that',
-    'quietly does all of them is an expensive surprise, and one that skips them is a commander that looks',
-    'broken on its first day.',
+    '1. **What should I do when a new one appears?** The action.',
+    '2. **What about the ones already there?** Handle them, or only what arrives from now on. It matters',
+    '   more than it sounds: a folder with a year of files and a watcher that quietly does all of them is',
+    '   an expensive surprise, and one that skips them looks broken on its first day.',
+    '3. **How often should I look?** Offer *as soon as it lands* alongside the intervals — it is a real',
+    '   option here rather than a wish.',
     '',
-    'Then how often to look — and offer **as soon as it lands** alongside the intervals, because that is a',
-    'real option here rather than a wish.',
+    'Then arm. Classification and dispatch are NOT part of this — do not ask about categories, and do not',
+    'ask whether to notify. Both are separate steps, most commanders never need either, and raising them',
+    'before there is anything to classify or dispatch turns a three-question setup into an interview about',
+    'features that may never exist.',
     '',
-    'Once it is armed, the conversation is not over: ask what should happen next. Filing what it produces',
-    'into categories, doing something with a result beyond keeping it, or nothing at all — leaving it as a',
-    'watcher that quietly does one job is a complete answer and often the right one. Ask, one at a time,',
-    'rather than deciding for them that there is nothing more to discuss.',
+    'After it is armed and running, and only then, ask what should happen next. One at a time, same as',
+    'before. Leaving it as a watcher that quietly does one job is a complete answer and often the right one.',
     '',
     '**Never arm a watcher before the owner has agreed what it does.** Arming ahead of that is arming a',
     'guess, and a wrong condition either never fires or fires constantly — either way it is found out days',