# Ouroboros - Development Environment

> This AGENTS.md is for **local development only**. End users install via:
> ```
> Codex plugin marketplace add Q00/ouroboros
> Codex plugin add ouroboros@ouroboros
> ```
> Once installed as a plugin, skills/hooks/agents work natively without this file.

## ooo Commands (Dev Mode)

When the user types any of these commands, read the corresponding SKILL.md file and follow its instructions exactly:

| Input | Action |
|-------|--------|
| `ooo` (bare, no subcommand) | Read `skills/welcome/SKILL.md` and follow it |
| `ooo auto ...` | Read `skills/auto/SKILL.md` and follow it |
| `ooo interview ...` | Read `skills/interview/SKILL.md` and follow it |
| `ooo seed` | Read `skills/seed/SKILL.md` and follow it |
| `ooo run` | Read `skills/run/SKILL.md` and follow it |
| `ooo evaluate` or `ooo eval` | Read `skills/evaluate/SKILL.md` and follow it |
| `ooo evolve ...` | Read `skills/evolve/SKILL.md` and follow it |
| `ooo unstuck` or `ooo stuck` or `ooo lateral` | Read `skills/unstuck/SKILL.md` and follow it |
| `ooo status` or `ooo drift` | Read `skills/status/SKILL.md` and follow it |
| `ooo ralph` | Read `skills/ralph/SKILL.md` and follow it |
| `ooo tutorial` | Read `skills/tutorial/SKILL.md` and follow it |
| `ooo setup` | Read `skills/setup/SKILL.md` and follow it |
| `ooo welcome` | Read `skills/welcome/SKILL.md` and follow it |
| `ooo cancel` | Read `skills/cancel/SKILL.md` and follow it |
| `ooo qa` or `ooo qa ...` | Read `skills/qa/SKILL.md` and follow it |
| `ooo help` | Read `skills/help/SKILL.md` and follow it |
| `ooo update` | Read `skills/update/SKILL.md` and follow it |
| `ooo pm` or `ooo pm ...` | Read `skills/pm/SKILL.md` and follow it |
| `ooo brownfield` or `ooo brownfield ...` | Read `skills/brownfield/SKILL.md` and follow it |
| `ooo publish` or `ooo publish ...` | Read `skills/publish/SKILL.md` and follow it |
| `ooo resume-session` | Read `skills/resume-session/SKILL.md` and follow it |

**Important**: Do NOT use the Skill tool. Read the file with the Read tool and execute its instructions directly.

## Agents

Bundled agents live in `src/ouroboros/agents/`. When a skill references an agent (e.g., `ouroboros:socratic-interviewer`), read its definition from `src/ouroboros/agents/{name}.md` and adopt that role. Use `OUROBOROS_AGENTS_DIR` or `.Codex-plugin/agents/` only for explicit custom overrides.

## Pull Request Boundary Policy

Before implementing or reviewing a PR, read [Review Boundary Contract](CONTRIBUTING.md#review-boundary-contract). Treat the PR description as the review contract.

Contributors MUST declare the user problem, supported inputs and execution conditions, observable contract, touched subsystem and owner, non-goals, and verification evidence. Do not silently widen these while responding to review. A declared boundary narrows implementation scope but cannot waive an existing public or repository contract, an approved issue or RFC requirement, or a maintainer decision; conflicts require maintainer approval or RFC review.

Review agents MUST evaluate every finding in this order:

1. Reproduce it under the PR's promised inputs and execution conditions.
2. Determine whether it violates the PR's promised contract.
3. Determine whether the fix requires a new subsystem or ownership boundary.
4. Determine whether the original user problem can be solved without the subsystem introduced by the PR.
5. Determine whether splitting the scope leaves an immediate user-data or security risk.

Outcomes are strict:

- Questions 1 and 2 are yes: **Changes Requested**.
- Questions 3 and 5 are yes: stop the PR and ask a maintainer to revisit the RFC; do not silently absorb the new subsystem or owner.
- Questions 3 and 4 are yes while question 5 is no: non-blocking follow-up with a named owner and link.
- Question 5 is yes without the Q3 + Q5 escalation: **Changes Requested** for the immediate user-data or security risk.
- Outside the declared boundary and no contract violation: not a blocker; record only as a valid, actionable, owned follow-up.

Review severity alone never expands PR scope. Maintainers own scope-expansion decisions.

## Shipping a change (read before you commit)

**The code you edit is not the code that runs, by default.** The checked-in
`.mcp.json` points at the published PyPI package, so edits to this working tree
have no effect on a client until you repoint it at local source. See
[docs/contributing/developing.md](docs/contributing/developing.md).

`main` is protected: direct pushes are rejected with `GH006`, for everyone,
including the owner. Every change lands through a squash-merged PR, so a
release tag must be created on the merged `main` commit — not before.

Four checks are required to merge — reproduce them locally first:

```bash
uv run ruff format src/ tests/ && uv run ruff check src/ tests/ --fix
uv run mypy src/ouroboros
uv run pytest
```

(`Ruff Lint`, `MyPy Type Check`, `Test Python 3.12`, `Bridge TypeScript`.)

Other gates fire conditionally and are easy to trip blind:

- **Issue link present** — every PR needs `Refs #123` in the body. Exempt via
  the `no-issue` label, or a title starting `chore(deps)` / `chore(release)` /
  `release:`. Note `chore: release vX.Y.Z` does *not* match the prefix.
- **enforce-module-size** — 2000-line cap per module; grandfathered modules may
  shrink, never grow, and no new entries.
- **enforce-boundary** — no domain keywords (`github`, `jira`, `slack`, …) in
  `src/ouroboros/auto/`.
- **enforce-perf-budget** — PRs touching `src/ouroboros/auto/` need the R-run
  table filled in the PR body.

Full reference, including every escape hatch and the release sequence:
**[docs/contributing/ci-gates.md](docs/contributing/ci-gates.md)**.

<!-- ooo:START -->
<!-- ooo:VERSION:0.26.0 -->
# Ouroboros — Specification-First AI Development

> Before telling AI what to build, define what should be built.
> As Socrates asked 2,500 years ago — "What do you truly know?"
> Ouroboros turns that question into an evolutionary AI workflow engine.

Most AI coding fails at the input, not the output. Ouroboros fixes this by
**exposing hidden assumptions before any code is written**.

1. **Socratic Clarity** — Question until ambiguity ≤ 0.2
2. **Ontological Precision** — Solve the root problem, not symptoms
3. **Evolutionary Loops** — Each evaluation cycle feeds back into better specs

```
Interview → Seed → Execute → Evaluate
    ↑                           ↓
    └─── Evolutionary Loop ─────┘
```

## ooo Commands

Each command loads its agent/MCP on-demand. Details in each skill file.

| Command | Loads |
|---------|-------|
| `ooo` | — |
| `ooo auto` | MCP: `ouroboros_start_auto` |
| `ooo interview` | `ouroboros:socratic-interviewer` |
| `ooo seed` | `ouroboros:seed-architect` |
| `ooo run` | MCP required |
| `ooo evolve` | MCP: `evolve_step` |
| `ooo evaluate` | `ouroboros:evaluator` |
| `ooo qa` | `ouroboros:qa-judge` |
| `ooo unstuck` | `ouroboros:{persona}` |
| `ooo status` | MCP: `session_status` |
| `ooo ralph` | Persistent loop until verified |
| `ooo tutorial` | Interactive hands-on learning |
| `ooo setup` | — |
| `ooo help` | — |
| `ooo update` | PyPI version check + upgrade |
| `ooo publish` | `gh` CLI — Seed to GitHub Issues |
| `ooo resume-session` | Restore previous Codex session context |

## Agents

Loaded on-demand — not preloaded.

**Core**: socratic-interviewer, ontologist, seed-architect, evaluator, qa-judge, contrarian
**Support**: hacker, simplifier, researcher, architect
**Analysis**: analysis-agent, ontology-analyst, codebase-explorer, research-agent, breadth-keeper
**Execution**: code-executor, seed-closer, consensus-reviewer, semantic-evaluator
**Specialist**: advocate, judge
<!-- ooo:END -->