---
name: wf-terse
description: 'WellForge command — Toggle terse mode for the main-loop session — token-efficient conversational output, on this run and off the next. Invoke explicitly: $wf-terse (no arguments — toggles)'
---
> WellForge command, generated for Codex from `wellforge-plugin/commands/terse.md` — do not edit; regenerate with `adapters/codex/generate.py`.
> Invoked as `$wf-terse (no arguments — toggles)`. **ARGUMENTS** below means the text the user wrote after `$wf-terse` in the invoking message (empty if nothing).


Toggle the main-loop session's terse state. Load the **terse** skill now — it is the
authoritative definition of the cue, the byte-identical invariant, and the artifact
exemption; this command only resolves and states which side of the toggle the session is on.

ARGUMENTS

## Procedure

1. **No persistent state store exists for the main loop.** Realize "session state" the
   WellForge way (same precedent as the effort cue): look back at this conversation for the
   most recent `$wf-terse` invocation and the state it declared.
   - No prior `$wf-terse` in this session → resolve to **ON**.
   - Most recent `$wf-terse` declared ON → resolve to **OFF**.
   - Most recent `$wf-terse` declared OFF → resolve to **ON**.

2. **Emit the resolved state as a stated directive** — this line (and only this line, plus
   the note below) IS the mechanism; there is no config file or flag to set:
   - Turning on: `Terse mode: ON — I will keep responses terse until you run $wf-terse again.`
   - Turning off: `Terse mode: OFF.`

3. **From this point forward in the session:**
   - If **ON**: apply the terse skill's cue (drop filler/preamble, fragments over sentences,
     substance only) to every subsequent conversational reply, honoring the **byte-identical
     invariant** (code blocks, shell commands, file paths, identifiers, error messages are
     always reproduced verbatim) and the **artifact exemption** (writing `spec.md`,
     `plan.md`, `tasks.md`, `design.md`, an ADR, or `eval*.md` ignores terse mode entirely —
     full format contract, unaffected).
   - If **OFF**: resume normal verbosity.

## Hard rules

- No arguments are read from `ARGUMENTS` — `$wf-terse` only toggles; it never takes a mode.
- This governs **main-loop conversational output only** — it has no effect on
  `$wf-orchestrate --terse` / `$wf-implement --terse` (separate, per-invocation
  flags) or on `$wf-spike` (terse-by-default per the activation matrix). Those are
  independent axes; running `$wf-terse` does not flip them, and running them does not flip this.
- Never let the toggle suppress or shorten a spec-driven/governance artifact — the artifact
  exemption in the terse skill always wins.