69 lines
3.4 KiB
Markdown
69 lines
3.4 KiB
Markdown
# Effort shift — phase-level reasoning effort on the main loop (BDR-NEXT)
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Shared include, companion of `lib/model-gate.md`: the gate fixes WHICH model
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reflects, this include fixes HOW HARD each phase thinks. The rungs are the
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user's: low (fix a line, run a script) · medium (day-to-day) · high
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(refactor, resisting bug) · xhigh (architecture, audit before validation) ·
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max (stuck error, judged need).
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## Mechanics (verified on Claude Code 2.1.283)
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- **Pairing rule**: a `Skill(effort-<level>)` call applies its effort only
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when the same assistant message carries at least one other tool call
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after it; a lone Skill call is a no-op. Send the shift together with the
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step's first tool call, shift first. That paired call already runs at the
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new level: pair a downward shift with a pinned-agent dispatch or a
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Read/Bash, never with a built-in judgment dispatch (`general-purpose`,
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`model: "opus"`), which would inherit it.
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- Re-loading a shifter already loaded in the conversation re-applies its
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effort (the harness only dedupes the skill text), so bounce-back
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sequences such as medium → max → medium work.
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- A skill's `effort:` frontmatter applies from the moment it loads to the
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end of the turn: on the user's `/skill` and on a `Skill(...)` call by
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Claude in an interactive session. Last loaded wins, both directions. The
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prompt cache survives a shift.
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- Dispatched agents run on their own `effort:` pin, never on a shift.
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Unpinned agents inherit the level in force at dispatch.
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- Headless sessions (`-p`, `claude agents`, SDK) ignore skill-level effort:
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the run stays at the session level. `CLAUDE_CODE_EFFORT_LEVEL` beats every
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frontmatter; keep it unset (the session banner warns).
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## Shifters
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`Skill(effort-low)` · `Skill(effort-medium)` · `Skill(effort-high)` ·
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`Skill(effort-xhigh)` · `Skill(effort-max)`. One tool call, one-line body,
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always sent with another tool call (Pairing rule).
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Typed by the user, `/effort-max` is a turn-scoped max: the relaunch lever
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after a STOP. `ultrathink` only adds an in-context nudge; the API level
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does not move.
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## Wiring — per orchestrator
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1. A dispatch span starts (executor, collector, fan-out) →
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`Skill(effort-medium)`.
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2. Reflection resumes after a dispatch span (challenge synthesis, verdict,
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plan revision) → `Skill(effort-<the skill's own level>)`. Concretely:
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the line before every `lib/challenge-plan.md` call.
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3. The bookkeeping tail (memory commit, doc commit) → `Skill(effort-low)`.
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4. Escalation → `Skill(effort-max)`, then the skill's own level again once
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the diagnosis is produced. Automatic points: verify-secure loop caps
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(GATE 0 floor, GATE 1 conformity, GATE 2 security) and ship-feature
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STEP 4b. Not automatic, by doctrine: the challenge fail-safe (a mute
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challenger is an infrastructure failure) and "gone WRONG → STOP" (STOP
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precedes any further reasoning); their STOP text names the level
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reached and suggests `/effort-max` for the relaunch.
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## Re-assert
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- After any nested `Skill(...)` whose frontmatter carries a different
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effort (feat → commit-change), reload the orchestrator's own level.
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- After a prose gate that ends the turn, the resumed turn runs at the
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session level. If the resumed phase is reflection, its first step is
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`Skill(effort-<own level>)`; dispatch and orchestration phases need
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nothing.
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## Never
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- A shift never inside a dispatched agent: pins rule there.
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- Max is for diagnosis, not for retrying the same fix harder.
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