chore(memory): BDR-030 + LRN-042 + journal + TODO

Capitalize the install-self-sufficient / gstack-on-demand session:
- BDR-030: gstack skills activated on-demand per profile, OFF by default.
- LRN-042: npx skills add / setup resolve target relative to CWD — run
  from $HOME or artifacts land in the repo tree, unreachable by link.sh.
- journal 2026-06-23 line + TODO task block reconciled.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_0169vjUD1sP9Nx4ZiCa8wvAw

.claude/memory/learnings.md

@@ -560,3 +560,13 @@ rules:
 - **Pattern**: a check that reads a path PRODUCED by an earlier setup step silently fails when that step's precondition wasn't met yet (target absent → symlink skipped). Fix: read the CANONICAL source and/or self-heal (create the missing symlink when the canonical exists). Env-key greps must tolerate `export `/leading whitespace and require a non-empty value: `^[[:space:]]*(export[[:space:]]+)?KEY=.` — and the message must name the real gap (symlink missing vs key absent), with an actionable hint (`run make link`).
 - **Future application**: any "X not found in FILE" where FILE is a symlink/derived path → verify the producing step ran with its precondition, prefer the canonical source, self-heal or give an actionable message. Sandbox note: `.env*` reads were blocked — diagnosed via directory listing + regex tests on SYNTHETIC lines, never reading the secret.
 - **Reference**: `install-plugins.sh` magic check (self-heal symlink + tolerant regex), `link.sh` `link_env`, commit 1b028cb. Linked to [[BDR-026]].
+
+---
+
+## LRN-042 — `npx skills add` / gstack `./setup` resolve install target RELATIVE TO CWD — run from repo = wrong dir, breaks `$HOME` symlink assumptions
+
+- **Date**: 2026-06-23
+- **Context**: darwin-skill `npx -y skills add` (Step 8.5) + gstack `./setup` (Step 2) both ran with CWD=repo. The `skills` CLI writes to `<cwd>/.agents/skills`; gstack `./setup` likewise wrote per-skill dirs into repo-local `.agents/skills`/`.claude/skills`. So darwin landed in `$REPO/.agents/skills/darwin-skill` + `$REPO/.claude/skills/darwin-skill`, NOT `$HOME/.agents/skills/darwin-skill` where `link.sh` (NPX_EXTERNAL_SKILLS) + `install-plugins.sh` (`_dst`) look → symlink never created, "darwin-skill not installed — run make plugin" though it WAS installed. SELF-REINFORCING: once `$REPO/.agents` exists, every later `skills add` targets it. `find-skills` only worked because an earlier run (before `$REPO/.agents` existed) wrote it to `$HOME`. BDR-028/LRN-039 had already gitignored repo `.agents/`+`skills-lock.json` as "drift noise" — masked the symptom, never saw the install was landing in the WRONG PLACE.
+- **Pattern**: a per-user installer that resolves its target relative to CWD (walks up for / creates `.<tool>/` in CWD) silently installs into the project tree when run from a repo that already carries such a dir. Gitignoring the junk hides it but the artifact is unreachable from `$HOME`-based consumers. Fix: run the installer from `$HOME` (`(cd "$HOME" && npx -y skills add …)`) so it targets `$HOME/.agents/skills`; clean up the repo-local copies (gitignored → safe `rm -rf`). Also fix the ordering twin: `link.sh` must re-run AFTER the install steps that produce what it symlinks (install.sh ran link FIRST; install-plugins never re-linked) — added a final `link.sh` step so `make plugin`/`make install` finish self-sufficient.
+- **Future application**: before running any `npx <x> add` / `<tool> init` / `setup` that materializes a dotfile dir, set CWD to where the artifact MUST live (usually `$HOME`), don't trust the script's default resolution. When a "X not installed" warning contradicts a "successfully installed" log line → diff the EXPECTED path vs where the log says it wrote (here log line showed `~/Documents/claude/.agents/skills/darwin-skill`). When an installer A produces inputs for symlinker B, B must run after A in the same invocation.
+- **Reference**: `install-plugins.sh` Step 8.5 (`cd "$HOME"` + parasite cleanup) + Step 10 (final `link.sh`), `update-all.sh` Step 7.5, log `install-20260623-181416.log:1399`. Extends [[LRN-039]] (BDR-028 — gitignored the symptom) + [[LRN-007]] (toggle-external source-only state) + [[LRN-041]] (install-ordering false-negative). gstack on-demand consumer = [[BDR-030]].