# issue-core — Agent Instructions

## Repo Identity

**Purpose:** Authoritative task lifecycle manager for the Coulomb org. Backend-agnostic CLI + REST ingestion endpoint for tasks from activity-core's IssueSink. Pluggable backends (Gitea, SQLite, GitHub). Renamed from issue-facade on 2026-05-17.

**Domain:** custodian
**Repo slug:** issue-core
**Topic ID:** `cee7bedf-2b48-46ef-8601-006474f2ad7a`
**Workplan prefix:** `ISSUE-WP-`

---

## State Hub Integration

The Custodian State Hub tracks work across all domains. Interact via HTTP REST —
there is no MCP server for Codex agents.

| Context | URL |
|---------|-----|
| Local workstation | `http://127.0.0.1:8000` |
| Remote via tunnel | `http://127.0.0.1:18000` |

### Orient at session start

```bash
# Offline brief — works without hub connection
cat .custodian-brief.md

# Active workstreams for this domain
curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:8000/workstreams/?topic_id=cee7bedf-2b48-46ef-8601-006474f2ad7a&status=active" \
  | python3 -m json.tool

# Check inbox
curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:8000/messages/?to_agent=issue-core&unread_only=true" \
  | python3 -m json.tool
```

Mark a message read:
```bash
curl -s -X PATCH "http://127.0.0.1:8000/messages/<id>/read" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{}'
```

### Log progress (required at session close)

```bash
curl -s -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8000/progress/ \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "summary": "what was done",
    "event_type": "note",
    "author": "codex",
    "workstream_id": "<uuid>",
    "task_id": "<uuid>"
  }'
```

Omit `workstream_id` / `task_id` when not applicable.

### Update task status

```bash
curl -s -X PATCH "http://127.0.0.1:8000/tasks/<task_id>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"status": "in_progress"}'
# values: todo | in_progress | done | blocked
```

### Flag a task for human review

```bash
curl -s -X PATCH "http://127.0.0.1:8000/tasks/<task_id>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"needs_human": true, "intervention_note": "reason"}'
```

---

## Session Protocol

**Start:**
1. `cat .custodian-brief.md` — domain goal and open workstreams (offline-safe)
2. Check inbox: `GET /messages/?to_agent=issue-core&unread_only=true`; mark read
3. Scan workplans: `ls workplans/` — note `status: ready`, `active`, or `blocked` files and open tasks
4. Check blocked tasks: `GET /tasks/?needs_human=true`

**During work:**
- Update task statuses in workplan files as tasks progress
- Record significant decisions via `POST /decisions/`

**Close:**
1. Update workplan file task statuses to reflect progress
2. Log: `POST /progress/` with a summary of what changed
3. Note for the custodian operator: after workplan file changes, run from
   `~/state-hub`:
   ```bash
   make fix-consistency REPO=issue-core
   ```
   This syncs task status from files into the hub DB.

---

## Credential and access routing

**Audience:** Codex, Claude Code, Grok, and custodian agents that call **llm-connect**
for inference. Run this check **before** requesting secrets, API keys, SSH access,
login tokens, or database passwords — in any repo, not only `ops-warden`.

ops-warden **issues SSH certificates only** (`warden sign`, `cert_command`). Every
other credential need belongs to another subsystem. **Do not** message
`ops-warden` on State Hub expecting a secret value; the reply is a pointer, not a key.

### Lookup (do this first)

```bash
warden route find "<describe your need>" --json
warden route show <catalog-id> --json
```

Requires the `warden` CLI from `~/ops-warden` (`uv tool install .` or `uv run warden`).

| Agent runtime | How to orient |
| --- | --- |
| **Codex / Grok** (shell, HTTP State Hub) | `warden route` commands above; inbox `to_agent=issue-core` is for coordination, not secret vending |
| **Claude Code** (MCP when available) | `get_domain_summary("custodian")` for workstreams; **still** use `warden route` for credential ownership |
| **llm-connect** (inference service) | Never put secret retrieval in prompts; route custody to OpenBao/operator paths surfaced by `warden route` |

### Quick routing table

| I need… | Owner | ops-warden executes? |
| --- | --- | --- |
| SSH cert (`adm`/`agt`/`atm`) | ops-warden | **Yes** — `warden sign` |
| API key, DB password, provider token | OpenBao (`railiance-platform`) | No — route only |
| Login / OIDC / MFA | key-cape / Keycloak | No — route only |
| Authorization decision | flex-auth | No — route only |
| activity-core → issue-core emission | activity-core + issue-core | No — `warden route show activity-core-issue-sink` |
| SSH tunnel | ops-bridge (+ `cert_command` from warden) | No — route only |

### Anti-patterns (do not do these)

- `POST /messages/` to `ops-warden` asking for `ISSUE_CORE_API_KEY`, `OPENROUTER_API_KEY`, etc.
- Inventing `warden secret`, `warden login`, `warden bao`, `warden tunnel` — they do not exist
- Pasting secrets into Git, State Hub, workplans, logs, or chat

### Other capabilities (reuse-surface)

Non-credential capabilities are usually discovered through **reuse-surface** federation
(`reuse-surface` registry / `capability.*` indexes). Credential routing is inlined in
every repo's agent instructions because it is high-frequency, high-risk, and easy to
get wrong.

**Canon:** `~/ops-warden/wiki/CredentialRouting.md` · catalog `~/ops-warden/registry/routing/catalog.yaml`
---

## REST ingestion API key

`POST /issues/` requires a shared key in `ISSUE_CORE_API_KEY`. The server
refuses to start without it. activity-core's `IssueCoreRestSink` sends the same
value as `Authorization: Bearer <key>` (also accepts `X-API-Key`).

**Do not request this key from ops-warden** — pair env vars locally or via
OpenBao/K8s on both repos. Routing lookup:
`warden route show activity-core-issue-sink --json`.

**Local dev:**

```bash
export ISSUE_CORE_API_KEY="$(python3 -c 'import secrets; print(secrets.token_urlsafe(32))')"
issue serve --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8765
```

Set the same `ISSUE_CORE_API_KEY` in activity-core when `ISSUE_SINK_TYPE=rest`.
For local ingest smoke, set `default: local` in `~/.config/issue-tracker/backends.json`
— a remote Gitea default backend will hang on `POST /issues/`.

See `README.md` (REST Ingestion Server) and activity-core
`docs/issue-core-emission-boundary.md`.

---

## Workplan Convention (ADR-001)

Work items originate as files in this repo — not in the hub. The hub is a
read/cache/index layer that rebuilds from files.

**File location:** `workplans/ISSUE-WP-NNNN-<slug>.md`

**Archived location:** finished workplans may move to
`workplans/archived/YYMMDD-ISSUE-WP-NNNN-<slug>.md`. The `YYMMDD` prefix is
the completion/archive date; the frontmatter `id` does not change.

**Ad Hoc Tasks:** small opportunistic fixes discovered during a session use
`workplans/ADHOC-YYYY-MM-DD.md` with task ids `ADHOC-YYYY-MM-DD-T01`, etc. Use
this only for low-risk work completed directly; create a normal workplan for
anything needing analysis, design, approval, dependencies, or multiple phases.

**Frontmatter:**

```yaml
---
id: ISSUE-WP-NNNN
type: workplan
title: "..."
domain: custodian
repo: issue-core
status: proposed | ready | active | blocked | backlog | finished | archived
owner: codex
topic_slug: ...
created: "YYYY-MM-DD"
updated: "YYYY-MM-DD"
state_hub_workstream_id: "<uuid>"   # written by fix-consistency — do not edit
---
```

Use `proposed` for a new draft, `ready` after review against current repo
state, and `finished` after implementation. `stalled` and `needs_review` are
derived health labels, not frontmatter statuses.

**Task block format** (one per `##` section):

```
## Task Title

` ` `task
id: ISSUE-WP-NNNN-T01
status: todo | in_progress | done | blocked
priority: high | medium | low
state_hub_task_id: "<uuid>"         # written by fix-consistency — do not edit
` ` `

Task description text.
```

Status progression: `todo` → `in_progress` → `done` (or `blocked`)

To create a new workplan:
1. Write the file following the format above
2. Notify the custodian operator to run `make fix-consistency REPO=issue-core`
   (or send a message to the hub agent via `POST /messages/`)