ln-014-agent-instructions-manager

Paths: All file refs relative to skills repo root.

Agent Instructions Manager

Type: L3 Worker Category: 0XX Shared

Creates missing instruction files and audits them (AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md) for quality, consistency, and best practices. AGENTS.md is the single canonical source of content; CLAUDE.md is a thin @AGENTS.md import stub with bounded harness-specific deltas. This skill is the single owner of instruction-file creation and MCP Tool Preferences insertion or replacement.

MANDATORY READ: Load references/coordinator_summary_contract.md, references/environment_worker_runtime_contract.md, and references/worker_runtime_contract.md MANDATORY READ: Load references/mcp_tool_preferences.md MANDATORY READ: Load references/agent_instructions_writing_guide.md — canonical rationale for the @AGENTS.md import pattern, size budgets, and anti-patterns. All audit checks below trace back to this guide.

Input / Output

| Direction | Content | |-----------|---------| | Input | project context, dry_run flag, optional runId, optional summaryArtifactPath | | Output | Structured summary envelope with payload.status = completed / skipped / error, plus created files, audit findings, and warnings in changes / detail |

If summaryArtifactPath is provided, write the same summary JSON there. If not provided, return the summary inline and remain fully standalone. If runId is not provided, generate a standalone run_id before emitting the summary envelope.

Runtime

Runtime family: environment-worker-runtime

Phase profile:

1. PHASE_0_CONFIG
2. PHASE_1_DISCOVER_FILES
3. PHASE_2_CREATE_MISSING_FILES
4. PHASE_3_TOKEN_BUDGET_AUDIT
5. PHASE_4_PROMPT_CACHE_SAFETY
6. PHASE_5_CONTENT_QUALITY
7. PHASE_6_IMPORT_PATTERN_COMPLIANCE
8. PHASE_7_WRITE_SUMMARY
9. PHASE_8_SELF_CHECK

Runtime rules:

• emit summary_kind=env-instructions
• standalone runs generate their own run_id and write the default worker-family artifact path
• managed runs require both runId and summaryArtifactPath and must write the summary to the exact provided path
• always write the validated summary artifact before terminal outcome

Output Contract

Always build a structured env-instructions summary envelope per:

• references/coordinator_summary_contract.md
• references/environment_worker_runtime_contract.md

Payload fields:

• files_found
• files_created
• quality_findings
• token_budget
• prompt_cache_safety
• import_pattern_status
• status

When to Use

• After editing any instruction file
• After adding/removing MCP servers or hooks
• Before release or publishing
• When sessions degrade (context bloat symptoms)
• First-time project setup (instruction files missing)

Phase 1: Discover Files

Locate instruction files in target project:

| Agent | Primary | Canonical source | Fallback | |-------|---------|------------------|----------| | Claude Code | CLAUDE.md | imports AGENTS.md via @AGENTS.md | .claude/settings.local.json | | Codex / Cursor / Amp / Factory | AGENTS.md | canonical | .codex/instructions.md |

Report: which files exist (found / missing), which harnesses share AGENTS.md directly vs via import.

Phase 1b: Plugin Conflict Check

Skip condition: No enabledPlugins in settings OR all plugins are @levnikolaevich-skills-marketplace.

1. Read ~/.claude/settings.json → parse enabledPlugins
2. Filter: enabled=true AND publisher ≠ levnikolaevich-skills-marketplace
3. For each external plugin:
4. Resolve active install first: matching plugin or marketplace under ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/*
5. Read active plugins//skills//SKILL.md descriptions from that install surface
6. Only if no active install is available, fall back to the latest cache snapshot under ~/.claude/plugins/cache/{publisher}/{plugin}//skills//SKILL.md
7. Treat cache as forensic fallback only. Never count multiple cache snapshots as separate active conflicts.
8. Match against conflict signal keywords:

| Signal | Keywords in description | Overlap with | |--------|----------------------|--------| | Orchestration | "orchestrat", "pipeline", "end-to-end", "lifecycle" | ln-1000 pipeline | | Planning | "plan.*implement", "brainstorm", "design.*spec" | ln-300 task coordinator | | Execution | "execut.*plan", "subagent.*task", "task-by-task" | ln-400/ln-401 executors | | Code review | "code.review.*dispatch", "review.*quality.*spec" | ln-402/ln-310 | | Quality gate | "quality.*gate", "verification.*complet", "test-driven.*always" | ln-500 quality gate | | Debugging | "systematic.*debug", "root.*cause.*phase" | problem_solving.md | | Git isolation | "worktree.*creat", "git.*isolat" | git_worktree_fallback.md |

• Check for hooks/session-start directory in the active install surface first
• Score: 2+ signal categories → CONFLICT. 1 → WARN. 0 → safe
• CONFLICT: "CONFLICT: {plugin} overlaps with ln-* pipeline ({signals}). Disable?" → AskUserQuestion → if yes, set to false in settings.json
• WARN: report, continue

Phase 2: Create Missing Files

Skip condition: All files exist OR dry_run == true (report what would be created).

Canonical model: AGENTS.md is the single source of content. CLAUDE.md is an @AGENTS.md import stub with bounded harness-specific deltas. Create in this order so the stub references a file that already exists.

Step 2a: Detect Project Context

| Field | Source | Fallback | |-------|--------|----------| | PROJECT_NAME | package.json → name | basename(cwd) | | PROJECT_DESCRIPTION | package.json → description | [TBD: Project description] | | DATE | current date (YYYY-MM-DD) | — | | ENABLE_WORKFLOW_PRINCIPLES | Caller input (default false) | — |

Step 2b: Create AGENTS.md (if missing) — canonical

1. MANDATORY READ: Load plugins/documentation-pipeline/skills/ln-111-root-docs-creator/references/templates/agents_md_template.md
2. Replace {{PROJECT_NAME}}, {{PROJECT_DESCRIPTION}}, {{DATE}}, and {{DEV_COMMANDS_*}} placeholders
3. If ENABLE_WORKFLOW_PRINCIPLES=true: replace {{WORKFLOW_PRINCIPLES_BLOCK}} with the full content of plugins/documentation-pipeline/skills/ln-111-root-docs-creator/references/templates/agents_md_workflow_principles.md. Otherwise strip the placeholder line and its leading HTML comment.
4. Mark remaining {{...}} as [TBD: placeholder_name]
5. Write to target project root

Step 2c: Create CLAUDE.md (if missing) — import stub

1. MANDATORY READ: Load plugins/documentation-pipeline/skills/ln-111-root-docs-creator/references/templates/claude_md_template.md
2. Replace {{PROJECT_NAME}} only
3. Write to target project root
4. Verify the file contains exactly one @AGENTS.md line and is ≤50 lines total
5. Do NOT copy any content from AGENTS.md into CLAUDE.md — the @ import handles it at session load time

Step 2e: Report Creations

List each created file with its source (template agents_md_template.md, template claude_md_template.md stub).

Phase 3: Token Budget Audit

Line-count budgets align with the Anthropic official target (<200 lines per CLAUDE.md file) and the IFScale instruction-ceiling research. See references/agent_instructions_writing_guide.md for the full rationale.

| Check | Pass | Warn | Fail | |-------|------|------|------| | AGENTS.md line count | ≤150 | 151-200 | >200 | | CLAUDE.md line count (stub) | ≤20 | 21-50 | >50 | | User-added imperative count in AGENTS.md | ≤100 | 101-150 | >150 |

Imperative counter: lines matching ^\s*- inside rule sections, plus any line containing MUST\|NEVER\|ALWAYS\|DO NOT. Cite the IFScale benchmark (arxiv 2507.11538) in WARN / FAIL messages.

Report table per file with line count and imperative count (for AGENTS.md).

Phase 4: Prompt Cache Safety

Check each file for content that breaks prefix-based prompt caching:

| # | Check | Pattern | Severity | |---|-------|---------|----