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EvanBattenEvanBatten/firstmate-for-windows/.agents/skills/firstmate-orca/SKILL.md

firstmate-orca

Skill2 starsChanged 32 days agoMITView on GitHub

Agent-only operator checklist for Firstmate's Orca runtime backend. Use when switching to Orca, spawning or supervising Orca-backed work, smoke-testing Orca backend behavior, debugging Orca task state, or reconciling Orca-backed task metadata.

1 other project uses a version of this, 1 of them edited.

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We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent

23 rules. About 0 are common, 11 are distinctive, and 12 are very specific to this project.

  • ≈0

    Common · estimate

    Many files like this have a rule of this kind.

  • ≈11

    Distinctive · estimate

    This author's own choices. Worth a look.

  • 12

    Very specific

    Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.

  • Common
  • Distinctive
  • Very specific
  1. Very specific:

    Use this as the operator checklist for Firstmate's experimental Orca runtime backend.

    line 11
  2. Very specific:

    Prefer the bin/fm-* helpers over raw orca commands.

    line 21
  3. Very specific:

    Use raw orca only when the helper surface cannot answer the inspection question, and keep the recorded firstmate metadata as the task …

    line 22
  4. Very specific:

    If FM_HOME is set, remember that operational state lives under $FM_HOME while the helper scripts still run from this repo's bin/.

    line 27
  5. Distinctive:

    Before switching or spawning against Orca:

    line 29
  6. Distinctive:

    Treat a backend switch as affecting future spawns only.

    line 34
  7. Very specific:

    Use bin/fm-spawn.sh so firstmate creates the brief, worktree, terminal, metadata, status file, and watcher surface together.

    line 39
  8. Distinctive:

    After spawn, check the task with firstmate helpers:

    line 42
  9. Distinctive:

    Do not manually create the Orca worktree or terminal for a normal firstmate task.

    line 49
  10. Distinctive:

    Do not manually patch metadata to make an externally-created Orca terminal look like a firstmate task.

    line 50
  11. Very specific:

    Use bin/fm-peek.sh, bin/fm-send.sh, bin/fm-crew-state.sh, and bin/fm-teardown.sh for routine operation.

    line 54
  12. Distinctive:

    Keep initial scope in the task brief.

    line 56
  13. Very specific:

    When supervising, treat state/<id>.meta as the routing record and Orca's own ids as backend implementation details.

    line 58
  14. Very specific:

    If an ordinary steer fails to enqueue, or a typed-plane fm-send fails to submit, do not immediately repeat the instruction.

    line 62
  15. Very specific:

    Read the reported failure and peek first, then decide whether the record exists or the target is busy, waiting on a prompt, stuck behind a …

    line 63
  16. Very specific:

    Read state/<id>.meta and the relevant status tail first.

    line 70
  17. Very specific:

    Use the recorded terminal=, orca_worktree_id=, and worktree= as the task identity.

    line 72
  18. Distinctive:

    Prefer firstmate helpers for peek, send, state, and teardown.

    line 73
  19. Distinctive:

    Avoid raw deletion of Orca worktrees or manual branch cleanup.

    line 74
  20. Distinctive:

    Stop and inspect if the recorded worktree path, Orca worktree id, or project checkout no longer matches expectations.

    line 75
  21. Distinctive:

    Keep Orca smoke tests focused on lifecycle plumbing:

    line 83
  22. Very specific:

    Verify bin/fm-peek.sh, a short bin/fm-send.sh steer, watcher wake behavior, and bin/fm-crew-state.sh.

    line 88
  23. Distinctive:

    Do not mix a backend smoke test with unrelated feature work.

    line 92

≈ “Common” is an estimate: at least 1 in 5 of the 350,495 skill files we read have a rule of the same kind, not the same words. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.

Keep what fits and drop the rest. Your version, ready for your agents.
Files
SKILL.md

firstmate-orca

Use this as the operator checklist for Firstmate's experimental Orca runtime backend. It does not replace AGENTS.md, docs/orca-backend.md, or harness-adapters.

Orca is a runtime backend, not an agent harness. The runtime backend owns the task endpoint and, for Orca, the task worktree. The harness is the agent process launched inside that endpoint, such as claude, codex, opencode, pi, pi-signed, grok, or kimi. Load harness-adapters for harness-specific launch, interrupt, resume, trust-dialog, and skill-invocation facts.

Implementation details, metadata fields, teardown guarantees, and limitations live in docs/orca-backend.md. docs/verification/runtime-backends.md "Orca" owns active smoke evidence. Prefer the bin/fm-* helpers over raw orca commands. Use raw orca only when the helper surface cannot answer the inspection question, and keep the recorded firstmate metadata as the task identity.

Preflight

Work from the current firstmate home or repo root. If FM_HOME is set, remember that operational state lives under $FM_HOME while the helper scripts still run from this repo's bin/.

Before switching or spawning against Orca:

  • Confirm Orca is intentionally selected through --backend orca, FM_BACKEND=orca, or local config/backend.
  • Confirm the Orca app is running and the backend readiness checks pass before expecting spawn to work.
  • Inspect active state/*.meta records before changing backend selection.
  • Treat a backend switch as affecting future spawns only; existing tasks keep their recorded backend.
  • Reconcile watcher wakes before unrelated work, especially if Orca tasks are already in flight.

Spawn

Use bin/fm-spawn.sh so firstmate creates the brief, worktree, terminal, metadata, status file, and watcher surface together. Pass --backend orca for a one-off Orca task, or rely on the already-selected Orca backend when that selection is intentional.

After spawn, check the task with firstmate helpers:

  • bin/fm-peek.sh fm-<id> for launch failures, trust dialogs, or first output.
  • state/<id>.meta for backend=orca, terminal=, orca_worktree_id=, and worktree=.
  • bin/fm-crew-state.sh <id> when the current run state matters.
  • bin/fm-watch.sh whenever there are tasks in flight and this session owns supervision.

Do not manually create the Orca worktree or terminal for a normal firstmate task. Do not manually patch metadata to make an externally-created Orca terminal look like a firstmate task.

Supervision

Use bin/fm-peek.sh, bin/fm-send.sh, bin/fm-crew-state.sh, and bin/fm-teardown.sh for routine operation. For steer messages, use bin/fm-send.sh <id> '...'; the stable fm-<id> alias also works, and ordinary local text steers may contain newlines because they ride the durable inbox. Keep initial scope in the task brief; a temporary file remains useful when the instruction includes supporting material the worker should inspect separately.

When supervising, treat state/<id>.meta as the routing record and Orca's own ids as backend implementation details. The stable firstmate alias is fm-<id>. The recorded terminal= and orca_worktree_id= fields are what backend helpers use under the hood.

If an ordinary steer fails to enqueue, or a typed-plane fm-send fails to submit, do not immediately repeat the instruction. Read the reported failure and peek first, then decide whether the record exists or the target is busy, waiting on a prompt, stuck behind a popup, or genuinely wedged. For harness-specific interrupts or exits, load harness-adapters.

Recovery

For a messy Orca-backed task:

  1. Read state/<id>.meta and the relevant status tail first.
  2. Confirm the task is actually Orca-backed before using Orca-specific assumptions.
  3. Use the recorded terminal=, orca_worktree_id=, and worktree= as the task identity.
  4. Prefer firstmate helpers for peek, send, state, and teardown.
  5. Avoid raw deletion of Orca worktrees or manual branch cleanup.
  6. Stop and inspect if the recorded worktree path, Orca worktree id, or project checkout no longer matches expectations.

Teardown remains governed by the normal firstmate landing rules. Scout work can be torn down after the report exists and the captain-hold-lifecycle completion gate passes. Ship work can be torn down only after the work is landed by its project mode.

Smoke Test

Keep Orca smoke tests focused on lifecycle plumbing:

  1. Select Orca intentionally for a disposable task or scout.
  2. Spawn through bin/fm-spawn.sh.
  3. Confirm metadata records the Orca backend, terminal, Orca worktree id, and isolated worktree path.
  4. Verify bin/fm-peek.sh, a short bin/fm-send.sh steer, watcher wake behavior, and bin/fm-crew-state.sh.
  5. Tear down through bin/fm-teardown.sh after the task is safely disposable or landed.
  6. Restore the previous backend selection if Orca was selected only for the smoke test.

Do not mix a backend smoke test with unrelated feature work.

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