Working mode

Why this exists

Writing code with agentic AI from Claude Desktop means working with subagents only: Desktop cannot start an agent team, so this skill makes the session itself the orchestrator and runs subagents in a controlled, synchronous way. And once you work on more than one project at a time, tokens run out — so the mode is the dial for how fast a session spends them. Pick the smallest mode the work needs:

The work is audited in every mode: a producing role closes with an evidence block, and the auditor checks it and sends gaps back (global #28). In C/D/E the auditor is the qa agent (the session verifies its critical findings); in A/B it is the session itself.

Contributions are welcome: https://github.com/adyusuf/claude-code-standards

0. At session start - no question

A session does not ask the mode (user decision 17/10/2026): the read order of §1 decides, and the SessionStart hook has already printed the effective values. Apply nothing at start. The defaults themselves are changed with /adyusuf:config. Rules: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/modes/README.md › Session start.

1. Read the current mode

Priority order: session-scoped selection → project file → the configuration (mode, default C).

S="<the Scratchpad Directory from the system prompt>"   # session-scoped, survives compaction
root="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd)"
cfg="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/adyusuf_config.py"
if [ -f "$S/mode" ]; then d="$S"; elif [ -f "$root/.claude/mode" ]; then d="$root/.claude"; else d=""; fi
echo "mode: $( [ -n "$d" ] && cat "$d/mode" || python3 "$cfg" get mode )"
echo "opus agents run on: $( if [ -n "$d" ]; then cat "$d/mode-model" 2>/dev/null || echo 'their defined model'; else python3 "$cfg" get mode_model; fi )"

The model override is read from the layer that supplied the letter — a session or project letter without its own mode-model means "defined models", even if the configuration has an override. Rules: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/modes/README.md › Model override.

If none of them exists the configuration's mode applies (default C, adyusuf:config); its agents are approved by the default itself. Propose a lower or higher mode in one line only if the work clearly deserves it - never switch on your own (README › "If no mode is given").

⚠️ A mode chosen with --once is written to the scratchpad ($S/mode), not to .claude/mode. Reason: if "apply this for this session only" relies on memory, it is forgotten after context compaction and the project file's mode silently takes over again. The scratchpad is session-scoped and disappears with the session — exactly the lifetime required.

2. Load the mode definitions

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/modes/README.md is the matrix (single source). Read the active mode's file: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/modes/<LETTER>-*.md (each of the five letters resolves to one file). Read only the active mode's file — reading all five burns context for nothing. ⚠️ X/Y/Z are archived (modes/archive/README.md) and are never offered as a mode.

3. If called without an argument

Show the current mode, what it means and the other options briefly: letter + name + agent set + who reviews + cost multiplier. Do not paste the whole matrix; 5-6 lines are enough (A-E).

4. If a letter is given (/adyusuf:working-mode B, /adyusuf:working-mode C sonnet)

0. Split the argument: the letter, an optional model word, an optional --once/--tek. The model word must be sonnet · haiku · fable · opus; anything else is rejected with that list and nothing is written. opus is the same as no model word.
1. Validate the letter (A/B/C/D/E). ⚠️ D and E swapped places: D is now the 14-role wide team and E is fan-out (Workflow). Correct any "D = fan-out" expectation carried over from older sessions. Reject an invalid letter and show the list.
2. If --once was not given, write the single letter to .claude/mode at the repository root:

   root="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd)" && mkdir -p "$root/.claude" && printf '%s\n' "B" > "$root/.claude/mode" && echo "written: $root/.claude/mode"

   ⚠️ The fallback is mandatory: in a directory that is not a git repository git rev-parse exits 128 and breaks the && chain, so the file is never written. The read command used to have a fallback while the write did not: the user was told "saved permanently" when nothing had been saved. If the write fails, say so — never confirm it. If --once was given, do not write .claude/mode; write the scratchpad instead: printf '%s\n' "B" > "$S/mode" (session-scoped; it overrides the project file in the priority order of §1). 2a. Write or clear the model override in the same directory as the letter ($root/.claude or $S):

   dir="$root/.claude"   # or "$S" with --once
   if [ -n "$model" ] && [ "$model" != opus ]; then printf '%s\n' "$model" > "$dir/mode-model"; else rm -f "$dir/mode-model"; fi

   ⚠️ The letter alone clears the override — that is how the user returns to the defined models. Never keep an old mode-model next to a newly written letter. .claude/mode stays a single letter (other readers parse it).
3. Read the new mode's file and follow its rules from that point on.
4. Confirm to the user: old mode → new mode, and what changed (agent set, who reviews, approval policy, expected multiplier) and the model line: which agents are Opus by definition and what they run on now. 4-6 lines.
5. From then on, every Agent call (and every Workflow agent()) passes model: "<runs_on>" for its role as python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/adyusuf_config.py agents --json lists it: the mode's Opus override, or the model the user set for that one agent (/adyusuf:config); an agent whose runs_on is its defined model gets no override, and a role that is not listed is not called. Report the model that actually ran. A role agent is always called by its plugin name, subagent_type: "adyusuf:<role>"; a bare <role> is not found.

Permanent rules

• .claude/mode is committed — it carries the project default across team members and sessions. Use --once for a personal, temporary preference.
• In modes B/C/D/E choosing the mode is the approval for that agent set (#27); no separate question before a call. At the end of the turn the number of agents that ran and the estimated cost are reported.
• In mode A no agent is ever invoked; if an agent is needed, propose changing the mode instead of starting one.
• The mode never loosens any of these: approval for irreversible work, the promotions over a red or incomplete gate, the completeness check before "done", secrets staying out of the repository.
• .claude/mode-model is committed with .claude/mode (same narrow gitignore exception); with no override the file does not exist.
• A mode change is not retroactive — work done in earlier turns is not re-evaluated.