/wheypoint

/wheypoint records the state a new agent needs to resume the work.

Use it for culture sessions, for work without a phase slug, and for a phase's Checkpoint & stop option. A phase checkpoint is a standalone, non-terminal Wheypoint record, not a terminal phase artifact. Workers at a hard limit return observations; the parent, not the worker, runs checkpoint persistence.

Inputs

• The conversation is the primary input.
• The optional argument shapes only the orientation line; the focus never removes a decision, question, or directive.

Runtime commands

Run every command through this skill's archive by its resolved installed bundle path; see ../cheese/references/harness-portability.md. When the consumer repository lacks skills/, resolve the installed bundle path before execution; never assume the easy-cheese checkout or current working directory.

python3 skills/wheypoint/scripts/wheypoint.pyz turns [--session <id> | --transcript <path>]
python3 skills/wheypoint/scripts/wheypoint.pyz show <work-id> [--project <key>]
python3 skills/wheypoint/scripts/wheypoint.pyz validate [intent.json] [--base <revision_id>]
python3 skills/wheypoint/scripts/wheypoint.pyz checkpoint [intent.json] [--base <revision_id>]
python3 skills/wheypoint/scripts/wheypoint.pyz checkpoint <work-id> [--base <revision_id>] --question "<q>" --gates --rationale "<why>" --decision "<d>" --directive "<d>" --quote "<words>" --operator-directive "<style>" --operator-quote "<words>" [--owner <who> --when <trigger>] --link <ref> --kind <edge-kind> [--covers <id>]...
python3 skills/wheypoint/scripts/wheypoint.pyz schema checkpoint-intent
python3 skills/wheypoint/scripts/wheypoint.pyz resolve <absolute-path | work-id | slug> [--project <key>] [--workspace-root <checkout>]
python3 skills/wheypoint/scripts/wheypoint.pyz list [--scope project | machine] [--grep <text>]... [--status <s>]... [--next <move>]... [--project <key>]... [--entry-kind <k>]... [--entry-state <s>]... [--gated | --no-gated] [--edge-kind <k>]... [--linked-to <ref>]... [--forked-from <work-id>]... [--owner <who>]...
python3 skills/wheypoint/scripts/wheypoint.pyz log <work-id> [--project <key>]
python3 skills/wheypoint/scripts/wheypoint.pyz fork <parent> <child> --orientation "<child title>" [--next <move> [--artifact <a>]]
python3 skills/wheypoint/scripts/wheypoint.pyz export <slug | work-id | path> [--out <file>] [--include-operator] [--include-local]
python3 skills/wheypoint/scripts/wheypoint.pyz import <bundle.json> [--as <slug>] [--note-dir <dir> | --no-note]
python3 skills/wheypoint/scripts/wheypoint.pyz handoff render | parse | dispatch

Repeat --grep, --status, --next, or --project to search several values in one list call; a hit matching any value of one flag is kept, and distinct flags combine with AND; never loop over list once per term; outside a Git checkout, list with no --scope searches machine scope and reports scope-fallback: machine, while an explicit --scope keeps its meaning. fork writes only a child genesis record with one forked_from edge; import writes only an imported record, and bundle_digest covers the canonical bundle with no field of its own; references/work-graph.md gives refs, edge kinds, the bundle, and the list graph filters. Create a link with checkpoint --link; resolve validates artifact links, grounded paths, Git objects, and coverage; a slug with no exact match resolves by unique prefix, then unique substring, and several matches return ambiguous with every candidate. resolve, list, log, show, schema, and turns only read; direct invocations return output, and STOP before checkpoint writing. /cheese --continue uses resolve and never invokes another archive; slash commands are host renderings, not the control model; foreign machine hits require the owning checkout; follow the continuation protocol. The parent delegates persistence to this capability as one structured checkpoint task and runs validate before checkpoint; workers never invoke either command at a hard limit. Phase skills resolve with their own wheypoint-resolve --ref <slug> command; follow references/delta-contract.md for its outcomes, working_context, and findings.

Flow

1. Read the user's words. Run turns and keep every user turn in view.
2. Map each turn to an entry, or write one line that says why the turn is not captured.
3. Rehydrate. Run show or resolve for the work id and note its revision_id; a first checkpoint needs no base.
4. Every write to an existing record needs that revision_id as --base (or base_revision_id). After a compaction, read again before you write.
5. Write the intent. Follow references/intent-contract.md.
6. Put each user-stated constraint or preference in a directive entry with its verbatim quote.
7. Put each choice in a decision entry with a rationale.
8. Put each open item in a question entry; give a blocking question a rationale.
9. Record a parked fork as a question with --gates and a --rationale that names the options and your prior leaning.
10. Put the report a cold reader needs in notes.
11. Put paths and URLs in artifact_links and working_context, not their contents.
12. Validate. Run validate --base <revision_id> and fix every named problem.
13. Checkpoint. Run checkpoint --base <revision_id>. A base-revision-required or stale-parent refusal means: read again, apply your change again, then write.
14. Report. State the durability the result reports and the resume commands.

What the runtime enforces

The runtime refuses an intent instead of dropping data.

• It refuses an unknown key and names its path.
• It refuses a first checkpoint that carries no entry and no notes.
• It refuses next: affinage without a PR reference in artifact.
• It refuses next: cook without an artifact.
• It refuses text that matches a credential pattern and names the field.
• It refuses an empty artifact_links or remove_artifact_links list.
• It derives status: from the gating entries per the handback contract; no author sets it.
• It refuses a baseline key rather than drop it; a Cook baseline stays in the Cook handoff.
• It requires a rationale for each blocking question a delta adds.
• It derives every identifier, digest, and revision.
• It refuses an agent-authored fork transition and a forked_from edge in a delta.
• It refuses notes over 6000 characters.
• It pins a bare path:line in working_context or an artifact link to path:line@<short HEAD sha> when HEAD holds the file, and otherwise warns with unpinned-line-ref (no checkout or commit, or an untracked, ignored, or absent file).
• It lists each local reference (an xdg: ref, an absolute path outside the checkout, or a Git-ignored path) under ## Local references.
• It warns with stale-notes when a decision changes and notes stay as they were, marks that drift at the top of ## Notes, and lists an entry that checkpoint --supersede <old> [--by <new>] --rationale <why> replaced under ## Superseded.

Fix a refused intent and run checkpoint again.

Handoff slug

The checkpoint command writes the shared preamble at the top of the generated projection; every consumer reads it with parse_handoff_slug().

status: <canonical status field>
next: mold | cook | press | age | cure | affinage | briesearch | culture | hold | tasks | done
artifact: <path, or PR#<n> / URL when next is affinage, else empty>
<one-line orientation: where the session is and what is mid-flight>

For next: tasks the projection adds a mode: parallel keyed line after artifact:; the keyed block after the orientation holds the Wheypoint pins. The projection body shows gates, open entries, decisions, directives, notes, context, artifacts, tasks, and a final ## Identifiers section. The projection title is # Wheypoint handoff. The projection is never the authority; never edit it and never resume from it by hand.

next: values

The meaning of each next: value is in references/intent-contract.md; briesearch and culture are read-only kickoffs, and tasks follows references/parallel-handoffs.md. A missing next: makes the handoff malformed; use hold when no action follows. Derive next: and status: from the open questions, not from expected success. Use status: gated: for every human decision; the resumed agent asks through the shared handoff gate before it dispatches. Handwritten notes, their legacy values, and their provenance fields are in references/legacy-notes.md and references/provenance-fields.md.

Rules

• Never run a Git commit, push, or publication to raise durability.
• Never write a note by hand, never edit a generated projection, and never include a secret value.
• Reference each artifact by path or URL; do not copy its contents.
• Use complete sentences; write one sentence per line.

Handoff

End with the orientation and this link: Wheypoint dropped: [.cheese/notes/<slug>.md](<absolute-note-path>).