---
session_id: S-2026-0217-1225
timestamp: 2026-02-17T11:25:08Z
predecessor: S-2026-0217-1051
tasks_active: [T-107, T-109, T-110, T-111]
tasks_touched: [T-109, T-107, T-XXX, T-XXX, T-089, T-092, T-086, T-101, T-097, T-105, T-081, T-098, T-095, T-082, T-084, T-076, T-094, T-104, T-080, T-090, T-088, T-074, T-102, T-093, T-087, T-100, T-085, T-079, T-103, T-083, T-075, T-096, T-106, T-099, T-108, T-091]
tasks_completed: [T-108]
uncommitted_changes: 0
owner: claude-code
session_narrative: "Housekeeping + validation session: archived T-101-T-106 to completed/, dry-ran fw setup on fictional test project, found and fixed 3 onboarding bugs (provider sentinel, unbound force var, git identity check), deep-researched inter-agent communication bus (OpenClaw, industry patterns, trigger mechanisms), incepted T-109 (agent autonomy architecture), captured 7 learnings including meta-learning about checking context budget before proposing work."
---

# Session Handover: S-2026-0217-1225

## Where We Are

Framework housekeeping complete: T-101-T-106 archived with episodics, T-108 (setup validation) closed with 3 bug fixes committed. T-109 (agent autonomy) incepted with full research backing. Two active tasks remain: T-107 (pronunciation app — user decision needed) and T-109 (agent autonomy — 3 spikes planned). The fw setup wizard is now validated and bug-free.

## Work in Progress

### T-107: Initialize German pronunciation app project
- **Status:** captured — bridge task
- **Last action:** No work done (carried from previous sessions)
- **Next step:** User decides project directory path, then run `fw setup /path/to/pronunciation-app`
- **Blockers:** User decision on project directory path
- **Insight:** fw setup wizard now validated and bug-free (3 fixes from T-108). Ready for real use.

### T-109: Agent autonomy and communication architecture
- **Status:** started-work (inception phase)
- **Last action:** Incepted with full problem statement, exploration plan (3 spikes), go/no-go criteria, 3 assumptions registered. Research doc committed at docs/reports/2026-02-17-agent-communication-bus-research.md
- **Next step:** Spike 1 — Result ledger protocol + `fw bus` CLI (time-box: 2 hours)
- **Blockers:** None — ready to start
- **Insight:** Thesis from deep reflection: "The framework needs a task-scoped file-based result ledger, not a real-time message bus." Key innovation: PostToolUse hook as in-session polling (~2ms), systemd.path for cross-session triggers. Autonomous compact-resume lifecycle is the highest-value target (Level 3).

## Inception Phases

**2 inception task(s) pending decision** — run `fw inception status` for details.

## Gaps Register

**1 spec-reality gap(s) being watched** — see `.context/project/gaps.yaml`

- **G-004** [low]: Multi-agent collaboration untested

Run `fw audit` to check if any trigger conditions are met.

## Decisions Made This Session

1. **File-based result ledger over real-time message bus**
   - Why: Agents are ephemeral — no listener exists for real-time messages. PostToolUse hook provides ambient polling for free.
   - Alternatives rejected: Redis/NATS (portability), named pipes (blocks ephemeral writers), SQLite (breaks YAML convention)

2. **Use setup_provider_done flag as Step 2 sentinel**
   - Why: CLAUDE.md line count was always >100 after Step 1 generic init, permanently skipping provider selection
   - Alternatives rejected: Checking provider != generic (breaks intentionally generic projects)

3. **Three-level maturity approach for agent autonomy (T-109)**
   - Why: Incremental value — Level 1 (ledger) solves known problem, Level 2 (triggers) enables new patterns, Level 3 (autonomous lifecycle) is the long-term prize
   - Alternatives rejected: Building all at once (scope creep risk)

## Things Tried That Failed

1. **Piping answers to fw setup** — non-interactive auto-detection (line 73: `[ ! -t 0 ]`) triggers immediately, so piped input is ignored. Correct behavior but means interactive testing requires a real TTY or `expect`.

## Open Questions / Blockers

1. Can Claude Code CLI be invoked programmatically by a systemd service? (Critical for Level 2/3)
2. Can prompts be injected into a running Claude Code agent? (Needed for mid-execution notification)
3. Where should the pronunciation app project directory be? (T-107, user decision)
4. testdev user created on this machine but not cleaned up (password redacted)

## Gotchas / Warnings for Next Session

- testdev user exists on this machine (created for onboarding testing, not cleaned up)
- /opt/test-project was deleted (clean)
- T-109 has 3 registered assumptions (A-020, A-024, A-025/26) in assumptions.yaml — validate during spikes
- Research doc at docs/reports/2026-02-17-agent-communication-bus-research.md — read before starting T-109 spikes
- 7 new learnings added to learnings.yaml this session
- **Meta-learning:** Check context budget BEFORE proposing next work, not after

## Ways of Working Improvements Identified

1. **Check budget before proposing work** — agent suggested starting a spike, then discovered 60% context used. Should check first, offer appropriate options.
2. **Split build and research sessions** — this session did both implementation (T-108) and deep research (T-109), burning context fast. Research agents consumed significant sub-agent budget.
3. **Capture thinking-out-loud immediately** — when user brainstorms verbally, synthesize and capture as research doc or inception task before ideas are lost to context.
4. **Research docs need a home** — docs/reports/ exists but has no README or index. Consider formalizing.

## Suggested First Action

Check context budget (`checkpoint.sh status`), then choose:
- **If fresh session:** T-109 (result ledger protocol) — focused inception, ~2h time-box
- **If short session:** T-107 (pronunciation app init) — user decides directory, then `fw setup`
- T-110 and T-111 are parked inception tasks for later sessions

## Files Changed This Session

- Created: docs/reports/2026-02-17-agent-communication-bus-research.md, .context/episodic/T-{101-106,108}.yaml, .tasks/active/T-{109,110,111}-*.md
- Modified: CLAUDE.md (task sizing rules, work proposal rule), checkpoint.sh (behavioral directives), lib/setup.sh (3 bug fixes), lib/init.sh (${force:-false}), .context/project/{learnings,patterns}.yaml
- Moved: .tasks/active/T-{101-106}-*.md → .tasks/completed/

## Recent Commits

- 4c889dc T-108: Learning — check context budget before proposing next work
- b253cf1 T-108: Complete validation — episodic, learnings, close task
- beca123 T-109: Inception — agent autonomy and communication architecture
- a8e5a11 T-108: Research doc — inter-agent communication bus analysis
- 9377b42 T-108: Fix 3 onboarding bugs found during dry-run validation

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## Handover Quality Feedback (for next session to complete)

- Did this handover help? [ ]
- What was missing?
- What was unnecessary?
