docs(rfcs): Operations / Operator-as-COO design draft#4535

Hmbown · 2026-07-18T18:53:45Z

Summary

Adds docs/rfcs/OPERATIONS_COO_DESIGN.md, a discussion-draft design note that gives Operate mode a concrete meaning built on the machinery that already exists (Fleet ledger workers, Workflow, hooks/execpolicy, constitution, Workroom draft, bridges):

Reason · Act · Expand — extends the ReAct loop with a first-class Expand primitive (spawn a peer CodeWhale that owns a subgraph and communicates via artifacts, not the parent transcript), governed by a one-sentence expansion rule.
Operator as COO over a live org chart: plan the DAG, staff roles from Fleet profiles, arbitrate leases, integrate, report.
Operation object with objectives and meters instead of hard budgets (soft notify thresholds; hard caps only opt-in for unattended runs).
Concurrency contract: hook-enforced write leases, contract-first decomposition, an integrator lane (automating the scratch PR-train practice), and a rework-ratio honesty metric.
Scheduling: critical-path first, speculation on cheap tokens, tournament verification, refuse-to-expand for small work; plus a single aggregated approval inbox.
Surfaces: tmux cockpit as a projection of the ledger, TUI fallback, workroom identity, bridge attach.
Value communication: UI/UX principles (receipt as hero artifact), website hero copy, and README copy in the repo's existing voice.
Phasing that maps to existing trackers (v0.9.1 architecture: Fleet / Workflow / Lane / Runtime product model (canonical tracker) #4175, v0.9.1 Phase 2: Workflow steps reference Fleet roles (not raw prompts/profiles) #4177/v0.9.1 Phase 3: Workflow gates and handoffs between Fleet roles #4179, v0.9.3: Fleet model classes, loadout auto, and semantic route roles #3205, feat(execpolicy): add typed persistent permission rules #1186) with Codewhale not following the constitution #4032/CodeWhale is overly involved in making modifications, engaging in self-questioning and self-answering and deviating from user intent #3275 flagged as trust prerequisites.

Docs-only; no code changes. Opened as a draft for discussion.

Testing

cargo fmt --all -- --check
cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets --all-features
cargo test --workspace --all-features

(Not run — documentation-only change, no code touched.)

Checklist

Updated docs or comments as needed
Added or updated tests where relevant (n/a — docs only)
Verified TUI behavior manually if UI changes (n/a)
Harvested/co-authored credit uses a GitHub numeric noreply address (n/a — no harvested work)

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

https://claude.ai/code/session_01X21T5LBZJiS1oMecBELuKE

Generated by Claude Code

Draft design note for making Operate mean something concrete: an Operation object over the existing Fleet ledger, a Reason/Act/Expand loop with a one-sentence expansion rule, an org-chart model with the Operator as COO, a concurrency contract (write leases enforced by hooks, contract-first decomposition, an integrator lane), meters instead of hard budgets, a tmux cockpit projection, and the user-facing value copy for TUI, website, and README. Discussion draft only — not scheduled; no code changes. Drafted with agent assistance. Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01X21T5LBZJiS1oMecBELuKE

Rewrite the Operator-as-COO draft per Strunk: active voice, definite statements, paragraphs that carry the argument. Bullet cascades and inventory tables become prose; content is unchanged in substance — the Reason/Act/Expand loop, the expansion rule, the concurrency contract, meters over ceilings, the cockpit, the value copy, and the phasing all remain, stated more plainly. Drafted with agent assistance. Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01X21T5LBZJiS1oMecBELuKE

Pulling the draft out of the repo; it will be reworked outside the release tree first.

claude added 3 commits July 18, 2026 18:53

docs(rfcs): withdraw Operations design draft

f530976

Pulling the draft out of the repo; it will be reworked outside the release tree first.

Hmbown closed this Jul 18, 2026

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docs(rfcs): Operations / Operator-as-COO design draft#4535