Second Opinion

Second Opinion

Get an independent advisory memo or manage the consultant toggle.

Steps

0. Check for toggle command. If $ARGUMENTS is one of the toggle sub-commands, handle it directly:

   • enable → write consultantMode: external to .agents/.agents-mode.yaml while preserving delegationMode, parallelMode, mcpMode, preferExternalWorker, preferExternalReviewer, externalProvider, externalPriorityProfile, reserveResolver, externalPriorityProfiles, externalOpinionCounts, externalCodexWorkdirMode, externalClaudeWorkdirMode, externalModelMode, externalCodexProfile, and externalClaudeProfile when present. If the local file does not exist, inherit the effective known values from global ~/.codex/.agents-mode.yaml (or global legacy ~/.codex/.agents-mode) when available; otherwise initialize delegationMode: auto, parallelMode: auto, mcpMode: auto, preferExternalWorker: false, preferExternalReviewer: false, externalProvider: auto, externalPriorityProfile: balanced, reserveResolver: claude-sonnet, shipped externalPriorityProfiles and externalOpinionCounts, externalCodexWorkdirMode: neutral, externalClaudeWorkdirMode: neutral, externalModelMode: runtime-default, externalCodexProfile: default, and externalClaudeProfile: opus-xhigh unless the user explicitly asked for a different Claude profile. Shipped auto stays on the Codex/Claude pair; Kimi requires explicit global Windows enrollment, and Grok remains unavailable in 1.x. Print "Consultant enabled (external-first)." and exit.
   • internal → write consultantMode: internal to .agents/.agents-mode.yaml while preserving delegationMode, parallelMode, mcpMode, preferExternalWorker, preferExternalReviewer, externalProvider, externalPriorityProfile, reserveResolver, externalPriorityProfiles, externalOpinionCounts, externalCodexWorkdirMode, externalClaudeWorkdirMode, externalModelMode, externalCodexProfile, and externalClaudeProfile when present. If the local file does not exist, inherit the effective known values from global ~/.codex/.agents-mode.yaml (or global legacy ~/.codex/.agents-mode) when available; otherwise initialize delegationMode: auto, parallelMode: auto, mcpMode: auto, preferExternalWorker: false, preferExternalReviewer: false, externalProvider: auto, externalPriorityProfile: balanced, reserveResolver: claude-sonnet, shipped externalPriorityProfiles and externalOpinionCounts, externalCodexWorkdirMode: neutral, externalClaudeWorkdirMode: neutral, externalModelMode: runtime-default, externalCodexProfile: default, and externalClaudeProfile: opus-xhigh unless the user explicitly asked for a different Claude profile. Shipped auto stays on the Codex/Claude pair; Kimi requires explicit global Windows enrollment, and Grok remains unavailable in 1.x. Print "Consultant set to internal-only." and exit.
   • disable → write consultantMode: disabled to .agents/.agents-mode.yaml while preserving delegationMode, parallelMode, mcpMode, preferExternalWorker, preferExternalReviewer, externalProvider, externalPriorityProfile, reserveResolver, externalPriorityProfiles, externalOpinionCounts, externalCodexWorkdirMode, externalClaudeWorkdirMode, externalModelMode, externalCodexProfile, and externalClaudeProfile when present. If the local file does not exist, inherit the effective known values from global ~/.codex/.agents-mode.yaml (or global legacy ~/.codex/.agents-mode) when available; otherwise initialize delegationMode: auto, parallelMode: auto, mcpMode: auto, preferExternalWorker: false, preferExternalReviewer: false, externalProvider: auto, externalPriorityProfile: balanced, reserveResolver: claude-sonnet, shipped externalPriorityProfiles and externalOpinionCounts, externalCodexWorkdirMode: neutral, externalClaudeWorkdirMode: neutral, externalModelMode: runtime-default, externalCodexProfile: default, and externalClaudeProfile: opus-xhigh unless the user explicitly asked for a different Claude profile. Shipped auto stays on the Codex/Claude pair; Kimi requires explicit global Windows enrollment, and Grok remains unavailable in 1.x. Print "Consultant disabled." and exit.
   • status → read and normalize .agents/.agents-mode.yaml first. If local .agents/.agents-mode.yaml is absent, continue with local legacy .agents/.agents-mode, global ~/.codex/.agents-mode.yaml, then global legacy ~/.codex/.agents-mode. If neither local nor global file exists: print "disabled (no file — run /second-opinion enable to activate)". Otherwise rewrite the effective file into the current canonical format in the same scope, then print consultantMode, delegationMode, parallelMode, mcpMode, preferExternalWorker, preferExternalReviewer, externalProvider, externalPriorityProfile, reserveResolver, externalOpinionCounts, externalCodexWorkdirMode, externalClaudeWorkdirMode, externalModelMode, externalCodexProfile, and externalClaudeProfile when it is present. Exit.
   • If $ARGUMENTS is not a toggle command, proceed to step 1.

   When reading, creating, or rewriting .agents/.agents-mode.yaml, normalize it to the current canonical format: keep one key per line, restore inline YAML allowed-value comments, refresh the shipped profile/count blocks, preserve effective known values and unknown keys, and drop retired canonical keys. Legacy .agents/.agents-mode is compatibility input only and must not be recreated.

1. Check toggle state. Read the effective Codex overlay first:

   • Resolve in this order: local .agents/.agents-mode.yaml, local legacy .agents/.agents-mode, global ~/.codex/.agents-mode.yaml, then global legacy ~/.codex/.agents-mode.
   • If neither local nor global file exists: print "disabled (no file — run /second-opinion enable to activate)" and exit.
   • If a file exists, normalize it to the current canonical format in the same scope before evaluating any flags.
   • If consultantMode: disabled: print "Consultant is disabled. Run /second-opinion enable first." and exit.
   • If consultantMode: external / consultantMode: internal: proceed.
   • Preserve delegationMode, parallelMode, mcpMode, preferExternalWorker, preferExternalReviewer, externalProvider, externalPriorityProfile, reserveResolver, externalPriorityProfiles, externalOpinionCounts, externalCodexWorkdirMode, externalClaudeWorkdirMode, externalModelMode, externalCodexProfile, and externalClaudeProfile on any write; do not clobber them back to defaults when changing consultantMode.

2. Get the question. Use $ARGUMENTS as the question or topic. If empty, ask the user what they want a second opinion on.

3. Invoke consultant. Use the consultant role:

   • Pass the question along with relevant context (current file, recent changes, or accepted artifacts).
   • The consultant follows its execution paths based on the current toggle mode.

4. Present the memo. Display the consultant's advisory memo:

   • Recommended direction
   • Alternatives considered
   • Major tradeoffs
   • Key risks
   • Confidence level
   • Continuation prompt — a ready-to-send second prompt that begins with a direct imperative to continue and names the next concrete action

5. Save. Follow the session persistence rule:

   • If the current task has work-items/active/<slug>/, persist only the memo there and return its concise result/provenance for the root ledger.
   • With no active work-item, a meaningful standalone memo MAY use one .reports/YYYY-MM/report(consultant)-YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM_topic.md summary.

Rules

• Consultant is advisory-only — do not treat the memo as a blocking gate.
• Do not modify any project files (toggle file excluded).
• If the memo identifies a real blocker, recommend the proper specialist role to handle it.
• .agents/.agents-mode.yaml is the project-local override surface for consultant mode. When it is absent, read-only status and routing fall back to the effective global Codex overlay at ~/.codex/.agents-mode.yaml until a local override is created.