Agents

Codex agent authoring

Create or improve project agents as TOML files under .codex/agents/. Inspect existing agents first, keep each role narrow, and use only supported keys such as name, description, and developer_instructions. Validate every result with Python tomllib. Do not create Markdown agent definitions or edit installed plugin caches.

Complete native workflow

Follow every phase below. When a phase delegates work, use Codex collaboration with only task_name and message; treat each "Codex delegation brief" block as role and message content, not executable syntax. Use request_user_input for the documented user gates. Resolve <skill-directory>, <plugin-root>, <project-root>, and <arguments> before running commands.

agents Skill

Agent Management: create, improve, review, and report on Codex agents from one free-form prompt.

Prompt contract

Position 1 of <arguments> is a free-form prompt (RU/EN) — modes and flags are optional and may follow in any order. Nobody types keys: resolve mode + scope FROM the prompt.

1. Strip flags. An explicit mode token anywhere wins outright, no scoring.
2. Else score modes by distinct whole-word keyword hits (table below). Highest unique score wins. Tie with a destructive mode -> request_user_input; tie with status -> status; tie of two mutating modes -> the keyword appearing first; all zero -> status.
3. Empty arguments -> status; ask ONE scoping request_user_input only when the answer changes what gets written. A read-only run asks nothing.
4. Outcome-changing ambiguity -> ONE request_user_input (max 4 questions) BEFORE any work.
5. Prose that is not a mode/id/path is still input: extract the id, path or target from it.

Then print this block ONCE, before the first action:

PLAN — brewcode:agents
INPUT:  <arguments verbatim, or "(empty)">
MODE:   <resolved> — <explicit | matched keyword: X | default>
SCOPE:  <resolved paths / target / level / flags>
DO:     <2-5 imperative bullets>
RESULT: <what the user ends up holding>

Labels are literal; values follow the conversation language.

Constants

Step 1 — Input gate

Treat the entire user input (<arguments>) as ONE free-form natural-language prompt — no keyword grammar, no argument parser (argument-hint is only a loose example).

• prompt non-empty -> go to Step 2
• prompt empty / whitespace-only -> go to Step 3

Step 2 — Auto-mode selection

Classify the prompt + recent conversation context into exactly ONE mode:

improve also matches a bare existing agent name/path with no keyword at all — that is rule 3.5's prose-extraction case, not a keyword hit.

Batch flag: plural form, "все" / "all", or multiple names/paths -> fan-out (one specialist spawn per item).

Then print the PLAN block (MANDATORY, before any work) per the Prompt contract above:

PLAN — brewcode:agents
INPUT:  <prompt verbatim, or "(empty)">
MODE:   <mode> — matched keyword: <evidence quoted from the prompt> | default
SCOPE:  <targets/paths resolved this step>
DO:     <2-5 imperative bullets for what Step 4 is about to run>
RESULT: <what the user ends up holding>

Proceed to Step 4.

Step 3 — No-prompt menu (single request_user_input, scoped + cross-link)

Ask ONE request_user_input. Question: What do you want to do with agents? Options (in this order):

• Status (agents) — (Recommended) rich status of this artifact
• Status (all: agents+rules+skills) — cross-link: run the collector for all three
• Create new agents
• Improve existing agents
• Review agents
• Sync agents (memory sync) — re-verify all knowledge vs code, shrink not grow
• List (plain)
• Nothing / cancel

After the choice:

• Nothing / cancel -> stop.
• create or improve -> ask ONE follow-up request_user_input for the target/description plus the artifact-specific params (see "Artifact-specific params" below).
• Then print the PLAN block using the Step 2 format (MODE reason = default or explicit depending on the menu choice) and proceed to Step 4.

Delegation (applies to EVERY sub-agent task spawn in this skill)

A big task handed to one agent = an agent gone for an hour: you cannot observe it, cannot correct it, and it usually drifts off-target. One subagent = ONE bounded unit — one deliverable (here: ONE agent definition), ~<=5 files, ~<=10 steps. Bigger MUST be split into N tasks, all spawned in ONE message.

Every spawn prompt MUST carry:

A bare one-line task is never enough.

Step 4 — Dispatch

• status -> go to Step 5.
• status (all) -> go to Step 5, running the collector for agents + rules + skills together.
• list -> run LIST_CMD, print the plain inventory it produces, then STOP (no status assembly).
• create -> gather minimal params (Step 3 / artifact-specific), spawn SPECIALIST via sub-agent task. Batch -> spawn one SPECIALIST per item, ALL in ONE message (parallel).
• improve -> resolve target(s), spawn SPECIALIST via sub-agent task per target (parallel for batch).
• review -> spawn the project's reviewer agent from .codex/agents/, else general-purpose (two-phase: review -> double-check findings -> report).
• sync -> read SYNC_REF and follow it end to end (S1 scope -> S6 report). It replaces Steps 5-6 for this mode.
• After create / improve returns -> run that same SYNC_REF SCOPED TO THE WRITTEN AGENT FILE ONLY: S3 ground truth -> S5 verdicts -> S6 row folded into the Step 6 output. Never a full-roster sweep, never a second SPECIALIST spawn — YOU, the coordinator, apply every S5 verdict yourself with targeted Edit calls (S4's fan-out is the only step that edits, and it is skipped here, so without this nothing would be corrected). Non-growth holds — the new file ends <= where the specialist left it. Nothing to correct -> say sync: no drift in one line.

Step 5 — Real status (NOT a flat list)

Delegate collection to ONE Explore/Bash subagent, then assemble a rich status (never a bare list):

• Inventory by scope: shipped plugin (<plugin-root>/agents/, read-only) / plugin source (brewcode/agents/, only in this workspace) / project (.codex/) / global (~/.codex/) — counts + names + load path.
• State: enabled/disabled (toggle markers _SKILL.md / _<name>.md), model.
• Overlaps / conflicts: same-name across scopes (shadowing), duplicate triggers/descriptions, naming collisions.
• Health flags: missing README/frontmatter; agents missing Bash in tools: (macOS search rule); skills with weak description triggers; rules duplicated in AGENTS.md.

For the Status (all) menu option: run the SAME collector for agents + rules + skills together.

Step 6 — Final formatted output (MANDATORY for every run except list)

# agents [<mode>]
## Detection
| Input  | <prompt or "(none -> menu)"> |
| Mode   | <mode> |
| Reason | <why this mode> |
| Targets| <names/paths> |
## Result
(create/improve/review: each output path + specialist agent + scope/model)
## Status
(status mode: full table from Step 5; else short "what changed" for touched artifacts)
## Next Steps
(recommendations; ALWAYS remind to run /docs for any created/changed artifact)

For status mode the report is the Step 5 status table.

Edge cases

Artifact-specific params (create / improve only)

For create: ONE request_user_input batch — (Q1) scope: Project .codex/agents/ / Global ~/.codex/agents/ / Plugin brewcode/agents/ — offer Plugin ONLY when test -d brewcode/.codex-plugin succeeds; elsewhere it writes a junk <cwd>/brewcode/agents/<name>.md, so drop the option. Never write under <plugin-root> — the installed plugin is read-only; (Q2) model: balanced model (Recommended) / high-reasoning model / fast model / inherit (omit model: field); (Q3) update AGENTS.md agents table? yes/no. Frontmatter description budget: <= 100 chars, single line, role + 2-3 triggers, EN only. Spawn SPECIALIST (brewcode:agent-creator) using the Delegation shape, e.g.:

Codex delegation brief (task_role="brewcode:agent-creator", message="
GOAL: user is building an agent roster for this project; this task delivers ONE agent
      definition that fits alongside the existing ones.
ROLE: you own exactly one file — {SCOPE_PATH}/{name}.md. Do NOT touch other agents,
      AGENTS.md, skills, or project source.
SCOPE: create {SCOPE_PATH}/{name}.md. Out of bounds: every other path.
CONTEXT: description='{DESC}', scope={SCOPE_PATH} and reasoning_tier={MODEL} are already decided in
      Step 3 — do NOT re-ask. Agents that already exist and must not be duplicated:
      {EXISTING_NAMES}. In batch mode {N} sibling agent-creators run in parallel, one file each.
CONSUMER: this skill's Step 6 report, and the AGENTS.md agents table row appended right after
      you finish — the description line must drop into that row verbatim.
DONE: file exists, valid frontmatter, description <= 100 chars single line with 2-3 triggers.
      Report: path | model | description line | 1-line rationale.
")

After creation, if user approved, update the AGENTS.md agents table via Edit (add/replace row). For improve: resolve agent by name/path across the writable scopes (project / global / plugin workspace). A name that matches only under <plugin-root>/agents/ is read-only — report it and stop, do not copy or edit it. ONE request_user_input — (Q1) focus: triggers / system-prompt / both (Recommended) / full review; (Q2) update AGENTS.md? yes/no. Spawn SPECIALIST to improve, then optional AGENTS.md row update.