hex-core — Shared Reference Library
hex-core is the library skill of the hex swarm bundle. It holds the
vocabulary and contracts every other hex skill builds on, kept in one
place so they never drift apart. It is never invoked directly — there
is no orchestration flow here and no $ARGUMENTS. The orchestrator skills
(/hex-plan, /hex-execute, /hex-review, /hex-architect) and
/hex-init link into these references.
References
| Reference |
Holds |
references/protocol.md |
The bundle's spine — shared shape, tier and overlay grammar, the meta-plan approval gate, spawn-selection precedence, worker coordination (including ### Worker liveness and degraded no-subagent mode), traceability IDs, untrusted-text echoes, the constitution gate, the handoff contract, and the per-run upkeep step: what every mode needs. Also carries the load map (which mode opens which sibling beyond the spine) and the what-moved-where pointer table into the six sibling files below, which now hold the per-topic contracts protocol.md used to carry directly. |
references/loop.md |
The canonical Review-Fix Loop (### The last-reviewed anchor, ### Anchor validation, ### Delta round scope, ### The diminishing-returns stop) and the Convergence contract. Conditional-load — see protocol.md's load map for which modes open it. |
references/decompose.md |
Parallel-by-default decomposition and ### The effective tier. Conditional-load — see protocol.md's load map for which modes open it. |
references/worktree.md |
Worktree work-package mechanics. Conditional-load — see protocol.md's load map for which modes open it. |
references/verify.md |
Verification, ### Scoped check, and ### Checkpoints. Conditional-load — see protocol.md's load map for which modes open it. |
references/adversary.md |
The adversary contract. Conditional-load — opened only when adversary=on; see protocol.md's load map. |
references/severity.md |
Finding severity. Conditional-load — see protocol.md's load map for which modes open it. |
references/workers.md |
The worker role index plus the universal worker protocol; full personas (mission, spawn-prompt template, focus modes, output contract) live one file per role under references/workers/ — explorer, architecture-explorer, researcher, builder, tester, reviewer, doc-reviewer, architect, coordinator. Orchestrators load only the personas in the resolved spawn set. Workers are prompt blocks the orchestrator copies into a subagent, not shipped agent files. |
references/models.md |
The one model matrix for the whole bundle: recommended capability class per role × tier, plus the escalation, resolution-order, and instantiation rules. No model guidance lives anywhere else in hex. |
references/memory.md |
The .agents/memory/hex.md memory spec: the three sections and their per-section ownership, resolution order, a complete example file, plus the editing, destination-choice, and staleness rules. |
references/config.md |
The hex.md › Preferences config vocabulary — keys, defaults, merge rules. Conditional-load — read only when hex.md › Preferences contains a fenced yaml block. |
references/archive.md |
The spec fold-back mechanics — delta grammar, destination resolution, the safety envelope and its four commands, halt semantics, idempotence and the fold receipt, revert, and the plan archive. Sole definition site; hex-execute, hex-review, and protocol.md link here. Conditional-load — read only when the plan under review carries a ## Spec Deltas block. |
references/finalize.md |
The remote-rights boundary — the act set and its branch scoping, the consent model, the literal force-push form, the backup-ref armed/inert lifecycle, remote verification and its ceilings, re-entry, the degrade ladder, the trust classes, the pre-flight halt texts, and the placeholder-substitution rule. Sole definition site; every bundle-wide remote-rights qualifier links here. Conditional-load — read only when finalizing a branch or resolving a remote-rights qualifier. |
references/resources.md |
The resource knob sheet — the measured resource profile, the heavy semaphore, the per-run scratch environment, the containment ladder, the per-ecosystem knob sheet, teardown, and output as a resource signal. Sole definition site; hex never defines how to verify a project. Conditional-load — read only when a run will issue a heavy command. |
How sibling skills reference this
Every hex skill installs as a sibling under the client's skills directory,
so references resolve by relative path:
See [`../hex-core/references/protocol.md`](../hex-core/references/protocol.md).
If hex-core is not installed, add it:
grim add ghcr.io/michael-herwig/arcana/hex-core:latest
Cross-skill mentions elsewhere use the command form: /hex-init,
/hex-discuss, /hex-plan, /hex-execute, /hex-review,
/hex-architect, /hex-finalize.
1---2name: hex-core3description: Shared reference library for the hex swarm-orchestration bundle - worker role registry, model capability matrix, swarm protocol vocabulary, and the .agents/memory/hex.md memory spec. Not invoked directly; the hex-plan, hex-execute, hex-review, hex-architect, and hex-init skills link into it.4license: Apache-2.05---67# hex-core — Shared Reference Library89`hex-core` is the library skill of the **hex** swarm bundle. It holds the10vocabulary and contracts every other hex skill builds on, kept in one11place so they never drift apart. It is **never invoked directly** — there12is no orchestration flow here and no `$ARGUMENTS`. The orchestrator skills13(`/hex-plan`, `/hex-execute`, `/hex-review`, `/hex-architect`) and14`/hex-init` link into these references.1516## References1718| Reference | Holds |19|---|---|20| [`references/protocol.md`](references/protocol.md) | The bundle's spine — shared shape, tier and overlay grammar, the meta-plan approval gate, spawn-selection precedence, worker coordination (including `### Worker liveness` and degraded no-subagent mode), traceability IDs, untrusted-text echoes, the constitution gate, the handoff contract, and the per-run upkeep step: what every mode needs. Also carries the load map (which mode opens which sibling beyond the spine) and the what-moved-where pointer table into the six sibling files below, which now hold the per-topic contracts protocol.md used to carry directly. |21| [`references/loop.md`](references/loop.md) | The canonical Review-Fix Loop (`### The last-reviewed anchor`, `### Anchor validation`, `### Delta round scope`, `### The diminishing-returns stop`) and the Convergence contract. **Conditional-load** — see [`protocol.md`](references/protocol.md)'s load map for which modes open it. |22| [`references/decompose.md`](references/decompose.md) | Parallel-by-default decomposition and `### The effective tier`. **Conditional-load** — see [`protocol.md`](references/protocol.md)'s load map for which modes open it. |23| [`references/worktree.md`](references/worktree.md) | Worktree work-package mechanics. **Conditional-load** — see [`protocol.md`](references/protocol.md)'s load map for which modes open it. |24| [`references/verify.md`](references/verify.md) | Verification, `### Scoped check`, and `### Checkpoints`. **Conditional-load** — see [`protocol.md`](references/protocol.md)'s load map for which modes open it. |25| [`references/adversary.md`](references/adversary.md) | The adversary contract. **Conditional-load** — opened only when `adversary=on`; see [`protocol.md`](references/protocol.md)'s load map. |26| [`references/severity.md`](references/severity.md) | Finding severity. **Conditional-load** — see [`protocol.md`](references/protocol.md)'s load map for which modes open it. |27| [`references/workers.md`](references/workers.md) | The worker role **index** plus the universal worker protocol; full personas (mission, spawn-prompt template, focus modes, output contract) live one file per role under `references/workers/` — explorer, architecture-explorer, researcher, builder, tester, reviewer, doc-reviewer, architect, coordinator. Orchestrators load only the personas in the resolved spawn set. Workers are prompt blocks the orchestrator copies into a subagent, not shipped agent files. |28| [`references/models.md`](references/models.md) | The one model matrix for the whole bundle: recommended capability class per role × tier, plus the escalation, resolution-order, and instantiation rules. No model guidance lives anywhere else in hex. |29| [`references/memory.md`](references/memory.md) | The `.agents/memory/hex.md` memory spec: the three sections and their per-section ownership, resolution order, a complete example file, plus the editing, destination-choice, and staleness rules. |30| [`references/config.md`](references/config.md) | The `hex.md › Preferences` config vocabulary — keys, defaults, merge rules. **Conditional-load** — read only when `hex.md › Preferences` contains a fenced `yaml` block. |31| [`references/archive.md`](references/archive.md) | The spec fold-back mechanics — delta grammar, destination resolution, the safety envelope and its four commands, halt semantics, idempotence and the fold receipt, revert, and the plan archive. Sole definition site; `hex-execute`, `hex-review`, and `protocol.md` link here. **Conditional-load** — read only when the plan under review carries a `## Spec Deltas` block. |32| [`references/finalize.md`](references/finalize.md) | The remote-rights boundary — the act set and its branch scoping, the consent model, the literal force-push form, the backup-ref armed/inert lifecycle, remote verification and its ceilings, re-entry, the degrade ladder, the trust classes, the pre-flight halt texts, and the placeholder-substitution rule. Sole definition site; every bundle-wide remote-rights qualifier links here. **Conditional-load** — read only when finalizing a branch or resolving a remote-rights qualifier. |33| [`references/resources.md`](references/resources.md) | The resource knob sheet — the measured resource profile, the heavy semaphore, the per-run scratch environment, the containment ladder, the per-ecosystem knob sheet, teardown, and output as a resource signal. Sole definition site; hex never defines how to verify a project. **Conditional-load** — read only when a run will issue a heavy command. |3435## How sibling skills reference this3637Every hex skill installs as a sibling under the client's skills directory,38so references resolve by relative path:3940```markdown41See [`../hex-core/references/protocol.md`](../hex-core/references/protocol.md).42```4344If `hex-core` is not installed, add it:4546```sh47grim add ghcr.io/michael-herwig/arcana/hex-core:latest48```4950Cross-skill mentions elsewhere use the command form: `/hex-init`,51`/hex-discuss`, `/hex-plan`, `/hex-execute`, `/hex-review`,52`/hex-architect`, `/hex-finalize`.