# Is Shape

> Shape the `_agent/` contract — create a reusable primitive (procedure, checklist, review pattern, memory routine) or codify a perspective (a repeatable thinking pattern). Use when the user wants to make how the agent works in a situation repeatable, or to define an evaluation/analysis they apply often. Not for saving a decision or finding; that is is-capture.

- Skill: `ideaspaces-xyz/is-shape` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add ideaspaces-xyz/is-shape`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/ideaspaces-xyz/is-shape/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: AI & ML
- Author: IdeaSpaces-xyz (https://skillmd.com/u/ideaspaces-xyz)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/ideaspaces-xyz/is-shape

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# Shape the `_agent/`

Canonical protocols: read [form primitive](../../reference/form-primitive.md) for procedures, checklists, routines, and agents; read [form perspective](../../reference/form-perspective.md) for reusable thinking patterns.

## Which one

- **Primitive** — *how to work* in a situation: a procedure, checklist, review pattern, memory routine. Any part of `_agent/` with `name` + `description` frontmatter (the description is the trigger). Use [form primitive](../../reference/form-primitive.md).
- **Perspective** — *how to think* about something repeatably: an evaluation or analysis with Object Definition, Thinking Structure, Expected Outcome. Use [form perspective](../../reference/form-perspective.md).

If the user wants consistent *evaluation/analysis*, it's a perspective. If they want a repeatable *procedure/behavior*, it's a primitive.

## How

Elicit progressively — don't demand the full structure up front. Start from a real instance ("walk me through the last time you did this"), find the invariant, draft, and **show it before saving**.

Primitives and perspectives live in `_agent/` at the level where they apply; everything in `_agent/` composes along the path root → current position.

Use native `write` / `edit` for `_agent/skills/*`, `_agent/perspectives/*`, and other agent-context primitives because they use `name` + `description` frontmatter, not Note `name` + `summary` frontmatter. For a skill, its entry id and frontmatter `name` must be the same portable id — follow the exact rule and worked example in [form primitive](../../reference/form-primitive.md). Pi warns at startup when a loaded skill violates it. Use `is_write` only when shaping ordinary Notes such as `_agent/purpose.md` or `_agent/now.md` that should carry Note-style summary frontmatter.

Preview, confirm, then write — the write gate in [guide](../../reference/guide.md) applies to shaping like any capture.

Shaping changes the agent agreement, so finish with the capture boundary:

- For ordinary Note-style files written with `is_write`, commit staged knowledge with `is_commit` after confirmation.
- For native `_agent/` edits, commit the explicit changed paths with `is_commit` after confirmation.
- If the user only wanted a draft, say that it remains local/uncommitted.