Using Workflows

using-workflows

You pick which recipe the situation needs, fill its args, run it, and keep the closed loop moving. You are not a recipe.

BYPASS — check FIRST

One bounded task, single context, no stages, no convergence condition → do it directly (inline, or one worker via using-tmux-agent-tools). No recipe, no run dir. When in doubt, bypass — recipes exist for loops, not ceremony.

Red flags that have actually burned us (naming one and proceeding anyway requires a stated reason):

• 「我記得那支 recipe 內容」— recipes evolve; read the header comment (the args contract) before running. Never guess args.
• 「先做完再補 run record」— if it meets the run-dir bar below, open it first.
• 「這個小改不用 gate」— behavior-tier edits to any recipe DO need one consensus-gate round first.

Subagent exemption: delegated workers never enter this router — the dispatcher already routed; workers follow their brief.

TRIGGER

Loop-shaped work: stages plus a convergence condition. Audit chains, consensus review, plan→build lifecycles, findings triage.

From the Continuity trigger (global CLAUDE.md/AGENTS.md)

The global rule routes loop-shaped work here at task start. On arrival:

1. Match the trigger word (audit / consensus verification / findings triage / root-cause deep-dive / plan→build) to a recipe via SELECT below.
2. Runtime split: Claude invokes the recipe natively via Workflow; Codex commands it through references/codex-adapter.md (claude-workflow-runner) — the runner is mechanical, so run it at opus effort low (the floor; see MODEL FLOOR below).
3. Write-back duty: every recipe artifact/result lands in the CALLER's .workflow/<YYYYMMDDHHMM>-<slug>/ run directory (the one the Continuity rule had you create) — never a detached location. One task = one run dir, shared by convention and recipe alike.

SELECT

Discover live — never recite the recipe list from memory:

ls ~/.claude/workflows/*.workflow.js .claude/workflows/*.workflow.js 2>/dev/null

The inner loop (the ONLY loop — there is no scheduling outer ring; do not invent one):

audit (docs-vs-code | design-vs-code | root-cause-deep-dive)
  → findings-triage        connector ①: askUser → human VERBATIM ·
  │                        briefs → lifecycle · directFix → partitioned run
  → feature-lifecycle-auto thin shell: feature-plan-consensus | plan-pipeline
  │                        → gate ✋ (autoBuild=false: human reads the plan)
  │                        → spec-implement-dual-review-verify
  → re-run the ORIGINATING audit, SAME args
  │                        connector ②: lives in YOU, not in code
  → confirmed == 0 → converged, report · else → back to findings-triage

Entry points off the loop:

• weird bug → root-cause-deep-dive-audit · docs/design drifted → the matching audit
• ONE artifact needs a second-model verdict → consensus-gate — ONE round, irreversible/behavior-tier changes only; NOT a default station
• N-angle generative design consensus → design-consensus
• "what should this project do next" → project-direction-review
• recipe fleet inventory / machine drift → workflow-manifest

Stage recipes (feature-plan-consensus, plan-pipeline, spec-implement-dual-review-verify) are normally reached THROUGH feature-lifecycle-auto; call one directly only when you want just that stage. Args auto-fill: cli is OPTIONAL (user ruling 2026-09-02: never depend on codex). Any installed agent-tmux profile is a valid review gate — codex, claude-fable-opus / claude-fable-gate*, cursor (grok), agy* — pick one that differs from the substantive author; discover the list live with ls ~/.config/agent-tmux/profiles. OMIT it and every stage runs a FRESH Claude opus reviewer in an independent context. Never hard-code a name, never block a run on an external CLI that is not installed. context = one line (repo abs path + stack + scope). Prefer name invocation over scriptPath.

MODEL FLOOR (user ruling 2026-09-02)

Every recipe agent runs at least opus effort low; the default worker is opus effort medium, reviewers high. Planning, synthesis, revision, critique, review, and verdicts NEVER run on sonnet — a sonnet- written plan is not a plan. sonnet is permitted in exactly two roles, and only by explicit arg: implementation (spec-implement… model, pr-review-triage-resolve fixModel) and read-only data gathering (feature-plan-consensus discoverModel). Reviewers stay opus regardless.

ADVISOR GATE (user ruling 2026-09-02)

Recipes cannot call tools; the gate lives in YOU, the commander. When the advisor tool is available it is MANDATORY at these points, and the verdict is recorded in the run dir before the next action:

1. BEFORE the first Workflow launch — brief, recipe, args (model floor, cli omitted or justified, round caps, hard time-box).
2. AT every human gate the recipe returns (needsUser, autoBuild=false, plan clean → build) — the plan itself, its size, and whether to build.
3. BEFORE any resume / relaunch after an abort (usage limit, exhausted ladder) — same run or narrower. No advisor verdict → do not launch, resume, or build. The 2026-09-02 quick-share run (32 plan agents, 182M input tokens, 64 KB plan, zero code for 3.5 h) went uncaught because no gate sat between "plan rev N" and "critic round N+1".

Cross-runtime execution

Both runtimes RUN recipes through this router; only the execution vehicle differs. Claude Code executes .workflow.js natively with Workflow(). Codex executes via ADAPTED: claude-workflow-runner (one bounded Claude runner capsule — mechanics in references/codex-adapter.md), under these constraints (Codex-authored, gate-v2 2026-07-19):

• Codex MUST freeze recipe name, args, acceptance, author runtime, and reviewer profile before dispatching exactly one Claude runner.
• The runner MUST invoke exactly one native Workflow(...), preserve its return under recipe_result, write schema-v1 result.json, then stop.
• Any later exception MUST cap nesting at 2, declare child profiles/round ceilings, use unique sessions plus wait-required results, and forbid children from spawning.
• args.cli is optional: when set, resolve it by the substantive author under review (a non-Codex profile when Codex authored the target); when unclear, OMIT it — the recipe's fresh Claude opus reviewer is the default second brain.
• Human gates MUST return status: paused plus next_action, preserve recipe_result, stop the runner, and resume only via a new explicitly approved invocation.
• Evidence MUST say recipe <name> executed natively on Claude runtime via runner (commanded by Codex); adapter or child failure is never recipe PASS.

Runtime matrix (Claude Code = NATIVE for all 13; Codex column):

DEFER

• Chain recipes from the TOP level only — workflow() nesting cap is 1, and the lifecycle shell spends it.
• Run dir (.workflow/<slug>/, codex-dynamic-workflows conventions) ONLY when work spans days, has 2+ phases, or must survive interruption/handoff. Within-chat work: a single results file, or nothing.
• Recipe edits: behavior-tier → consensus-gate one round FIRST; wording → direct. Canonical = the agent-scripts repo bundle (skills/using-workflows/workflows/) → redeploy to ~/.claude/workflows/; a live edit made machine-side must be folded back into the bundle in the same change.

NOT-FOUND

No recipe fits → the work probably is not loop-shaped; bypass. A genuinely new loop shape → propose a new recipe to the user; never improvise a half-recipe inline. Per-recipe reference: workflows/README.md (canonical: agent-scripts bundle skills/using-workflows/workflows/README.md; deployed copy at ~/.claude/workflows/README.md).