Packet Builder

packet-builder

The builder is manifest-driven: everything authority-, case-, or jurisdiction-specific lives in packet-manifest.yaml. This skill shepherds that manifest to completeness and then runs the builder.

See templates/packet-manifests/schema.yaml for the authoritative schema, and examples/maryland-mustang/complaint_packet/packet-manifest.yaml for a filled-in synthetic reference.

When this skill fires

• User says "build the packet" or "compile the complaint."
• Complaint draft exists under drafts/ and exhibit evidence is in place under evidence/.
• After the authorities-finder run has identified the forum.

Procedure

1. Locate or scaffold the manifest.

   • If packet-manifest.yaml exists in the packet directory, load it and list which sections are filled.
   • If not, copy templates/packet-manifests/example-generic-dispute.yaml into place and walk through the sections below.

2. Fill the manifest header with the user.

   • packet.name — a slug like maryland-mustang-mia.
   • authority — name, short code, mailing address, intake URL. Pulled from authorities-finder output; do not retype by hand if the skill already found it.
   • complainant — name, mailing address, email. For a public derivative, use the scrubbed synthetic values.
   • respondent — name, role, reference number (claim number, case number, policy number).

3. Complaint narrative. complaint.source points at the markdown or docx draft under drafts/. complaint.title shows up in the cover page. Write lawyer-mode per tone-modes skill; this is outbound.

4. Exhibit list. Each exhibit is {label, title, description, source(s), date?}. Labels are typically A, B, C, ... in the order they'll be referenced in the complaint. Sources are paths under evidence/ or drafts/. Multiple sources per exhibit are fine — the builder concatenates in order.

5. Reference appendices. Optional. For policy / regulatory compilations that aren't exhibits per se but that the complainant wants attached for the reader's reference. Each has {name, title, sources, note}.

   Sources may live anywhere in the case folder; common locations:

   • evidence/policy/... for case-specific governing documents produced by the counterparty (e.g., the insurer's policy form that applies to the insured).
   • references/raw/... or references/readable/... for third-party authoritative text (statutes, regulations, ToS) ingested via the trusted-sources skill. If a referenced statute / regulation / ToS isn't already under references/, hand off to trusted-sources before filling this section — drafting against the actual text catches paraphrase drift early.

6. Dry-read the manifest aloud. Before calling the builder, literally read back to the user: "Exhibit A is X, exhibit B is Y, exhibit C is Z." This catches reordered labels and missing sources faster than debugging the PDF.

7. Build.

   uv run python -m scripts.packet.build path/to/packet-manifest.yaml
   

   The builder writes a unified packet.pdf plus per-exhibit standalone PDFs (for filers who upload one at a time) into packet.output_dir.

8. Open the PDF and read it. The script is a scaffold, not an oracle (tone-modes). A silent build is not the same as a correct packet — check cover page names, exhibit order, and the first page of each exhibit.

Definition of done

packet-manifest.yaml validates against the schema, the builder ran without errors, the merged packet PDF and per-exhibit standalone PDFs are in packet.output_dir, and the user has read the cover page + first page of each exhibit and confirmed nothing is wrong.

If the user's next move is to publish or hand off the packet externally (anything beyond the regulator's intake portal), do not declare done — invoke going-public first.

If they're filing only with the regulator, hand back to pat-workflow; the workflow ends here unless publication safety applies.

Synthetic example

Maryland-Mustang assembles into an 8-part packet against the Maryland Insurance Administration: complaint narrative + 6 exhibits (A policy forms, B correspondence compilation, C valuation report, D photographs, E specialist opinion, F salvage-transfer record) + 1 reference appendix (compiled policy reference). The full manifest is at examples/maryland-mustang/complaint_packet/packet-manifest.yaml.

Do not

• Do not hardcode anything in the build script. The builder has no case-specific branches; if you need something the schema doesn't cover, extend the schema, don't fork the script.
• Do not point a packet source at evidence/*/raw/. The raw layer is forensic; packets use the readable/ layer for exhibits.
• Do not ship without the going-public check if the packet is being published anywhere beyond the regulator's intake.