help

---

name: help description: "Show KERNEL help. The unified skill system, state operations, agents, current plugin status. Triggers: help, how, what, skills, commands." user-invocable: true allowed-tools: Read, Bash, Grep, Glob kernel: kind: methodology version: 1 side_effects: none confirmation: none

<host_invocation> Claude Code invokes skills as /kernel:<name>. Codex invokes them as $kernel:<name>. Tables below use Claude Code syntax; Codex users replace the leading slash with a dollar sign. </host_invocation>

<on_start> Before showing help, check the actual state of the plugin as loaded in your context:

1. Is the session-start hook output visible? (Look for "# KERNEL" at conversation start)
2. Which profile is active? (local, github, github-oss, github-production)
3. Are there active contracts or pending reviews in AgentDB?
4. Report what you see, don't just recite docs.

agentdb recall "<feature> <subsystem> <files/symbols> <error/outcome>" --global

</on_start>

<getting_started>

What you want	What to type
Set up a new project	/kernel:init
Start working on anything	/kernel:ingest + describe task
Run autonomously overnight	/kernel:forge + describe goal
Explore approaches creatively	/kernel:dream + describe problem
Debug something broken	/kernel:debug + describe symptom
Save progress before stopping	/kernel:handoff
</getting_started>

<skills_reference>

Core Workflow (kind: workflow)

Skill	Purpose	When to use
/kernel:ingest	Guided entry, classify, scope, execute	Default for any task. Human confirms each phase.
/kernel:forge	Autonomous engine, heat/hammer/quench/anneal	Run overnight. Iterates until antifragile or reports why not.
/kernel:dream	Creative exploration, 3 perspectives + stress test	When you need competing approaches before committing.
/kernel:debug	Diagnosis before prescription	Bugs, regressions, or mapping a refactor. Bug mode and refactor mode.
/kernel:simplify	Cut cyclomatic complexity with AST-aware budgets, regression diffs, and a project gate	Jungle code, god functions, after any AI-written branchy function. A number, not an opinion.

Quality & Review (kind: validator)

Skill	Purpose	When to use
/kernel:validate	Pre-commit gates, build, lint, test, security	Before every commit. Blocks on failure.
/kernel:tearitapart	Critical pre-implementation review	Before tier 2+ work. Verdict: PROCEED/REVISE/RETHINK.
/kernel:review	Code review for PRs or staged changes	Before merging. >80% confidence threshold.

Learning & Observability

Skill	Purpose	When to use
/kernel:retrospective	Cross-session learning synthesis	When 5+ learnings accumulated. Clusters, deduplicates, promotes patterns into project hooks/agents/skills.
/kernel:metrics	Observability dashboard	Check session stats, agent success rates, hook health, learning utilization.

State Operations (kind: state_transition) — json-first

Skill	Emits	When to use
/kernel:handoff	kernel.handoff/v1 json manifest	Ending a session. Pins provenance, decisions, phases, context policy + budget.
/kernel:checkpoint	kernel.checkpoint/v1 json manifest	MID-task save: safe context reset without full handoff ceremony.
/kernel:retrospective	kernel.retrospective-result/v1 mutation record	5+ learnings accumulated; promotes via artifact ladder.
/kernel:ingest (resume)	kernel.context-receipt/v1	Resuming: validates the manifest, checks divergence, compiles bounded context.

Manifest CLI: orchestration/manifest/kernel-manifest (validate | latest | divergence | preflight | compile | resume | activate | deactivate). Context policies: sealed (hook-blocked forbidden globs) | bounded (extra loads ledgered) | advisory. Details: docs/MIGRATION-8.md.

Setup

Skill	Purpose	When to use
/kernel:init	Confirm Vaults, create missing data dirs and three safe helper links	Once per machine, or helper-link recovery.
/kernel:help	This help	When you need a reminder.
</skills_reference>

<flow_examples> Typical flows, skills chain together:

New feature: ingest → (dream if complex) → tearitapart → execute → validate → review → handoff

Bug fix: diagnose → ingest (with diagnosis) → validate → review

Overnight autonomous: forge (runs heat/hammer/quench/anneal loop, ships when antifragile)

End of session: retrospective (if learnings accumulated) → handoff

Long task, context filling up: checkpoint → /clear → ingest (auto-discovers the checkpoint, resumes bounded) </flow_examples>

Tier	Risk profile	Your Role	Skills involved
1	easy to undo, loud if wrong	Execute directly	ingest → validate
2	persistent or moderately quiet	Orchestrate, spawn surgeon	ingest → tearitapart → validate → review
3	hard to undo, quiet, wide blast	Orchestrate, surgeon + adversary	ingest → tearitapart → validate → review

Agent	Role
Surgeon	Minimal diff implementation. Only touches contract-listed files.
Adversary	QA, assumes broken, finds edge cases, proves with evidence.
Reviewer	Code review with APPROVE/REQUEST CHANGES/COMMENT verdict.
Researcher	Finds proven solutions and anti-patterns before coding.
Scout	Codebase reconnaissance, maps structure, detects tooling.
Validator	Pre-commit quality gate, build, types, lint, tests, security.
Dreamer	Multi-perspective debate, minimalist/maximalist/pragmatist.