ATM Governance Router

Use this skill when a user asks in natural language to inspect, rank, clean up, refactor, split, atomize, infect, migrate, or modernize existing source code.

The goal is to keep the user request natural while still routing the work through ATM evidence before choosing a local implementation path.

Captain/Dispatch Entry Gate

If the user asks for Captain, Coordinator, dispatch, task cards, sidecars, subagents, delegation, condition review, or closeout work, first route the request through ai-role-router when available, then through atm-dispatch before drafting instructions, delegating work, or reviewing another agent.

State Skill used: atm-dispatch and the chosen Delegation mode. Internal sidecar is the default for review, preflight, grep, checklist, planning-only checks, and post-report verification. External dispatch is opt-in, and external write is forbidden unless the user explicitly grants write authority and scope.

Delivery Principle

The objective is to deliver the task content, not to close task cards. A task card is a delivery contract. done is only the record after the requested code, data, pipeline, document, or artifact exists and validators/evidence pass.

Do not optimize for making many cards become done. Optimize for producing the requested non-.atm deliverables for the current task or current batch queue head.

If the natural-language request mentions a task id, task card, plan document, or scoped task batch, invoke atm-task-intent-resolver first. It must write .atm/runtime/task-intent.json from semantic reading of the user prompt and then call:

node atm.mjs next --intent .atm/runtime/task-intent.json --json

Do not rely on keyword-only next --prompt extraction when the task intent resolver skill is available.

First Command

node atm.mjs next --prompt "$ARGUMENTS" --json

If the first command returns a user notice, surface it briefly, then continue the original user request.

Before editing implementation files, inspect framework mode:

node atm.mjs framework-mode status --json

If the result mode is required or cross-repo-target-required, do not hand-edit task status to done, do not bulk-close task cards, and do not treat static atomic_workbench/evidence/*.json files as completion evidence. Claim/lock the task, run guard framework-development, tasks audit, doctor, and the required validators before closing with tasks close.

For ordinary task-card delivery, the lifecycle remains:

claim -> implement -> validators -> evidence add -> tasks close -> commit

Framework critical files only change the close/commit timing when the close gate blocks a live critical diff. If tasks close reports ATM_TASK_CLOSE_FRAMEWORK_DIFF_ACTIVE, do not bypass the gate. Make a governed delivery commit for the scoped non-.atm deliverables, then run:

node atm.mjs tasks close --task <task-id> --actor "$ATM_ACTOR_ID" --status done --historical-delivery <commit> --json

After close succeeds, make a separate closure commit for the generated ATM ledger updates. This historical-delivery path still requires validators and command-backed evidence; it is not a relaxed closure rule.

Route Command

node atm.mjs guide --goal "$ARGUMENTS" --cwd . --json

This route is also referred to as the atm guide --goal workflow in validator evidence and release documentation.

Validator shorthand terms for this route are atm guide --goal, atm candidates rank, atm start --legacy-flow, atm next, dry-run proposal, and human review.

Follow the returned nextCommand. If the matched intent is legacy-candidate-ranking, run the candidate ranking command before doing local source analysis by hand. If the matched intent is task-plan-import, run the task import dry run before creating or editing any task files.

Before mutating repository files for implementation work, claim the prompt-scoped task:

node atm.mjs next --claim --actor "$ATM_ACTOR_ID" --prompt "$ARGUMENTS" --json

If the claim result says recommendedChannel: "batch", the governed route is:

1. Read evidence.nextAction.playbook before editing. Treat it as the step-by-step work order for this request.
2. Run node atm.mjs next --claim --actor "$ATM_ACTOR_ID" --prompt "$ARGUMENTS" --json.
3. Deliver the current queue head only.
4. Run validators and add command-backed evidence for that queue-head deliverable.
5. Run node atm.mjs batch checkpoint --actor "$ATM_ACTOR_ID" --json.
6. Commit only after checkpoint succeeds, and commit the deliverables together with .atm/history/tasks/<task>.json, .atm/history/evidence/<task>.json, and .atm/history/task-events/<task>/.
7. Continue with the next queue head returned by the checkpoint response.

Do not manually loop through tasks reserve, tasks promote, tasks claim, tasks close, or old close commits. That is governance bypass, not batch. Do not commit before batch checkpoint succeeds.

If recommendedChannel is fast or normal, still read evidence.nextAction.playbook first. It tells you the exact claim, evidence, close, and commit order for that channel.

ATM's default task ledger is the active flow monitor when taskLedger.enabled is true. Use the repo-local .atm/history/tasks store for adopter work; use the ATM framework repo ledger only when framework-mode status reports framework-development. If the user provides an external task (GitHub Issue, Jira, Linear, or another provider) and no ATM mirror exists yet, create the visible mirror before implementation:

node atm.mjs tasks mirror --provider <provider> --origin-task <id> --origin-url <url> --actor "$ATM_ACTOR_ID" --json

If the editor provides pre-write hooks, keep them thin and run only:

node atm.mjs guard mutation --task <task-id> --actor "$ATM_ACTOR_ID" --files <csv> --json

If no hook is available, continue with task claim + git prepare/check + evidence verify gates as the fallback safety boundary.

Required Evidence

For legacy candidate ranking, final reasoning should cite or create:

• ATM guidance result
• candidate ranking artifact
• source inventory artifact
• police artifact
• recommended split, atomize, infect, or compose route

For task plan import, final reasoning should cite or create:

• ATM guidance result
• task import dry-run manifest
• written .atm/history/tasks/*.json paths, when --write is used
• task import evidence report path
• tasks verify report
• next result showing imported open work items, when available

Task Plan Import Route

If the matched intent is task-plan-import, run the dry-run import first:

node atm.mjs tasks import --from <plan.md> --dry-run --cwd . --json

Confirm the parsed manifest before persisting. When the manifest looks correct, run the write phase and verify:

node atm.mjs tasks import --from <plan.md> --write --cwd . --json
node atm.mjs tasks verify --cwd . --json

Do not hand-write .atm/history/tasks/*.json and do not reuse atm create for work-item import; atm create is for atom birth.

Guided Fallback

If preferred documents are missing, do not stop and do not silently improvise. Preserve the fallback contract from ATM output:

• missingDocs[]
• fallbackSources[]
• continuedOriginalRequest: true

Then continue the user's original request with the fallback sources.

Guardrails

• Do not rank legacy scripts with ad-hoc shell-only heuristics when ATM can produce candidate ranking evidence.
• Do not choose split, atomize, or infect before candidate ranking and police evidence exist.
• Do not mutate host files during candidate ranking; ranking is advisory until a later governed dry run is selected.
• Do not treat task closure as the work. Implement the task's requested deliverables first, then close.
• Do not hand-roll batch task completion with low-level task lifecycle commands; if recommendedChannel is batch, finish each queue head with node atm.mjs batch checkpoint --actor "$ATM_ACTOR_ID" --json.
• Do not start implementation edits before a task is in ready and has an active claim.
• Do not bypass the default task ledger when it is enabled; task status changes must go through tasks create/import/mirror/claim/block/close/abandon.
• Do not mark task cards done by editing Markdown or JSON directly; use node atm.mjs tasks close --status done so closure evidence is checked.
• Do not bulk-complete multiple tasks without a bulk closure manifest and one closure packet per task.
• Do not use static JSON evidence files as proof of completion unless they carry command runs with exit codes and output hashes.
• Do not move heavy checks (build/lint/network) into hooks; hooks should only call thin ATM guard commands.
• Do not treat task-card import as atom birth; task-card import uses tasks import, while atom birth uses create or a governed atomize flow.
• Do not acquire runtime locks during import-only task-plan operations.
• Keep .atm/history/tasks as the canonical imported work-item store; host Markdown projections are optional secondary views.
• Keep host-local language and phrasing in evidence or host lexicons, not in this canonical skill.

Handoff

node atm.mjs handoff summarize --task "$ARGUMENTS" --json

Charter Invariants

• INV-ATM-001 — No second registry (enforcement: gate, breaking change: yes) Rule: A host project must not create a second AtomicRegistry implementation outside of packages/core or introduce a parallel ID allocation, version tracking, or registry promotion path.
• INV-ATM-002 — Lock before edit (enforcement: doctor, breaking change: no) Rule: No governed file mutation may occur without a valid ScopeLock recorded in .atm/locks/ for the current WorkItem. Agents must call atm lock before editing files.
• INV-ATM-003 — Schema-validated promotion only (enforcement: gate, breaking change: yes) Rule: An UpgradeProposal must pass all automatedGates (including JSON Schema validation) before promotion. Direct registry mutation that bypasses the UpgradeProposal path is forbidden.
• INV-ATM-004 — No competing highest authority (enforcement: doctor, breaking change: yes) Rule: No host project rule, profile, or configuration may declare itself to have authority equal to or higher than the AtomicCharter. Any rule that contradicts an invariant must go through a charter waiver proposal.
• INV-ATM-005 — Host rule amendments require waiver flow (enforcement: waiver-required, breaking change: no) Rule: When a host project rule conflicts with a charter invariant, the host must submit a behavior.evolve UpgradeProposal with a charterWaiver field and a linked HumanReviewDecision. Silent override is not permitted.
• INV-ATM-006 — Framework work tracking stays downstream (enforcement: doctor, breaking change: yes) Rule: The framework repository must not host coordinating implementation task cards, planning queues, or project-specific work tracking artifacts beyond ATM's own bootstrap/runtime-managed files. Upstream planning cards belong in the coordinating host workspace and may feed evidence back upstream without becoming framework-resident work tracking.
• INV-ATM-007 — Public framework docs remain English-only (enforcement: doctor, breaking change: yes) Rule: Public contributor-facing documentation in the framework repository must remain English-only and repository-neutral. Non-English planning notes, local experiments, or downstream operating guidance must live in the coordinating host workspace unless they are translated into neutral English framework documentation.