Constitution workflow (mandatory before baseline)

Goal

Make .agent/constitution.md baseline-ready by confirming:

• allowed/restricted/forbidden work areas
• single-line build/lint/test/format commands
• environment assumptions
• project-specific constraints
• issue-first workflow expectations

Pre-requisite: Context Map

Before starting constitution interview, ensure a context map exists:

1. Check if .agent/map.md exists
2. If NO map exists:

   📍 No context map found. Creating one first to inform constitution questions...
   

   → Invoke agent-ops-context-map to generate .agent/map.md
3. If map exists but is stale (>30 days old or significant changes detected):

   📍 Context map may be outdated. Refresh? [Y]es / [N]o
   

4. Use the map to:
   • Pre-populate candidate work areas
   • Identify build/test tooling
   • Understand project structure for interview questions

Procedure

1. Ensure context map exists (see above)
2. Run tool detection — invoke agent-ops-tools or aoc tools scan --save
   • Creates .agent/tools.json with available development tools
   • Identifies missing recommended tools based on detected project type
   • Populates "Available tools" section in constitution
3. Inspect repo evidence (README, CI workflows, package/build files). Do not guess.
4. Draft v0 constitution:
   • every inferred item must cite its evidence ("CANDIDATE from <path>")
   • anything without evidence is TODO + UNCONFIRMED
   • use detected tools to suggest build/lint/test commands
5. Interview the user:
   • one question per TODO/UNCONFIRMED item
   • ask both "what should it be?" and "why?"
6. Update constitution until:
   • build + test commands are CONFIRMED
   • work boundaries are CONFIRMED
7. Use agent-ops-state to update .agent/focus.md.
8. Invoke agent-ops-tasks for any setup work discovered.

Issue Discovery During Constitution

After constitution setup, invoke agent-ops-tasks discovery:

1. Collect setup items discovered:

   • Missing configuration → CHORE issue
   • Broken scripts → BUG issue
   • Missing documentation → DOCS issue
   • Security concerns noted → SEC issue
   • Environment issues → CHORE issue

2. Present to user:

   📋 Constitution setup found {N} items to address:
   
   High:
   - [BUG] Build script references missing file
   - [CHORE] CI workflow needs updating
   
   Medium:
   - [DOCS] README is outdated
   
   Create issues for these? [A]ll / [S]elect / [N]one
   

3. Workflow continues:

   • Issues created before baseline capture
   • Baseline can now proceed with known issues documented

Template

Start from constitution template.

Low Confidence Completeness Check (MANDATORY)

For LOW confidence work, constitution must be verified as complete before proceeding.

Required Sections Checklist

When confidence is LOW, verify constitution has ALL of these sections CONFIRMED (not TODO/UNCONFIRMED):

Section	Required	Purpose
Project scope	✅	What this project does
Work areas: allowed	✅	Where changes are permitted
Work areas: restricted	✅	Where caution is required
Work areas: forbidden	✅	Where changes are never allowed
Build command	✅	Single-line build command
Test command	✅	Single-line test command
Lint command	✅	Single-line lint command
Format command	⚪ Optional	Single-line format command
Coverage command	✅ for LOW	How to measure coverage
Environment assumptions	✅	OS, runtime versions, dependencies
Tool detection	✅	.agent/tools.json exists
Constraints	✅	Project-specific limitations
Default confidence	✅	LOW/NORMAL/HIGH

Completeness Verification

Before LOW confidence work begins:

🎯 LOW CONFIDENCE CONSTITUTION CHECK

Checking constitution completeness for low confidence work...

| Section | Status |
|---------|--------|
| Project scope | ✅ CONFIRMED |
| Allowed areas | ✅ CONFIRMED |
| Restricted areas | ✅ CONFIRMED |
| Forbidden areas | ⚠️ TODO |
| Build command | ✅ CONFIRMED |
| Test command | ✅ CONFIRMED |
| Lint command | ✅ CONFIRMED |
| Coverage command | ❌ MISSING |
| Environment | ✅ CONFIRMED |
| Tool detection | ✅ .agent/tools.json exists |
| Constraints | ⚠️ UNCONFIRMED |

Result: INCOMPLETE — 3 items need confirmation

⚠️ Cannot proceed with low confidence work until constitution is complete.

Starting interview to fill gaps...

Staleness Check

For LOW confidence, also check constitution age:

Age	Action
< 7 days	Proceed
7-30 days	Prompt: "Constitution is {N} days old. Review before proceeding?"
> 30 days	Require: "Constitution is stale. Re-interview before low confidence work."

Gap-Filling Interview

If constitution is incomplete for LOW confidence:

1. List missing/unconfirmed sections
2. Invoke agent-ops-interview for each gap
3. Update constitution with confirmed values
4. Re-verify completeness
5. Only proceed when all required sections are CONFIRMED

📋 Constitution gaps for low confidence work:

1. Forbidden work areas (currently: TODO)
2. Coverage command (currently: MISSING)
3. Constraints (currently: UNCONFIRMED)

Starting interview to fill these gaps...

Q1: What areas of the codebase should NEVER be modified?
(These will be marked as forbidden work areas)