converge

/converge — bounded judge-panel convergence

Quick Ref: This is a thin memo. The implementation is the Go command ao converge (cli/cmd/ao/converge.go). Do not reimplement the loop in shell — invoke the binary.

YOU MUST EXECUTE THE Go COMMAND. Do not describe or re-author the loop.

Constraints

Invoke the compiled ao converge command because its two-sided canary and quorum checks are the executable trust boundary.
Keep every judge leg non-mutating because a verdict must not silently rewrite the artifact it is judging.
Stop at the command's bounded terminal state because bypassing BLOCK, extending rounds implicitly, or substituting model agreement would defeat the acceptance boundary.

What it does

ao converge runs a bounded fix → re-run-judge-panel loop until the judges agree or it blocks:

Converged ⇔ ≥2 distinct non-author contexts PASS with zero FAIL. Each PASS must cite the slice's acceptance test (its Given/When/Then → a passing test), not just artifact agreement — model consensus on an artifact whose acceptance scenario never ran is not a converge (S5 binds to the slice's ATDD contract; see the narrow-waist micro-cycle).
BLOCK after 3 consecutive failing rounds.
NOT-CONVERGED when --max-rounds elapses with neither terminal condition.
KILLED when <dir>/.agents/rpi/KILL appears at a round boundary.

The independence axis is fresh CONTEXT, not model family: the producing model may judge its own work from a fresh context; only the author's context is excluded. --require-cross-family is an optional strengthener (additionally require ≥2 model families).

The one rule that makes it trustworthy

The command runs a two-sided canary entry gate before any judge dispatch: it proves the gate rejects a planted self-judge verdict and accepts a known-good one. An empty/PASS result is a lie until proven to bite — a failed canary aborts the run.

How to run it

ao converge --max-rounds 5 --min-contexts 2
ao converge --require-cross-family      # add the cross-family strengthener
ao converge --help

The asymmetry you must honor

The FIX step is yours (the orchestrating agent). The dispatched judge leg is non-mutating — it emits a verdict + evidence, never edits the repo. Between rounds: read the judges' reasons, apply the fix yourself, then re-run.

On BLOCK / NOT-CONVERGED, emit the round's failing reasons as a next-loop finding (.agents/findings/registry.jsonl) so the escape ratchets forward (S6) — converge otherwise drops its by-products. See operating-loop.md → move 7.

Cross-vendor dispatch table (two legs, LAW 0)

You are running in	Judge leg	How
Claude context	Claude → Codex judge	Go headless `ao codex dispatch` (Codex Pro sub), non-mutating
Codex context	Codex → Claude judge	Delegated to a pane — `codex-approval` skill / NTM Claude pane

⛔ LAW 0: never a headless claude print-mode call, on either leg. The Codex→Claude leg has no Go transport by design — it routes to an interactive pane.

Boundary

ao converge emits a CLAIM + evidence. It never writes a binding verdict — MTO remains the sole writer of binding verdicts. No component here decides a merge.

Output Specification

Path: command output on stdout plus any next-loop finding at .agents/findings/registry.jsonl for BLOCK or NOT-CONVERGED.
Filename: the command owns runtime evidence names; this skill does not invent or rewrite them.
Format: a converge claim containing the terminal status, completed rounds, distinct judge contexts, verdicts, and acceptance-test evidence.
Exit code: ao converge must pass its entry canary; treat command failure, malformed evidence, or an unmet quorum as non-converged rather than success.
Downstream handoff: pass the claim and evidence to the verification membrane; only its binding verdict may authorize landing.

Quality Checklist

The terminal status follows the configured round bound and three-consecutive-failure rule.
Every counted PASS comes from a distinct non-author context and cites the slice's executed acceptance test.
The handoff preserves failing reasons on BLOCK or NOT-CONVERGED and never presents the claim as a merge decision.

About this skill