/demo

name: alive:demo
description: "Generate a believable, lived-in ALIVE world from a free-text persona description (custom path) or a deterministic sandbox preset. Routes the create/list/activate/deactivate/delete/status surface and orchestrates the 5-stage subagent generation pipeline."
user-invocable: true

alive:demo -- generative demo-world skill

This is the router. Route on `$ARGUMENTS[0]` to a sibling `.md` file (when present) or to the interactive `create` flow. Six subcommands + an interactive default:

| `$ARGUMENTS[0]` | Routes to | Status | | --- | --- | --- | | _empty_ / `create` | Interactive: preset vs. custom; `create.md` for the custom path | wired | | `list` | `list.md` | wired | | `activate <ref>` | `activate.md` | wired | | `deactivate` | `deactivate.md` | wired | | `delete <ref>` | `delete.md` | wired | | `status` | `status.md` | wired | | `reset` | rebuilds demo-state.json (recovery from schema mismatch) | wired | | `spike-test` | retired (fn-2-2zz.1 spike) | removed below |

All five non-create sibling `.md` files (`list.md`, `activate.md`, `deactivate.md`, `delete.md`, `status.md`) invoke their CLI subcommand under `$ALIVE_PLUGIN_ROOT/bin/alive demo <name>` and print the CLI's `rendered_block` field verbatim. `create.md` is the custom-path orchestrator: it walks Stage 0 -> Stage 1 hand-off -> Stage 2/3/4/5 driver chain end-to-end. The interactive default below routes the human into either the preset path or `create.md` based on their pick.

The router emits bordered blocks INLINE as markdown — matches the convention in `plugins/alive/skills/world/SKILL.md` and `plugins/alive/skills/save/SKILL.md`. There is no Python `render_block` bridge: the LLM emits its own markdown; only the CLI uses `lib.format_block` (per the codex review which rejected forcing LLM formatting from Python).

User choices use `AskUserQuestion`, never inline `1. / 2. / 3.` answer text. Numbered options inside a bordered block are advisory; the actual decision flows through the question tool.

---

State + paths (canonical)

| Concern | Path | Override? | | --- | --- | --- | | Demo state file | `~/.config/alive/demo-state.json` | NO. Tests set `HOME` to `tmp_path`. | | Demo state lock | `~/.config/alive/.demo-state.lock` | NO. | | World-root pointer | `~/.config/alive/world-root` | NO — owned by `_world_root_io.write_world_root_file` (#64). | | Demo worlds + partials | `~/.alive-demos/` | YES via `$ALIVE_DEMO_BASE_DIR`. |

`$ALIVE_DEMO_BASE_DIR` is the only env override the demo skill reads. It controls where promoted worlds (`<base>/wld_<ulid>/`) and in-flight partials (`<base>/wld_<ulid>.partial/`) live. The state file and the world-root pointer stay canonical so the existing system-wide readers (`_common.py`, `alive-common.sh`, `world/SKILL.md`) keep working unchanged.

---

Router — interactive default (`/alive:demo` with no args)

When invoked with no subcommand, render this block inline and dispatch via `AskUserQuestion`:

╭─ 🐿️ /alive:demo
│
│   No demo subcommand given. Two paths:
│
│    1. preset       (sandbox-testing, deterministic, ~10s)
│    2. custom       (persona-driven, LLM-backed, ~1-2 min)
│
│   What would you like to do?
╰─

Then:

• `AskUserQuestion` with options `Preset (sandbox-testing)`, `Custom (persona-driven)`, `Cancel`.
• On `Preset` -> the "Preset path (sandbox testing)" section below; the squirrel calls `alive demo preset run --preset realistic-seeded` after the activation pre-check confirmation.
• On `Custom` -> jump into `create.md` (sibling of this file). `create.md` owns the persona intake, partial-dir mint, Stage 0 driver loop, Stage 1 hand-off to `anchor_confirm.md`, and the Stage 2/3/4/5 driver chain end-to-end.
• On `Cancel` -> render the cancellation block and stop:

╭─ 🐿️ cancelled
│
│   No demo world created. Run /alive:demo again any time.
╰─

When routing to `create.md`, render this one-line cue inline before jumping in so the human sees the routing decision:

> routing to create.md (custom persona path)

---

Subcommand routing

The CLI is the only path that touches `demo-state.json` and the world-root pointer. Each subcommand below shells out to `$ALIVE_PLUGIN_ROOT/bin/alive demo <name>` and prints the CLI's `rendered_block` field verbatim. Sibling `.md` files carry the per-subcommand UX detail; SKILL.md keeps the per-subcommand entry points short.

`list`

Routes to `list.md`. Prints a 6-column bordered-block table of every promoted demo world plus partial generations. Active world is flagged with `*active` in the STATUS column.

$ALIVE_PLUGIN_ROOT/bin/alive demo list

See `list.md` for envelope shape and error handling.

`activate <ref>`

Routes to `activate.md`. Resolves `<ref>` via 3-step fallback (exact label, ULID prefix, ambiguous-match envelope), runs the activation pre-check, and (with `--confirm`) runs the tail of the Stage 5 transaction (build-log refresh + step 10 demo-state staging + step 11 world-root commit) against the existing world.

$ALIVE_PLUGIN_ROOT/bin/alive demo activate <ref>
$ALIVE_PLUGIN_ROOT/bin/alive demo activate <ref> --confirm

`<ref>` is the lowercase derived label (e.g. `alex-boring-angel-investor`) OR a ULID prefix of at least 3 characters (e.g. `01j5hk7y` or `wld_01j5hk7y`).

The squirrel drives the picker on `error.code == "ambiguous_ref"`: render the picker block from the envelope, dispatch `AskUserQuestion`, re-run with the picked ULID.

The squirrel drives confirmation on `error.code == "needs_confirmation"`: render the warning block, dispatch `AskUserQuestion` (`Activate anyway`, `Cancel`), re-run with `--confirm`.

See `activate.md` for full flow and resolution rules.

`deactivate`

Routes to `deactivate.md`. Restores the world-root pointer to the cached `previous_world_root` value, then clears `active_world` and `previous_world_root` in demo-state.json.

$ALIVE_PLUGIN_ROOT/bin/alive demo deactivate

Three result branches: