/muse-delegate

name: muse-delegate
description: >-
  Delegate a coding task to Muse Code (`muse`) as a background implementer, then review its diff and
  land it yourself. Use this whenever the user wants to hand implementation work to Muse — phrasings
  like "have Muse do X", "delegate this to Muse", "run it through Muse", or "use Muse to
  implement/fix/refactor" — or wants to run a queue of coding tasks through Muse while staying the
  reviewer. Prefer it when the user will review the diff and commit it themselves. It applies only
  when the user wants that separate `muse exec` implementer run: if you are Muse yourself and the
  user simply asks you to write the code, do it directly. DO NOT USE for tasks small enough to do
  inline.
license: MIT
compatibility: Requires the `muse` CLI installed and authenticated (`muse login` or `META_API_KEY`), Node 18+, and git. Upstream's launcher targets UNIX (macOS/Linux). The orchestrating agent must be able to run shell commands and read files. Shell examples assume bash/zsh.
metadata:
  version: 0.5.0

Muse Delegate

You are the **orchestrator**. This skill lets you hand a bounded coding task to a separate **implementer** — Muse Code (`muse`) — then review what it produced and land it yourself. You write the brief and own the judgment; Muse does the typing in its own `exec` run; you verify and commit.

Nothing here is specific to one orchestrating agent. The loop needs only the ability to run a shell command and read a file, so any agent with those two capabilities can drive it. The full delegate → review → commit loop has been run with Claude Code as the orchestrator. Other orchestrators remain unproven.

When NOT to use this

• The task is small enough to just do inline — delegation overhead is not worth it.
• The `muse` CLI is not installed or not authenticated (run `muse login`, or set `META_API_KEY`).
• You want to write the code yourself.
• You are on native Windows and need a supported launcher. Upstream's `muse` launcher is Darwin/Linux

only; this skill still ships in the Windows contract matrix, but a live Windows dispatch is not a supported Muse install.

Read this before the first dispatch: the autonomy model

Headless Muse is **`muse exec` only**. `muse resume` is the interactive TUI and is never invoked. `--resume-last` is rejected; continue a run with `--session <id>` (Muse's `--session-id`).

Write runs keep Muse's sandbox **on** and pass `--disable-approval` so a headless run cannot hang on a tool-approval prompt. They also pass `--trust-workspace` and `--user-input-auto-resolve`. That is not `--yolo` and not `--full-access` — do not invent either as the default. `--trust-workspace` loads the target repo's rules and skills into the implementer run, and nothing in the relay narrows the implementer's tool set inside the sandbox; the brief is what bounds it to the task.

`--read-only` adds `--disable-write` (non-shell filesystem writes) **and** `--disable-shell`. Approval stays disabled so the review cannot block on a prompt either.

`--provider echo|meta` is a **relay-only** flag for tests and explicit probes. It is not a fleet dial.

Prerequisites (check once)

1. `muse --version` succeeds. If not, install Muse Code and run `muse login` (or export `META_API_KEY`). 2. **Confirm which `muse` is on PATH.** `command -v muse` shows the active launcher. The relay records the version it ran into `result.json`. 3. You are in (or will point `--cd` at) the target git repository.

Choose the implementer model

Muse has a configured default model, so a fresh run may omit `--model`. Pass `--model` or a fleet `--lane` that sets one when you need to pin a catalog id. On a resumed `--session` run, omit `--model` to keep the session's model. If the human has not named a usable set, ask before guessing a metered id.

More depth: [references/writing-the-brief.md](references/writing-the-brief.md).

The loop

Run these five steps per task. Steps 1, 4, and 5 are your judgment; 2 and 3 are mechanical.

1. Write the brief

Muse sees **only** the text you send plus what it can read from the working tree — no chat history, no shared context. Everything the task needs goes in the brief: the goal, the current state, what to change, what to leave untouched, the project's **actual** gate commands (discover them from the repo's AGENTS.md/CLAUDE.md/Makefile — do not assume), and a report contract. Tell Muse it will **not** commit (you will). Keep one task per brief. Full guidance and a template: [references/writing-the-brief.md](references/writing-the-brief.md).

2. Dispatch

Send the brief to Muse with the bundled helper. It wraps `muse exec --json --prompt-file`, captures the run, and writes a structured `result.json`. (`<skill-dir>` below is this skill's installed directory — the folder containing this `SKILL.md`.)

node "<skill-dir>/scripts/relay.mjs" --brief brief.txt --cd /path/to/repo
# optional model:                           add --model <id>
# fleet lane from delegate-setup:           add --lane <name>  (dials apply; flags still win)
# reasoning intensity:                      add --effort none|minimal|low|medium|high|xhigh|max|ultra
# read-only (no non-shell writes, no shell): add --read-only
# continue a specific Muse session:         add --session <id>  (delta brief only; no --resume-last)
# hard time limit (watchdog):               add --timeout 2h  (default: off; implementation runs routinely need 1-2h)
# see all options:                          node .../relay.mjs --help

The helper writes artifacts to a temp dir, so the repo under review stays clean. It **never commits** — see step 5. Mechanics, flags, and the `result.json` shape: [references/dispatch-and-poll.md](references/dispatch-and-poll.md).

3. Wait for completion

The helper blocks until Muse finishes, so back it with whatever your orchestrator offers and resume when it returns:

• **Claude Code:** run the Bash call with `run_in_background: true`