/diamond-progress

name: diamond-progress
description: "Record a diamond's next decision (set_target; start_experiment and commit_to_build; release; close; an L0's state_purpose or review). Runs the theory gates each decision needs, validates evidence, and at close runs the executable Definition of Done checklist."
metadata:
  instruction_budget: "205"
  framework_dependency: "mycelium"
  framework_dependency_note: "This skill is designed to run within the Mycelium framework (https://github.com/haabe/mycelium). Standalone use will skip the canvas state, theory gates, and harness behavior the skill assumes. Install: /plugin install mycelium@haabe-mycelium."

Diamond Progress Skill

Record a diamond's decisions, each through the theory gates it needs. Where a diamond is, is read from its decisions ("target set", "committed to build", "released", "closed"; discovery until `commit_to_build`, delivery after; DL-1368, DL-1372). At `close`, runs an executable checklist that GATES it.

Preflight: Read target canvas file(s) before any Write/Edit

**Hard rule.** Before issuing `Write` or `Edit` against any `.claude/canvas/*.yml`, use the **Read tool** on that file in this session. Claude Code's Read-before-Write check requires the `Read` tool specifically — `cat`/`head`/`grep` via Bash do NOT satisfy it.

Preflight: Read-before-Recommend (gate-narration discipline)

**Hard rule** (per the operating contract's Communication Rules, anti-pattern #7 graduation v0.39.16). Every gate-status narration, blocker statement, hold claim, theory-gate verdict, or transition-blocked finding this skill emits MUST cite the canvas file + field path of the source evidence. Adjacent-surface inference (different opportunity, different ht, different topic) MUST be tagged as inference, not asserted as gate state. Companion to the Read-before-Write rule above: that one protects what gets WRITTEN to canvas; this one protects what gets CLAIMED about canvas state in the skill's narration.

**Edit vs Write — different cost profiles** (verified 2026-05-14):

• **`Edit`** (exact-string replacement): `Read` with `limit: 1` satisfies the check at ~50 tokens. State-tracking is per-file, not per-byte — subsequent `Edit` calls work anywhere in the file. Use this for partial updates against large canvas files (e.g., `purpose.yml` at 800+ lines).
• **`Write`** (full replacement): do a **full Read** first. Write obliterates the file; you should see what you're about to replace. The `limit:1` shortcut is *not* appropriate here.

**ID-bearing entries — scan the ID space before assigning** (added 2026-05-15, v0.23.19): When adding a new component, opportunity, solution, or any other ID-bearing entry to a canvas file, run a Bash grep first to confirm the next ID in your prefix sequence is actually free:

grep -o "<prefix>-[0-9][0-9]*" .claude/canvas/<file>.yml | sort -u -t- -k2 -n | tail -3

Replace `<prefix>` with the canvas's ID prefix (`comp` for landscape, `opp` for opportunities, `sol` for solutions, `ht` for human-tasks, etc.). Then pick the next free integer, **matching the zero-padding already used in that file**. The sort is NUMERIC (`-t- -k2 -n`) rather than lexical, and that is not pedantry: a plain `sort -u` orders `ht-1` after `ht-080`, so on a canvas with inconsistent padding it reports the wrong maximum and the next ID collides. Verified on the dogfood repo 2026-08-13, where lexical sort returned `ht-1` as the highest human-task ID against an actual `ht-080`. `grep -o` is also deliberate: it matches IDs wherever they appear, including cross-references and prose, so an ID that was promised somewhere but not yet defined is not handed out twice. `validate_canvas.py` has a per-file duplicate-ID check (it reports `duplicate id '<id>'`) that catches the failure on CI, but a duplicate can persist in the working tree for days if CI isn't run between edit and discovery; that happened on 2026-05-15, when a duplicate ID was created in `landscape.yml`.

Original failure mode: anti-pattern #7 instance #5, 2026-05-09 — agent conflated Bash `head` with the Read tool, lost ~14k tokens to a Write-fail → remedial-full-Read → re-Write loop. The `limit:1` discipline (graduated 2026-05-14, v0.23.18) prevents the second-order cost where the agent *correctly* follows the rule but full-Reads every time. The ID-scan discipline (graduated 2026-05-15, v0.23.19) prevents the related class where the agent reads enough of the file to satisfy the Edit check but not enough to see existing ID assignments — kin to anti-pattern #8 (Stale State Read).

If this skill writes to multiple canvas files, register each one first (limit:1 for Edit-only paths; full Read for Write paths) AND ID-scan any prefix you intend to assign.

See `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/engine/agent-operating-contract.md` *Canvas writes — Read before Write* for the canonical rule.

Workflow

1. **Identify the decision**: where the diamond is (`scale_locks.position`, e.g. "target set (discovery)") and the decision to record next at [scale]: `set_target`; `start_experiment` and `commit_to_build`, recorded together to commit to build; `release`; `close`. An L0 records `state_purpose`, then `review`. To iterate, append (DL-1373, step 8).

1b. **Cognitive Forcing (before gate evaluation)**:

Before running gates, ask the human for their unprimed judgment:

> "Before I check the gates — do you think we're ready to record [decision]? What's your gut say?"

Wait for the response. Record it. Then run the gates. After presenting results, compare:

> "You said [X]. The gates say [Y]. Where do we differ?"

**The turn that asks this question ends with a `Next:` line, like every turn in which a skill ran** (contract rule 12). The question is the next action: `Next: say whether you think we're ready to record [decision] (per: diamond-progress step 1b)`. Without that line the Stop hook `hooks/next-action-check.sh` blocks the turn, and Claude Code shows the block to the person as "S