/jat-start

name: jat-start
description: Begin working on a JAT task. Registers agent identity, selects a task, searches memory, detects conflicts, declares files, emits IDE signals, and starts work. Use this at the beginning of every JAT session.
metadata:
  author: jat
  version: "1.0"

/skill:jat-start - Begin Working

**One agent = one session = one task.** Each session handles exactly one task from start to completion.

Usage

/skill:jat-start                    # Show available tasks
/skill:jat-start task-id            # Start specific task
/skill:jat-start AgentName          # Resume as AgentName
/skill:jat-start AgentName task-id  # Resume as AgentName on task

Add `quick` to skip conflict checks.

What This Does

1. **Establish identity** - Register or resume agent in Agent Registry 2. **Select task** - From parameter or show recommendations 3. **Search memory** - Surface context from past sessions 4. **Review prior tasks** - Check for duplicates and related work 5. **Start work** - Declare files, update task status 6. **Emit signals** - IDE tracks state through jat-signal

Step-by-Step Instructions

**IMPORTANT: Minimize round-trips by issuing independent tool calls in parallel.**

Startup uses 3 parallel rounds. Each round issues all calls simultaneously, then processes results before the next round.

ROUND 1 (parallel) → ROUND 2 (parallel) → ROUND 3 (parallel) → Banner
  Identity              Starting signal       Task update
  Task details          Memory search          Working signal
  Git status            Prior task search      Integration sync

ROUND 1: Gather Context (all parallel)

**Issue ALL of these tool calls in a single message:**

**1A: Identity** — Check for IDE pre-registration + get session ID:

TMUX_SESSION=$(tmux display-message -p '#S' 2>/dev/null); PRE_REG_FILE=".claude/sessions/.tmux-agent-${TMUX_SESSION}"; test -f "$PRE_REG_FILE" && cat "$PRE_REG_FILE" || echo "NO_PRE_REG"

get-current-session-id

**1B: Task details** (if task-id provided):

jt show "$TASK_ID" --json

If no task-id, show `jt ready` and stop here.

**1C: Git status:**

git branch --show-current && git diff-index --quiet HEAD -- && echo "clean" || echo "dirty"

**Manual Registration** (only if `NO_PRE_REG`):

am-register --name "$AGENT_NAME" --program pi --model "$MODEL_ID"
tmux rename-session "jat-${AGENT_NAME}" 2>/dev/null
mkdir -p .claude/sessions
echo "$AGENT_NAME" > ".claude/sessions/agent-${SESSION_ID}.txt"

ROUND 2: Signal + Context Search (all parallel)

**Issue ALL of these tool calls in a single message:**

**2A: Starting signal:**

jat-signal starting '{
  "agentName": "NAME", "sessionId": "ID", "taskId": "TASK_ID",
  "taskTitle": "TITLE", "project": "PROJECT", "model": "MODEL_ID",
  "tools": ["bash","read","write","edit"], "gitBranch": "BRANCH",
  "gitStatus": "clean", "uncommittedFiles": []
}'

**2B: Memory search:**

jat-memory search "key terms from task title" --limit 5 2>/dev/null || echo "NO_MEMORY_INDEX"

**2C: Prior task search:**

DATE_7=$(date -d '7 days ago' +%Y-%m-%d 2>/dev/null || date -v-7d +%Y-%m-%d); jt search "$SEARCH_TERM" --updated-after "$DATE_7" --limit 20 --json

Look for duplicates, related work, and in-progress tasks in similar areas.

ROUND 3: Start Work (all parallel)

**Issue ALL of these tool calls in a single message:**

**3A: Update task status:**

jt update "$TASK_ID" --status in_progress --assignee "$AGENT_NAME" --files "relevant/files/**"

**3B: Working signal** (incorporate memory results into approach):

jat-signal working '{
  "taskId": "TASK_ID", "taskTitle": "TASK_TITLE",
  "approach": "Brief description of implementation plan",
  "expectedFiles": ["src/**/*.ts"], "baselineCommit": "COMMIT_HASH"
}'

> **Note:** Integration status sync (`in_progress`) fires automatically from `jt update --status in_progress` — no agent action needed.

Output Banner

╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║         STARTING WORK: {TASK_ID}                           ║
╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Agent: {AGENT_NAME}
Overseer: {OVERSEER_LABEL | n/a}
Task: {TASK_TITLE}
Priority: P{X}

Approach:
  {YOUR_APPROACH_DESCRIPTION}

The `Overseer:` line comes verbatim from:

jat-overseer-for "$TASK_ID" --agent "$AGENT_NAME"

which prints who is watching this task — `DeepBeach732 (L2 pilot of mos-0a23k)`, `LightHeath (wave driver)`, or `n/a`. It checks a pilot mission, a wave-ownership claim and a fanout orchestrator (in that precedence), suppresses a self-match, and fails open to `n/a` when the IDE is unreachable, so it can never stall startup. **Never omit the line and never guess a name** — `n/a` says this session answers to the human directly, while a missing line reads as "unknown".

⚡ **Do NOT end your turn on the banner.** It is a status line printed on the way into the work, not a finish line — there is no approval gate here and nobody will type "continue" for you. In the **same turn** that prints the banner, issue the first tool call of the actual task. "Starting now" with no tool call after it leaves the session idle at an empty `❯` composer with a healthy `working` signal, so no stall detector flags it (jat-ccdrs). To wait for a human, use `jat-signal needs_input` + `AskUserQuestion`, or `jat-signal waiting` — never a silent turn end.

Credentials & Authentication

**CRITICAL: Never hardcode or invent passwords. Never reset user passwords for testing.**

When you need credentials (API keys, database URLs, service role keys, login credentials), use `jat-secret`:

jat-secret --list                          # List all available secrets
jat-secret <project>-supabase-url          # Project Supabase URL
jat-secret <project>-supabase-service-role-key  # Service role key
eval $(jat-secret --export)                # Load all as env va