/seed

name: seed
description: "Generate validated Seed specifications from interview results"
aliases: [crystallize]
mcp_tool: ouroboros_generate_seed
mcp_args:
  session_id: "$1"

/ouroboros:seed

Generate validated Seed specifications from interview results.

Required Skill Capabilities

• `ask_user` — ask human-judgment questions through the active runtime's user-question surface.
• `inspect_code` — read repo-local agent roles and recover exact context from local files before guessing.
• `call_mcp` — use available Ouroboros MCP tools directly, including runtime tool discovery when a deferred MCP surface must be loaded.
• `run_shell` — run bounded local commands for audit-trail writes and setup steps.
• `refine_answer` — confirm free-form user decisions before treating them as accepted seed revisions.
• `maintain_ledger` — keep QA scores, candidate decisions, rejected proposals, and audit trail keys visible.

Usage

ooo seed [session_id]
/ouroboros:seed [session_id]

**Trigger keywords:** "crystallize", "generate seed"

Instructions

When the user invokes this skill:

Load MCP Tools (Required before Path A/B decision)

The Ouroboros MCP tools are often registered as **deferred tools** that must be explicitly loaded before use. **You MUST perform this step before deciding between Path A and Path B.**

1. Use the active runtime's `call_mcp` capability to find and load the seed generation MCP tool through runtime tool discovery when needed:

   tool discovery query: "+ouroboros seed"

2. The tool will typically be named `mcp__plugin_ouroboros_ouroboros__ouroboros_generate_seed` (with a plugin prefix). After runtime tool discovery returns, the tool becomes callable through the active runtime's `call_mcp` capability. 3. If the tool is callable — already exposed, or loaded by discovery — proceed to **Path A**. An empty discovery result for an already-exposed tool is expected, not a failure. Proceed to **Path B** only if the tool is genuinely absent (no Ouroboros MCP server).

**IMPORTANT**: Do NOT skip this step. Do NOT assume MCP tools are unavailable just because they don't appear in your immediate tool list. They are almost always available as deferred tools that need to be loaded first.

**CRITICAL — deferred-schema guard (prevents "Invalid tool parameters"):** This skill makes `ouroboros_*` MCP calls across multiple turns, and each turn runs in a fresh tool context. A deferred tool's schema loaded on one turn is NOT guaranteed to still be loaded on the next. If you call any `ouroboros_*` MCP tool while its schema is not loaded in the **current** turn, the runtime rejects the call with **"Invalid tool parameters"** before it ever reaches the server. Therefore: **immediately before EVERY `ouroboros_*` MCP call in this skill, re-run the tool-discovery load query for the specific MCP tool you are about to call** (idempotent — a no-op when the schema is already loaded) so the correct schema is guaranteed present for that call. Use `"+ouroboros seed"` before `ouroboros_generate_seed`, `"+ouroboros qa"` before `ouroboros_qa`, and `"+ouroboros lateral"` before `ouroboros_lateral_think`. If a load ever returns no matching tool (and the tool is not already callable — an empty load for an already-exposed tool is an expected no-op, not absence), switch to the documented fallback / Path B instead of retrying the failing call.

Path A: MCP Mode (Preferred)

If the `ouroboros_generate_seed` MCP tool is available (loaded via runtime tool discovery above):

1. Determine the interview session:

• If `session_id` provided: Use it directly
• If no session_id: Check conversation for a recent `ouroboros_interview` session ID
• If none found: Ask the user

2. Call the MCP tool through the active runtime's `call_mcp` capability:

   Tool: ouroboros_generate_seed
   Arguments:
     session_id: <interview session ID>

3. The tool extracts requirements from persisted interview state, calculates ambiguity score, and generates the Seed YAML.

**Seed generation response shapes**: Branch only after an actual Seed YAML artifact is available.

• If the response has `status: "delegated_to_subagent"` and `dispatch_mode: "plugin"`, keep the returned `session_id`, wait for the plugin-managed subagent result, then extract the Seed YAML from that result. Do not enter the QA loop using the delegation envelope as the artifact.
• If the response directly contains Seed YAML, extract that YAML directly.
• If neither shape yields Seed YAML, stop and ask the user to resume generation or provide the missing artifact; do not fabricate a seed just to satisfy the QA loop.

4. Continue immediately into the required QA Refinement Loop. Do not present the seed as final, ask for acceptance, or proceed to "After Seed Generation" until QA exits with PASS or the user explicitly accepts a below-threshold best attempt at the loop boundary.

**Advantages of MCP mode**: Automated ambiguity scoring (must be <= 0.2), structured extraction from persisted interview state, reproducible.

Path B: Plugin Fallback (No MCP Server)

If the MCP tool is NOT available, fall back to agent-based generation:

1. Read `src/ouroboros/agents/seed-architect.md` and adopt that role. 2. Recover the interview requirements before drafting; do not invent missing context:

• If `session_id` was provided, first identify context for that same session: use current-thread interview Q&A only when it clearly belongs to that `session_id`, and use current-thread corrections only when they explicitly amend that same interview or seed request.
• If same-session conversation context is incomplete, use the active runtime's `inspect_code` / `run_shell` capabilities to look for persisted interview artifacts under the Ouroboros data directory (for example `~/.ouroboros/data/`), exported session artifacts, or other exact local records for that ID.
• If both same-session conversation context and a persist