/seed

name: seed
description: "Use when goal, constraints, and success criteria are already settled and the user wants them frozen into a formal spec an agent can execute and verify: 'turn this into a spec', 'write it up as a Seed', or right after an interview. Returns an immutable Seed with acceptance criteria. Not for vague requests (use interview first)."
aliases: [crystallize]
mcp_tool: ouroboros_generate_seed
mcp_args:
  session_id: "$1"

/ouroboros:seed

Generate a validated Seed specification from an interview or from requirements this conversation already settled.

Required Skill Capabilities

`ask_user` (the active runtime's user-question surface), `inspect_code`, `call_mcp`, `orchestrate_subagents` (lateral persona payloads), `run_shell` (audit-trail and prefs writes), `refine_answer` (confirm free-form decisions), `maintain_ledger` (QA scores, candidate decisions, rejected proposals).

Usage

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

Instructions

Python Runtime (Required)

Define this resolver in the same shell before running any shell snippet below, and call `ouroboros_python` with every argument quoted. It accepts only Python 3.12 or newer and falls back to uv.

<!-- ouroboros-python-resolver:start -->

ouroboros_python() {
  if command -v python3 >/dev/null 2>&1 &&
    (unset PYTHONHOME PYTHONPATH PYTHONPLATLIBDIR PYTHONEXECUTABLE __PYVENV_LAUNCHER__; command python3 -c 'import sys; raise SystemExit(sys.version_info < (3, 12))') >/dev/null 2>&1
  then
    (unset PYTHONHOME PYTHONPATH PYTHONPLATLIBDIR PYTHONEXECUTABLE __PYVENV_LAUNCHER__; command python3 "$@")
    return
  fi
  if command -v python >/dev/null 2>&1 &&
    (unset PYTHONHOME PYTHONPATH PYTHONPLATLIBDIR PYTHONEXECUTABLE __PYVENV_LAUNCHER__; command python -c 'import sys; raise SystemExit(sys.version_info < (3, 12))') >/dev/null 2>&1
  then
    (unset PYTHONHOME PYTHONPATH PYTHONPLATLIBDIR PYTHONEXECUTABLE __PYVENV_LAUNCHER__; command python "$@")
    return
  fi
  if command -v uv >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    (unset PYTHONHOME PYTHONPATH PYTHONPLATLIBDIR PYTHONEXECUTABLE __PYVENV_LAUNCHER__; command uv run --no-project --quiet --python '>=3.12' python "$@")
    return
  fi
  printf '%s\n' 'Ouroboros skills require Python >= 3.12 or uv on PATH.' >&2
  return 127
}

<!-- ouroboros-python-resolver:end -->

Loading MCP tools (deferred-schema guard)

Ouroboros tools may be deferred, and a schema loaded on one turn can unload by the next. Immediately before each `ouroboros_*` call, load it with the active runtime's tool-discovery capability: `"+ouroboros seed"` for `ouroboros_generate_seed`; `"+ouroboros qa"` for `ouroboros_qa`; `"+ouroboros lateral"` for `ouroboros_lateral_think`. A call whose schema is not loaded fails with "Invalid tool parameters". If the tool is already callable, discovery is a no-op and an empty result is expected. Use the fallback only when the tool is genuinely absent.

Load `ouroboros_generate_seed` before choosing a path: if it is callable, use **Path A**; use **Path B** only when it is genuinely absent (no Ouroboros MCP server).

**Delegated responses are not artifacts.** If any tool below returns `status: "delegated_to_subagent"` (with `dispatch_mode: "plugin"` and possibly an `_subagents` array), keep the returned session ID, wait for the plugin-managed subagent results, and parse the artifact (Seed YAML, QA verdict, or persona texts) from those results, never from the envelope or its prompts.

Path A: MCP Mode (Preferred)

1. Pick the entrance:

• `session_id` given, or a recent `ouroboros_interview` session ID in the conversation: use the interview session (step 2).
• No interview, but THIS conversation already settled the goal, the constraints, and verifiable success criteria (a lateral decision, a brownfield scan, or plain discussion that converged): use the interview-less path below. Do not send the user to `ooo interview` to repeat what they already said.
• Otherwise ask the user which interview or requirements to seed.

**Interview-less path** (`session_context`):

   Tool: ouroboros_generate_seed
   Arguments:
     session_context:
       goal: <the user's own settled wording, verbatim, never your paraphrase>
       acceptance_criteria: [<verifiable checks: a command, a visible behaviour, a measurable state>]
       constraints: [<optional>]
       decisions: [<optional; each becomes a constraint>]
       project_type: greenfield | brownfield

Every value enters the Seed byte-for-byte, so shell chains in an AC (`ruff check && pytest`) are allowed. If the response has `status: "gap_questions_required"`, ask the user exactly the listed questions, merge the answers into `session_context`, and call again; that is the whole interview.

2. Interview session:

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

The tool extracts requirements from persisted interview state, scores ambiguity (must be <= 0.2), and returns Seed YAML.

3. If no Seed YAML results, stop and ask the user to resume generation or supply the artifact. Never fabricate a Seed.

4. Run the Advisory QA Check below, then go to "After Seed Generation".

Path B: No MCP Server

1. Read the `seed-architect` prompt and adopt that role: `$OUROBOROS_AGENTS_DIR/seed-architect.md` when that override is set; else the installed package's copy, printed with `run_shell`:

   uvx --isolated --python '>=3.12' --from ouroboros-ai python -c "import importlib.resources as r, sys; print(r.files('ouroboros.agents').joinpath(sys.argv[1]).read_text(encoding='utf-8'))" seed-architect.md

else `src/ouroboros/agents/seed-architect.md` in a source checkout. Resolve every agent prompt this skill names the same way, substituting its file name. 2. Recover the requirements before drafting; never invent missing context:

• With a `session_id`, use current-thread Q&A and corrections only when they b