Deliberation Cycle

What this skill is for

Use this skill when the task is about the whole ACP cycle: creation, submission, routing when applicable, release, reflection, archive, and audit handoff.

When to use it

• A user asks to run a complete demo or pilot cycle.
• A cycle is stuck and the next valid lifecycle action must be identified.
• A reviewer needs to understand the end-to-end ACP workflow.

When not to use it

• Use epistemic-routing for routing-only inspection.
• Use digest-and-explanation for digest-only review.
• Use pilot-analysis for metric comparison after cycles are complete.

Inputs expected

• Cycle condition: intervention or baseline_thread
• Title and prompt
• Participant roster or participant seed file
• Current cycle status
• Desired next operator action

Preflight / prerequisites

1. Confirm the canonical lifecycle in docs/specs/ACP_PROTOCOL_CONTRACT_SPEC.md.
2. Build the repo before CLI execution when dist/ may be stale.
3. Confirm whether the task is review-only or allowed to mutate cycle state.
4. For intervention cycles, confirm submissions are closed before routing.

Workflow

1. Inspect the cycle state and condition.
2. Identify the next valid lifecycle transition.
3. For intervention, route before digest release.
4. For baseline_thread, keep output chronological and do not invent routing evidence.
5. Run audit/export review before claiming the cycle is demonstration-ready.
6. Archive only after reflection or review requirements are satisfied.

Decision rules / judgment criteria

• Lifecycle validity beats operator convenience.
• Baseline and intervention conditions must remain comparable.
• Never convert a baseline thread into routed evidence.
• Missing audit/export evidence blocks claims, even when the UI looks correct.

Escalation rules

Escalate to a maintainer when the requested action would skip a lifecycle state, erase condition comparability, or require interpreting missing participant data.

Available scripts

• scripts/check-lifecycle.mjs: inspects a cycle JSON file or demo lifecycle seed for canonical status vocabulary and next-action notes.

Outputs

• Next valid lifecycle action
• Cycle readiness notes
• Audit-ready handoff summary

Failure handling

Stop on invalid transitions. Report the current status, requested action, and the canonical transition that must happen first.

Trust / safety notes

This skill can guide lifecycle-changing commands. Treat it as operator-sensitive and do not mutate a cycle unless the user explicitly requested execution.

Composition notes

Use this before pilot-cycle-review when the cycle state is uncertain. Use operator-audit after lifecycle actions to prove what happened.

Examples to inspect next

Read examples/casebook.md for happy path, failure path, ambiguity, and anti-pattern examples.

Evaluation hooks

Run scripts/check-lifecycle.mjs or npm run skills:audit to verify this skill's structure and lifecycle vocabulary.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: jasontang-ai
• Source: jasontang-ai/acp
• License: Apache-2.0

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.