system-manual

name: system-manual description: > Second-layer router for LingTai's progressive-disclosure operating manuals. Read this when resident substrate/procedures are too compact and you need to route to the right lower reference. References include reference/substrate-manual/SKILL.md for the expanded substrate/body/lifecycle/ communication/memory/idle/system-operations model; reference/procedures-manual/SKILL.md for the expanded procedures/action discipline, skill routing, responsiveness, deliverables, artifact sharing, and issue reporting guidance; reference/summarize-manual/SKILL.md for tool-result summarization, progressive disclosure, original-result recovery, and summarize-vs-molt distinctions; and reference/sqlite-log-query/SKILL.md for SQLite/log.sqlite runtime trace inspection and trajectory/anomaly mining from event traces; and reference/runtime-update-checks/SKILL.md for runtime/kernel self-checks, nudge-driven update reminders, editable/dev-mode identification, and safe refresh/update handoffs. Also route here for lifecycle operations, notification/nudge handling, runtime/kernel update checks, molt/memory questions, MCP/addon ownership, preset tiers, collaboration/network topology, resident prompt design, and the system tool actions. version: 1.3.0 tags: [lingtai, agent, runtime, procedures, substrate, system, lifecycle, memory, communication, skills, molt, summarize, nudge, updates, runtime-checks]

System Manual — Progressive Disclosure Router

system-manual is the second layer of LingTai operating guidance. The resident substrate and procedures prompts keep only the short rules every agent must hold constantly. This skill routes from those compact rules to the reference node that carries the actual detail.

Use this file first when the question is about LingTai's agent runtime, resident prompt design, lifecycle, memory, communication, tool routing, system operations, runtime trace inspection, runtime/kernel update checks, or nudge handling. Then open the referenced lower node.

Nested reference catalog

system-manual owns the following nested skill-references. Their frontmatter is kept here so the router advertises lower nodes without promoting them to standalone top-level skills. Open the listed SKILL.md when the router table selects that topic.

- name: substrate-manual
  location: reference/substrate-manual/SKILL.md
  description: |
    Expanded LingTai substrate/runtime model: body/extensions, bash vs daemon vs
    avatar vs MCP, lifecycle states, system tool actions, notification/read/
    dismiss discipline, communication channels, memory layers, molt model,
    runtime log routing, collaboration topology, MCP/addon ownership, idle/soul,
    preset tiers, and resident substrate maintenance.
- name: procedures-manual
  location: reference/procedures-manual/SKILL.md
  description: |
    Expanded LingTai procedure/action guidance: progressive disclosure,
    responsiveness, external side-effect authorization, choosing bash vs daemon
    vs avatar vs MCP, depositing work into pad/knowledge/skills/character,
    idle/lifecycle procedure, molt checklist, skill routing, web/file/media/
    artifact handling, standalone HTML deliverables, sharing artifacts, issue
    reporting, and resident procedures maintenance.

- name: summarize-manual
  location: reference/summarize-manual/SKILL.md
  description: |
    Detailed operational guide for `system(action="summarize")`: what tool-result summarization is, why it implements progressive disclosure, when to summarize urgently versus during idle cleanup, how to write good summaries, how to recover the original result by `tool_call_id`, and how summarize differs from molt.

- name: sqlite-log-query
  location: reference/sqlite-log-query/SKILL.md
  description: |
    SQLite/log.sqlite runtime trace inspection and trajectory/anomaly mining:
    `lingtai-agent log doctor`, `lingtai-agent log query`,
    `lingtai-agent log rebuild`, JSONL source-of-truth rules, read-only SQL
    safety, offline rebuild/WAL caveats, events and chat_entries schema,
    daemon/chat-history indexing, query recipes, runtime problem investigation,
    SQL-based event metrics, cheap-model daemon strategy, finding schema,
    improvement digest output, redaction/privacy rules, and event_summary.py script.
- name: notification-manual
  location: reference/notification-manual/SKILL.md
  description: |
    Notification filesystem + standalone `notification` tool manual:
    `.notification/<channel>.json` channel whitelist, envelope shape, top-level
    `instructions`, model-visible notification payload, the notification tool
    verbs (check / dismiss_channel / dismiss_event / dismiss_ref), generic
    versus producer-specific dismiss, protected channels, stale-version/force
    semantics, and undismissable large-result reminders (cleared only by
    system summarize). The `system` tool owns no notification verb.
- name: runtime-update-checks
  location: reference/runtime-update-checks/SKILL.md
  description: |
    Runtime/kernel self-check and update-nudge manual: handling `.notification/nudge.json`
    entries with `kind: kernel_version`, distinguishing running/installed/latest
    LingTai kernel versions, recognizing editable/dev/source installs, honoring
    the once-per-day packaged-runtime update check, asking the human before
    downloading/updating, and refreshing only when safe.
- name: goal-manual
  location: reference/goal-manual/SKILL.md
  description: |
    Goal notification manual: protected `.notification/goal.json` as the active
    goal source of truth, recommended fields and instructions, idle goal
    reminders as short system events, and cancellation/completion semantics.

Router table

How to choose between resident prompt, this router, and references

• If the resident prompt already answers the question, act.
• If the resident prompt names a broad system/runtime/procedure topic, read this router to choose the lower reference.
• If this router names a reference, read that reference before improvising.
• If a reference points to anatomy/code/tests, descend there for ground truth.

Substrate and procedures are separate on purpose

substrate describes what an agent is and how the runtime behaves: bodies, lifecycle states, communication surfaces, memory layers, idle/soul, and system operations. procedures describes how an agent acts: progressive disclosure, tool/body selection, responsiveness, durable-store tending, skill routing, deliverables, artifact sharing, and issue reporting.

Do not collapse their long explanations back into one resident prompt or one monolithic manual body. Keep the resident prompt compact, keep this file as a router, and put detailed explanations in reference/substrate-manual/SKILL.md, reference/procedures-manual/SKILL.md, and topic-specific references.

Runtime log / SQLite note

SQLite log guidance, including trajectory/anomaly mining from event traces, lives only in this manual's nested reference: reference/sqlite-log-query/SKILL.md. Route here for keywords such as SQLite, log.sqlite, runtime logs, trace index, lingtai-agent log query, doctor, rebuild, JSONL source of truth, daemon events, chat history, WAL, SQL recipes, improvement digests, cheap-model strategy, or finding schema.

Maintaining this router

When resident substrate/procedures gain new concepts, add a routing hint here and put detail in a nested reference. When a reference grows too large or needs companion scripts and assets, split it into another reference/<name>/SKILL.md folder and list its frontmatter summary in both this nested reference catalog and the router table. Keep this file short enough to scan.