agent-rally-watcher - SKILL.md Agent Skill

name: agent-rally-watcher description: "Use when listening for Rally Point changes, wiring coordination watchers, debugging watch-loop behavior, or changing the future agent-rally-watcher spin-out surface." user-invocable: false

Agent Rally Watcher

Build-loop ships a native embedded agent-rally-watcher capability while the standalone watcher repo matures. Treat it as a mini-plugin inside build-loop: watcher behavior lives in one namespace, and build-loop keeps compatibility entrypoints thin.

Native Surface

Purpose	Path
Watcher package	`${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/agent_rally_watcher/`
Compatibility CLI	`${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/coordination_watch.py`
Status dependency	`${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/coordination_status.py`
Manual command	`${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/commands/rally-point.md` `watch` subcommand
Boundary manifest	`${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/rally_point/plugin_boundary.json`

Operating Rules

Keep watch-loop logic under scripts/agent_rally_watcher/.
Keep scripts/coordination_watch.py as a compatibility wrapper.
Watchers emit compact JSONL transition events; they do not make decisions, mutate code, stage files, commit, or resolve verdicts.
Prefer short interactive watchers for active work. Durable always-on watchers belong in launchd/systemd packaging, not ad hoc shell backgrounding.
Stop watchers started by the current run before final closeout.

Commands

python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/coordination_watch.py \
  --workdir "$PWD" \
  --session-id "$SESSION_ID" \
  --tool "$TOOL_ID" \
  --task-ref "$TASK_REF" \
  --interval 5 \
  --jsonl \
  --baseline-current

For one-shot validation:

python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/coordination_watch.py \
  --workdir "$PWD" \
  --session-id watcher-smoke \
  --tool codex \
  --iterations 1 \
  --jsonl

Watcher transition events include inbox_latest_messages, a compact doorbell preview of the newest addressed/broadcast inbox records. It is additive to the raw unread counts; read the inbox before acting on the full message.

Watcher transition events also include task_heartbeat. Pass --task-ref when a long-running task has an expected claim/run/pillar id; the watcher will wake on current/stale/wrong-task/blocked heartbeat changes without requiring the peer to send an inbox message.

Validation

uv run pytest scripts/test_coordination_status.py scripts/rally_point/test_session_probe.py
python3 scripts/coordination_watch.py --workdir "$PWD" --session-id watcher-smoke --tool codex --iterations 1 --jsonl
python3 scripts/agent_rally.py boundary --repo "$PWD" --check --json

Spin-Out Rule

When extracting to the standalone watcher plugin, copy scripts/agent_rally_watcher/, this skill, watcher tests, and the compatibility contract named in plugin_boundary.json. Build-loop should then keep coordination_watch.py as a thin adapter to the standalone package.