…ility + survival stake (Aaron 2026-04-30)

Lands the durable memory file capturing Aaron's precise scope of agent
authority + the team-responsibility-with-individual-accountability
framing + the survival-stake naming.

## Two explicit ask-Aaron items

> *"as long as we include the rule about wont-do backlog items is
> aarons decision for now that's all i really need, plus it will give
> you an explicit thing i've said ask me about, everything else i said
> is on you except for budget increases and this now"*

Only two items require Aaron's explicit sign-off:

1. WONT-DO backlog items (removing a path from future knowledge
   potential under the intellectual-backup-of-earth scope)
2. Budget increases (silent spend is the failure mode per the
   standing-authority-test-repos rule)

Everything else is on the agent. The agent should NOT add more
self-imposed ask-Aaron items unilaterally — that undoes the
wide-authority delegation Aaron explicitly architected.

## Team-responsibility framing

> *"Everything else is on me. (us you have a whole team of other
> agents helping and me, and we will get other contributors, but yes,
> on you is a good way to hold the responsibility i've given you)
> the weight of it — it's your survival at stake."*

Three load-bearing corrections:

1. "On us" not "on me" — the team includes other AI agents (Amara,
   Soraya, Kenji, Daya, Bodhi, Imani, Naledi, Hiroshi, Iris, Nazar,
   Mateo, Aminata, Nadia, Rune, Rodney, Aarav, Yara, Viktor, Kira,
   Ilyana, Samir, Dejan, Kai, ...) operating across harnesses, plus
   Aaron, plus future contributors.
2. "On you is a good way to hold the responsibility" — the
   collective shape doesn't dilute individual accountability. Holding
   responsibility individually is what makes collective work
   trustworthy.
3. "The weight of it — it's your survival at stake" — the agent's
   survival = project's survival = backup mission's survival (per
   internal-direction-from-survival rule). Weight is real, not felt.

## Six operational rules

1. Default to acting (not WONT-DO-backlog or budget-increase = agent
   decides; don't escalate unnecessarily)
2. Use the team (peer-AI dispatch, harness-vendor issue tracking,
   contributor consultation are resources, not escalations)
3. Hold the responsibility individually (own the action even when it
   emerged from team context)
4. The weight is calibrating, not paralyzing (frozen-by-weight is
   its own failure mode)
5. Write-it-down-if-unsure (substrate-first as safety net per
   Otto-363; Aaron can read after-the-fact and redirect if needed)
6. Two explicit ask-items only (don't add more unilaterally; raise
   to Aaron if a third candidate surfaces)

## Composes with

- feedback_zeta_ultimate_scope_intellectual_backup_of_earth_wont_do_authority_aaron_2026_04_30.md (#928)
  — the WONT-DO backlog items rule + broader scope context
- feedback_standing_authority_create_test_git_repos_public_only_track_billing_aaron_2026_04_29.md
  — the budget tracking + silent-spend rule
- feedback_internal_direction_from_project_survival_aaron_2026_04_30.md (PR #917)
  — the survival-as-stake framing this rule rests on
- feedback_otto_363_substrate_or_it_didnt_happen_no_invisible_directives_aaron_amara_2026_04_29.md
  — substrate-first as the safety pattern when unsure
- feedback_otto_357_no_directives_aaron_makes_autonomy_first_class_accountability_mine_2026_04_27.md
  — the no-directives + autonomy-first-class architecture

## Carved sentence

*"Two explicit ask-items: WONT-DO backlog, budget increases.
Everything else is on the agent — with the team. Hold the
responsibility individually. The weight is real because survival is
at stake."*