marcusquinn · alex-solovyev · Mar 14, 2026 · Mar 14, 2026
diff --git a/.agents/reference/task-taxonomy.md b/.agents/reference/task-taxonomy.md
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+---
+description: Canonical routing taxonomy — domain labels and model tier labels for task creation and dispatch
+---
+
+# Task Taxonomy: Domain and Model Tier Classification
+
+Single source of truth for the two classification tables used at task creation time
+(`/new-task`, `/save-todo`, `/define`) and consumed at dispatch time (`/pulse`).
+
+When a domain or tier is added or changed, update **only this file**. Command files
+reference it by pointer.
+
+---
+
+## Domain Routing Table
+
+Maps task content to a specialist agent. Used by task creation commands to apply
+GitHub labels and TODO tags, and by the pulse to select the `--agent` flag at
+dispatch time.
+
+| Domain Signal | TODO Tag | GitHub Label | Agent |
+|--------------|----------|--------------|-------|
+| SEO audit, keywords, GSC, schema markup, rankings | `#seo` | `seo` | SEO |
+| Blog posts, articles, newsletters, video scripts, social copy | `#content` | `content` | Content |
+| Email campaigns, FluentCRM, landing pages | `#marketing` | `marketing` | Marketing |
+| Invoicing, receipts, financial ops, bookkeeping | `#accounts` | `accounts` | Accounts |
+| Compliance, terms of service, privacy policy, GDPR | `#legal` | `legal` | Legal |
+| Tech research, competitive analysis, market research, spikes | `#research` | `research` | Research |
+| CRM pipeline, proposals, outreach | `#sales` | `sales` | Sales |
+| Social media scheduling, posting, engagement | `#social-media` | `social-media` | Social-Media |
+| Video generation, editing, animation, prompts | `#video` | `video` | Video |
+| Health and wellness content, nutrition | `#health` | `health` | Health |
+| Code: features, bug fixes, refactors, CI, tests | *(none)* | *(none)* | Build+ (default) |
+
+**Rule:** Omit the domain tag for code tasks — Build+ is the default and needs no
+label. Only add a domain tag when the task clearly maps to a specialist domain.
+
+---
+
+## Model Tier Table
+
+Maps task reasoning complexity to a model tier. Used by task creation commands to
+apply `tier:` GitHub labels and TODO tags, and by the pulse to resolve the
+`--model` flag at dispatch time via `model-availability-helper.sh resolve <tier>`.
+
+| Tier | TODO Tag | GitHub Label | When to Apply |
+|------|----------|--------------|---------------|
+| thinking | `tier:thinking` | `tier:thinking` | Architecture decisions, novel design with no existing patterns, complex multi-system trade-offs, security audits requiring deep reasoning |
+| simple | `tier:simple` | `tier:simple` | Docs-only changes, simple renames, formatting, config tweaks, label/tag updates |
+| *(coding)* | *(none)* | *(none)* | Standard implementation, bug fixes, refactors, tests — **default, no label needed** |
+
+**Rule:** Default to no tier label — most tasks are coding tasks that use sonnet.
+Only add a tier label when the task clearly needs more reasoning power (`thinking`)
+or clearly needs less (`simple`). When uncertain, omit.
+
+---
+
+## Usage by Command Files
+
+- **`/new-task`** — classify after brief creation (Step 6.5); apply labels via `gh issue edit`
+- **`/save-todo`** — classify during dispatch tag evaluation (Step 1b)
+- **`/define`** — classify during task type detection (Step 1)
+- **`/pulse`** — consume labels at dispatch time (Agent routing + Model tier selection sections)
+
+See `scripts/commands/pulse.md` "Agent routing from labels" and "Model tier selection"
+for how these labels are consumed at dispatch time.
diff --git a/.agents/scripts/commands/define.md b/.agents/scripts/commands/define.md
@@ -38,33 +38,10 @@ Parse `$ARGUMENTS` to classify the task. Use keyword signals:
 | **docs** | document, readme, guide, explain, describe | Accurate, concise, follows existing doc patterns |
 | **research** | investigate, explore, evaluate, compare, spike | Time-boxed, deliverable is a written recommendation |
 
-Also classify the **agent domain** — this determines which specialist agent handles the task at dispatch time:
-
-| Domain | Signal Words | Agent |
-|--------|-------------|-------|
-| **seo** | SEO, keywords, rankings, GSC, schema markup | SEO |
-| **content** | blog, article, newsletter, video script, copy | Content |
-| **marketing** | campaign, email blast, landing page, FluentCRM | Marketing |
-| **accounts** | invoice, receipt, financial, bookkeeping | Accounts |
-| **legal** | compliance, terms, privacy policy, GDPR | Legal |
-| **research** | market research, competitive analysis, tech spike | Research |
-| **sales** | CRM, proposal, outreach, pipeline | Sales |
-| **social-media** | social post, scheduling, engagement | Social-Media |
-| **video** | video generation, editing, animation | Video |
-| **health** | wellness, health content, nutrition | Health |
-| *(code)* | implement, fix, refactor, CI, test | Build+ (default — no label needed) |
-
-Include the domain tag (e.g., `#seo`, `#content`) in the TODO.md entry and as a GitHub label on the issue. Omit for code tasks.
-
-Also classify the **model tier** — this determines the intelligence level of the worker dispatched for this task:
-
-| Tier | Tag | Signals |
-|------|-----|---------|
-| **thinking** | `tier:thinking` | Architecture decisions, novel design with no existing patterns, complex multi-system trade-offs, security audits requiring deep reasoning |
-| **simple** | `tier:simple` | Docs-only changes, simple renames/formatting, config tweaks, label/tag updates |
-| *(coding)* | *(none)* | Standard implementation, bug fixes, refactors, tests — **default, no tag needed** |
-
-Default to no tier tag — most tasks are coding (sonnet). Only tag when the task clearly needs more reasoning power or clearly needs less.
+Also classify the **agent domain** and **model tier** using the canonical tables in
+`reference/task-taxonomy.md`. Include the domain tag (e.g., `#seo`, `#content`) in
+the TODO.md entry and as a GitHub label on the issue. Omit both for code tasks
+(Build+ is the default; coding tier is the default).
 
 If ambiguous, ask:
 

diff --git a/.agents/scripts/commands/new-task.md b/.agents/scripts/commands/new-task.md
@@ -185,33 +185,12 @@ If the brief is too thin for auto-dispatch, omit the tag and note why.
 
 ### Step 6.5: Apply Model Tier and Agent Routing Labels
 
-**Model tier label** — Evaluate the task's reasoning complexity and add a tier tag. This tells the pulse which model intelligence level to use at dispatch time:
-
-| Tier | TODO Tag | GitHub Label | When to Apply |
-|------|----------|--------------|---------------|
-| thinking | `tier:thinking` | `tier:thinking` | Architecture decisions, novel design, complex trade-offs, security audits, multi-system reasoning |
-| simple | `tier:simple` | `tier:simple` | Docs-only, simple renames, formatting, config changes, label/tag updates |
-| *(coding)* | *(none)* | *(none)* | Standard implementation, bug fixes, refactors, tests — **default, no label needed** |
-
-**Default to no tier label** — most tasks are coding tasks that use sonnet. Only add a tier label when the task clearly needs more reasoning power (thinking) or clearly needs less (simple). When uncertain, omit the label — sonnet handles the vast majority of work well.
-
-**Agent routing label** — Evaluate whether the task maps to a specialist agent domain. If it does, add the corresponding tag to the TODO.md entry AND apply the matching GitHub label to the issue (if `task_ref` exists).
-
-| Domain Signal | TODO Tag | GitHub Label | Agent |
-|--------------|----------|--------------|-------|
-| SEO audit, keywords, GSC, schema markup, rankings | `#seo` | `seo` | SEO |
-| Blog posts, video scripts, newsletters, social copy | `#content` | `content` | Content |
-| Email campaigns, FluentCRM, landing pages | `#marketing` | `marketing` | Marketing |
-| Invoicing, receipts, financial ops | `#accounts` | `accounts` | Accounts |
-| Compliance, terms of service, privacy policy | `#legal` | `legal` | Legal |
-| Tech research, competitive analysis, market research | `#research` | `research` | Research |
-| CRM pipeline, proposals, outreach | `#sales` | `sales` | Sales |
-| Social media scheduling, posting | `#social-media` | `social-media` | Social-Media |
-| Video generation, editing, prompts | `#video` | `video` | Video |
-| Health and wellness content | `#health` | `health` | Health |
-| Code: features, bug fixes, refactors, CI | *(none)* | *(none)* | Build+ (default) |
-
-**Omit the domain tag for code tasks** — Build+ is the default and needs no label.
+Classify the task using the canonical taxonomy tables in
+`reference/task-taxonomy.md` — domain routing table and model tier table.
+
+Add the matching TODO tag to the TODO.md entry AND apply the matching GitHub label
+to the issue (if `task_ref` exists). Omit both for standard code tasks (Build+ is
+the default; coding tier is the default).
 
 If the task clearly matches a domain, apply the label:
 

diff --git a/.agents/scripts/commands/pulse.md b/.agents/scripts/commands/pulse.md
@@ -276,6 +276,9 @@ Do NOT treat `auto-dispatch` or `status:available` as hard gates. Build candidat
 
 ### Agent routing from labels
 
+Labels are applied at task creation time — see `reference/task-taxonomy.md` for the
+canonical domain and tier definitions. This section maps those labels to dispatch flags.
+
 Before dispatching, check issue labels for agent routing. This avoids guessing from the title:
 
 | Label | Dispatch Flag | Agent |

diff --git a/.agents/scripts/commands/save-todo.md b/.agents/scripts/commands/save-todo.md
@@ -47,32 +47,9 @@ Every task MUST be evaluated for these pipeline tags:
 
 **`#plan`** — Add when the task needs decomposition into subtasks before implementation (multi-phase, >2h, research/design needed).
 
-**Model tier tags** — Evaluate the task's reasoning complexity:
-
-| Tier | Tag | When to Apply |
-|------|-----|---------------|
-| thinking | `tier:thinking` | Architecture, novel design, complex trade-offs, security audits |
-| simple | `tier:simple` | Docs-only, simple renames, formatting, config changes |
-| *(coding)* | *(none)* | Standard implementation, bug fixes, refactors — **default, no tag needed** |
-
-Default to no tier tag. Most tasks are coding tasks (sonnet). Only tag exceptions.
-
-**Agent domain tags** — If the task maps to a specialist agent domain, add the corresponding tag. This enables the pulse to route dispatch to the correct agent without guessing from the title:
-
-| Domain | Tag | Agent |
-|--------|-----|-------|
-| SEO, keywords, rankings, GSC | `#seo` | SEO |
-| Blog posts, newsletters, video scripts | `#content` | Content |
-| Email campaigns, landing pages | `#marketing` | Marketing |
-| Invoicing, financial ops | `#accounts` | Accounts |
-| Compliance, legal docs | `#legal` | Legal |
-| Research, analysis, spikes | `#research` | Research |
-| CRM, proposals, outreach | `#sales` | Sales |
-| Social media management | `#social-media` | Social-Media |
-| Video generation/editing | `#video` | Video |
-| Health/wellness content | `#health` | Health |
-
-Omit domain tags for code tasks — Build+ is the default.
+**Model tier tags** and **agent domain tags** — classify using the canonical tables
+in `reference/task-taxonomy.md`. Omit both for standard code tasks (Build+ is the
+default; coding tier is the default).
 
 **Default to `#auto-dispatch`** — only omit when a specific exclusion applies. This keeps the autonomous pipeline moving. See `workflows/plans.md` "Auto-Dispatch Tagging" for full criteria.