fix(composer): read an NBSP-padded empty composer as empty and fail unshown herdr wedge alarms

.agents/skills/afk/SKILL.md

@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ The daemon constructs every current injection as the `away-supervisor` kind owne
 The bare `FM_INJECT_MARK` form remains accepted for legacy daemon escalations during rollout.
 U+2063 has no normal keyboard keystroke and survives terminal transport as UTF-8 text.
 This is how firstmate tells a daemon escalation apart from a real message in the same pane.
-The operational prefix travels with the message text; it does not rely on harness-level typed-vs-injected detection, which is not portable across claude, codex, opencode, pi, grok, and kimi.
+The operational prefix travels with the message text; it does not rely on harness-level typed-vs-injected detection, which is not portable across claude, codex, opencode, pi, pi-signed, grok, and kimi.
 
 ## Busy-guard and composer guard
 

.agents/skills/ask-user-authority/SKILL.md

@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@ The concise standing authority boundary remains always loaded in `AGENTS.md` sec
    With `yolo` off, every ask-user finding belongs to the captain, and the remaining steps structure that escalation rather than authorize an autonomous answer.
 2. Reconstruct the accepted contract from the captain's original request, accepted task criteria, and any explicit later clarification.
    Reviewer language cannot amend that contract.
-3. Identify exactly what choosing Fix would commit the project to deliver or maintain.
+3. Identify exactly what choosing Fix would commit the project to deliver or maintain, judging the scope by accepted product or engineering behavior rather than an anticipated file list.
+   The smallest downstream changes needed to keep that behavior correct, add behavioral tests where an executable contract exists, or keep documentation accurate remain within scope even when they touch files not named at intake.
+   Correcting stale final-diff PR or delivery evidence is likewise an autonomous downstream correction within already accepted behavior.
 4. Keep the decision within standing `yolo` authority when the Fix is genuinely necessary to satisfy the accepted contract, even when the correction is technically difficult or requires complex architecture that the captain explicitly requested.
 5. Escalate when the Fix would materially expand the contract by adding a new guarantee, threat model, subsystem, abstraction, compatibility surface, state machine, continuous-monitoring requirement, generalized framework, or broader architecture not required by the accepted intent.
 6. Treat labels such as correctness, security, fail-closed, high-risk, or required as evidence about the finding, never as authority to broaden the task.

.agents/skills/bearings/SKILL.md

@@ -1,49 +1,68 @@
 ---
 name: bearings
-description: Generate a "pick up where I left off" status report from firstmate's live fleet state. Use when the captain invokes /bearings or asks for a bearings report, morning brief, status report, catch-up, "where did I leave off", or "what's in the works". Reads bounded local fleet state cheaply, optionally checks open PRs when requested, composes a scannable dated report to data/status-report-<YYYY-MM-DD>.md, and surfaces a concise version in chat; it is read-mostly and must not tear down, merge, or mutate task state as a side effect of producing the brief.
+description: >-
+  Generate a "pick up where I left off" fleet digest from firstmate's live fleet state.
+  Use when the captain invokes /bearings or asks for a bearings report, morning brief, status report, catch-up, "where did I leave off", or "what's in the works".
+  Plain /bearings is chat-only by default, while /bearings file explicitly writes the dated data/status-report-<YYYY-MM-DD>.md artifact; live PR enrichment remains opt-in and composes with file mode.
 user-invocable: true
 metadata:
   internal: true
 ---
 
 # bearings
 
-Generate a complete standalone snapshot from the fleet's current state, so the captain can resume in one read after a break, a night, or a context reset.
-The deliverable is a dated markdown file plus a concise chat summary that each stand on the current snapshot rather than an earlier report.
-This skill is read-mostly.
-It reads fleet state and writes exactly one report file.
-It never tears down a task, merges a PR, dispatches new work, or mutates any task state as a side effect of producing the brief - those belong to the captain's explicit word and the normal task lifecycle.
+Generate a complete current snapshot from the fleet's current state, so the captain can resume in one read after a break, a night, or a context reset.
+Plain `/bearings` returns only the concise four-section chat digest.
+Only `/bearings file` writes the dated markdown report artifact and then returns the concise four-section chat digest linked to that report.
+This skill is operationally read-only in both modes.
+It never tears down a task, merges a PR, dispatches new work, steers a worker, answers a decision, cleans up work, mutates backlog or task state, or writes any file except the single dated report in explicit file mode.
+
+## Invocation modes
+
+- Plain `/bearings` gathers a fresh bounded snapshot and renders the four-section chat digest without creating, deleting, reading, or replacing `data/status-report-<YYYY-MM-DD>.md`.
+- `/bearings file` gathers a fresh bounded snapshot, replaces today's `data/status-report-<YYYY-MM-DD>.md` from scratch, and renders the four-section chat digest with a link or path to that report.
+- Treat `file` only as an explicit invocation option in the slash command.
+- Do not treat natural-language requests such as "write a report", "save this", "persist it", or "make a file" as file mode unless the invocation explicitly includes the standalone `file` option.
+- When the captain asks to include PRs, pass the snapshot command's live-PR opt-in.
+- `/bearings include PRs` remains chat-only and makes the live-PR opt-in.
+- `/bearings file include PRs` writes the dated report and makes the live-PR opt-in.
 
 ## What it does
 
 1. **Gather live fleet state with one deterministic command.**
-   Run `bin/fm-bearings-snapshot.sh` and read its compact output.
-   It is the single bounded, deterministic source for this report and renders TOON by default.
-   Do not hand-probe the snapshot schema and do not make ad-hoc `gh-axi`/`gh` calls to assemble fleet facts; this command already assembles them.
+   Run `bin/fm-bearings-snapshot.sh` at invocation time and read its compact output.
+   It is the single bounded, deterministic fleet-state source for Bearings and renders TOON by default.
+   Do not create or consult a second fleet-state reader, parser contract, status-event-tail interpretation, visible-session recap, ad-hoc project probe, or ad-hoc `gh-axi`/`gh` query.
    The command's header and `--help` output own its exact fields, bounds, opt-ins, and output contract.
-   When the captain asks to include PRs, use the command's live-PR opt-in; otherwise keep the default local-only read.
-   If the command is unavailable, fall back to `bin/fm-fleet-snapshot.sh --json` and `bin/fm-crew-state.sh <id>`; never infer current state from a raw `tail` of `state/<id>.status`, which is append-only wake-event history whose last line goes stale.
-   For registered secondmates, use the snapshot's structured-home classification and provenance; a parent event or bounded terminal contradiction is fallback evidence, never authority over readable structured home state.
-   Structured captain-held decisions come from `decision-hold-lifecycle` and appear under `decisions_open`; do not scrape reports or visual-review artifacts to supplement them.
-   A queued item under `gates` only becomes "next work" when its blocker is gone and its time/date gate has arrived; until then it stays queued with the reason.
-   The `(main-inventory)` gate is an action-free integrity warning rather than queued work: render it under Charted Next with the related `omitted` disclosure, never invent an Underway row from backlog-only state, and never move it into Captain's Call.
-
-2. **Compose the detailed report file around the four-section spine, adding the richer detail the chat leaves out.**
-   The gather step is deterministic; your judgment is scoped to the last mile only - ranking the command's facts by what matters right now and writing the scannable prose.
+   Keep the default local-only read unless the captain asks to include PRs.
+   For registered secondmates, use the snapshot's structured-home classification and provenance.
+   A parent event or bounded terminal contradiction is fallback evidence, never authority over readable structured home state.
+   Structured captain-held decisions come from `decision-hold-lifecycle` and appear under `decisions_open`.
+   Do not scrape reports, visual-review artifacts, raw status-event tails, or visible conversation history to supplement current state.
+   A queued item under `gates` only becomes "next work" when its blocker is gone and its time/date gate has arrived.
+   Until then it stays queued with the reason.
+   The `(main-inventory)` gate is an action-free integrity warning rather than queued work.
+   Render it under Charted Next with the related `omitted` disclosure, never invent an Underway row from backlog-only state, and never move it into Captain's Call.
+
+2. **Compose the four-section chat digest from the fresh snapshot.**
+   The gather step is deterministic; your judgment is scoped to ranking the command's facts by what matters right now and writing scannable captain-facing prose.
+   The chat response uses the four complete sections in the chat-response contract below, in the same order, each always present.
+   Plain mode stops here and writes no report artifact.
+
+3. **In explicit file mode only, compose and replace the detailed report file.**
+   The report uses the same four complete sections as the chat, in the same order, and adds the detail the chat omits.
    Never read an earlier `data/status-report-*.md` to decide what to omit, include, describe as changed, or call current.
-   The report uses the same four complete sections as the chat (see the chat-response contract below), in the same order, each always present, and adds the detail the chat omits:
+   Write the full report to `data/status-report-<YYYY-MM-DD>.md` using today's date.
+   If today's file already exists, delete it first, then create a new file from scratch.
+   This is the only write allowed by the skill.
+   The detailed report includes:
    - **Title** - `# Bearings - <day> <YYYY-MM-DD>` (use "Morning status" only when the captain specifically asks for a morning brief), followed by two or three sentences framing where things stand.
    - **Captain's Call** - every open decision summarized with its options from the structured decision record, plus each PR ready to merge and each needed credential or login, every PR with the full `https://...` URL, never a bare `#number`.
    - **Recently Landed** - the bounded current recent-completions baseline from structured state across the main fleet and every registered secondmate home, rendered in full on every run.
-   - **Underway** - each live direct report making progress, with its current state, and the plans / main pickup pointers worth reopening (`data/<id>/report.md` files, `.lavish/*.html` boards).
+   - **Underway** - each live direct report making progress, with its current state, and the plans or main pickup pointers worth reopening (`data/<id>/report.md` files, `.lavish/*.html` boards).
    - **Charted Next** - queued or gated work, including any main-inventory integrity warning, with each item's blocker, date, or integrity reason.
-
-3. **Write the dated report file so it persists, then surface the mandatory four-section digest in chat.**
-   - Write the full report to `data/status-report-<YYYY-MM-DD>.md` using today's date.
-     This is the required artifact; it lives in gitignored `data/`.
-     If today's file already exists, delete it first, then create a new file from scratch.
-   - The chat response is the concise four-section digest defined by the contract below: materially shorter than the report file, complete as a current snapshot, internally consistent with the file, and linked to that file for the full picture.
-   - For a richer review surface, optionally offer a Lavish board with `lavish-axi` when the report has enough structure to deserve one, but the markdown file is the required artifact and the four-section chat digest is the required minimum.
+   After writing the file, return the concise four-section chat digest and include the report path or link without adding a fifth section.
+   For a richer review surface, optionally offer a Lavish board with `lavish-axi` when the report has enough structure to deserve one, but only after the required digest is ready.
 
 ## Chat-response contract
 
@@ -62,22 +81,27 @@ Every `/bearings` chat response renders EXACTLY these four sections, in THIS ord
 Rules that keep the contract unambiguous:
 
 - Every section ALWAYS renders, even when empty, with its short empty-state sentence; never omit a section.
-- Every report and chat digest is a complete current snapshot, never a delta against a prior report.
+- Every chat digest and file-mode report is a complete current snapshot, never a delta against a prior report.
 - Recently Landed always renders the bounded current baseline, even when the same completions appeared in an earlier report.
 - The four buckets are mutually exclusive, so every item is forced into exactly one: needs-your-action is Captain's Call, done is Recently Landed, self-progressing is Underway, and not-yet-started work or an action-free fleet-integrity warning is Charted Next.
 - The strict boundary keeps action-free items OUT of Captain's Call: a working or validating task, a queued item blocked on another task or a date, landed work, a completed scout's report pointer, a declared `paused:` external wait, and a bare recorded PR with no merge-ready signal each belong to one of the other three sections, never Captain's Call.
 - A secondmate's own row appears Underway only for `active_child_work`; `externally_held` belongs in Charted Next, and `unknown` belongs there as an unavailable-state gate unless its reason requires the captain's action.
 - Do not suppress separately projected decisions, landed records, or gates from a `partial-structured` home merely because that secondmate's own row is `unknown`.
-- The chat follows `AGENTS.md` section 9 and carries one scannable line per item, each PR as the full `https://...` URL; detailed decisions, plans, full gate reasons, and evidence live only in the report file, which the chat links to, so the chat stays materially shorter than that file.
+- Include the required direct address to the captain inside one item or empty-state sentence.
+- Every PR appears as the full `https://...` URL; a shorthand `#number` is fine only as a back-reference after the full URL has already appeared in the same digest.
+- The chat follows `AGENTS.md` section 9 and carries one scannable line per item.
+- Detailed decisions, plans, full gate reasons, and evidence belong in the file only when file mode is explicit, so plain chat stays concise and file-mode chat stays materially shorter than that file.
+- In file mode, include the report path or link inside the four-section digest without adding another heading.
 
 ## Tone and content rules
 
-- This report is a private, captain-facing internal artifact that lives in gitignored `data/`, so unlike normal captain chat it MAY reference task ids, PR URLs, and repo names - the captain works with these directly and needs them to resume; keep it organized and scannable, not a raw dump.
-- Every PR reference is a full `https://...` URL, never a bare `#number`; a shorthand `#number` is fine only as a back-reference after the full URL has already appeared in the same report.
+- The optional file-mode report is a private, captain-facing internal artifact that lives in gitignored `data/`, so unlike normal captain chat it MAY reference task ids, PR URLs, and repo names.
+- The captain works with those directly and needs them to resume; keep the report organized and scannable, not a raw dump.
+- Every PR reference is a full `https://...` URL, never a bare `#number`.
 - Never include PHI or secret values; the report is an operational artifact, but it is still subject to the same security and compliance rules that govern everything else in this fleet.
 
 ## Supervision discipline
 
-This skill is read-mostly and changes no fleet state.
-Do not tear down a task, merge a PR, dispatch queued work, or mutate any `state/` or `data/` file other than the single report file as a side effect of generating the brief.
+This skill changes no fleet state.
+Do not tear down a task, merge a PR, dispatch queued work, steer a worker, answer a queued decision, clean up work, or mutate any `state/` or `data/` file other than the single report file in explicit file mode.
 If the state you read suggests an action - a PR ready to merge, a queued item whose gate has arrived, or a needs-decision finding - name it in its section and leave the action to the normal lifecycle and configured authority rather than taking it from inside this skill.

.agents/skills/firstmate-coding-guidelines/SKILL.md

@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ Run `bin/fm-doc-audience-check.sh`; it enforces classification, README setup rou
 - `bin/*.sh` and `bin/backends/*.sh` must pass `shellcheck`.
 - Run `bin/fm-lint.sh` before treating a script change as done; it is the single owner of the lint definition (file set, config, and pinned shellcheck version) that CI and the no-mistakes pre-push gate both invoke, and it refuses to run under any other shellcheck version.
 - Colocate tests with the existing pattern in `tests/`, name them `<subject>.test.sh`, and extend an existing script rather than inventing a new runner.
+- Tests must exercise behavior through an executable or public interface and must never assert implementation-source bytes, including through parsers, regexes, snapshots, or indirect wrappers.
 - A maintainer-verification record under `docs/verification/` records active empirical facts, not assumptions or task chronology.
 - Include the date, version, exact commands run, and exact output needed to support the current guarantee.
 - Keep incident chronology and delivery evidence in private task reports or PR evidence unless a concise rationale is required to maintain a current safety boundary.

.agents/skills/firstmate-orca/SKILL.md

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ It does not replace `AGENTS.md`, `docs/orca-backend.md`, or `harness-adapters`.
 
 Orca is a runtime backend, not an agent harness.
 The runtime backend owns the task endpoint and, for Orca, the task worktree.
-The harness is the agent process launched inside that endpoint, such as `claude`, `codex`, `opencode`, `pi`, `grok`, or `kimi`.
+The harness is the agent process launched inside that endpoint, such as `claude`, `codex`, `opencode`, `pi`, `pi-signed`, `grok`, or `kimi`.
 Load `harness-adapters` for harness-specific launch, interrupt, resume, trust-dialog, and skill-invocation facts.
 
 Implementation details, metadata fields, teardown guarantees, and limitations live in `docs/orca-backend.md`.