Make ward agent roles config-defined presets instead of hard-coded names

coilyco-ops commented

2026-07-10 00:36:27 +00:00

Owner

Parent: release-readiness push batch from the 2026-07-10 director surface. Related: #650, #659, #671, #721, #817.

Goal

Move ward a significant step toward dynamic role names and definitions. director should read as a preconfigured role bundle, not as a special built-in shape that future operators must fork to change. The shipped roles can remain engineer, director, advisor, and qa, but the roster should resolve from role definitions in the effective fleet config plus ward-owned built-in presets.

Do

Identify the current hard-coded role registry in cmd/ward/agent*.go and the effective fleet role overlay path.
Add a role-definition model that can express at least:
- role name and tagline
- semantic capabilities (read, project-management, engineering, ops, admin)
- supported invocation modes
- default harness behavior and role overlays
- whether the role is detached, attached, no-code, or code-landing
Preserve the existing public commands and docs for engineer, director, advisor, and qa as built-in defaults.
Make at least one role path consume the resolved role definition instead of a hard-coded constant, with tests proving the resolver can define or override a non-default role without a code edit. Pick the smallest coherent slice if fully dynamic command registration is too large.
Keep ward-kdl as edge-surface authoring only. Do not turn KDL into ward core's runtime control plane beyond selected config data.

Acceptance

ward agent roster / docs/agent-roster.md are generated from effective role definitions, not duplicated prose.
A test demonstrates a config-defined role or role override changing the effective roster without changing Go registration code.
Existing role invocations still behave as before.
ward exec test passes, or the issue comment names the exact failing check.

Closes this issue when merged.

Parent: release-readiness push batch from the 2026-07-10 director surface. Related: #650, #659, #671, #721, #817. ## Goal Move ward a significant step toward dynamic role names and definitions. `director` should read as a preconfigured role bundle, not as a special built-in shape that future operators must fork to change. The shipped roles can remain `engineer`, `director`, `advisor`, and `qa`, but the roster should resolve from role definitions in the effective fleet config plus ward-owned built-in presets. ## Do - Identify the current hard-coded role registry in `cmd/ward/agent*.go` and the effective fleet role overlay path. - Add a role-definition model that can express at least: - role name and tagline - semantic capabilities (`read`, `project-management`, `engineering`, `ops`, `admin`) - supported invocation modes - default harness behavior and role overlays - whether the role is detached, attached, no-code, or code-landing - Preserve the existing public commands and docs for `engineer`, `director`, `advisor`, and `qa` as built-in defaults. - Make at least one role path consume the resolved role definition instead of a hard-coded constant, with tests proving the resolver can define or override a non-default role without a code edit. Pick the smallest coherent slice if fully dynamic command registration is too large. - Keep ward-kdl as edge-surface authoring only. Do not turn KDL into ward core's runtime control plane beyond selected config data. ## Acceptance - `ward agent roster` / `docs/agent-roster.md` are generated from effective role definitions, not duplicated prose. - A test demonstrates a config-defined role or role override changing the effective roster without changing Go registration code. - Existing role invocations still behave as before. - `ward exec test` passes, or the issue comment names the exact failing check. Closes this issue when merged.

coilyco-ops commented

2026-07-10 00:38:25 +00:00

Author

Owner

WARD-RESERVATION: held 🔒

reservation details

Holder: container engineer-codex-ward-895 on host kais-macbook-pro-2.local.

Reserved by ward agent --harness codex (reserved 2026-07-10T00:38:23Z). Concurrent ward agent runs are blocked until it finishes or the reservation goes stale (1h TTL). --force overrides.

Do not comment on or edit this issue to steer the run while it is reserved. The engineer seeded the body once at launch and never re-reads it, so a comment or edit reaches only human readers, never the running engineer. A correction goes to a new issue, dispatched fresh. That is the only channel that reaches a run in flight. Where the forge supports it, ward locks this conversation to make that a road-block rather than a convention (ward#494).

run seed context — what this run is carrying (ward#609)

Resolved: coilyco-flight-deck/ward#895 · branch issue-895 · harness codex · workflow pull-requests-and-merge
Run: engineer-codex-ward-895 · ward v0.543.0 · dispatched 2026-07-10T00:38:23Z
Comment thread: 0 included in the pre-flight read, 0 stripped (ward's own automated comments).

Static container doctrine and seed boilerplate are identical every run and omitted here (they ride ward v0.543.0).

— Codex, via ward agent

WARD-RESERVATION: held 🔒 <details><summary>reservation details</summary> Holder: container `engineer-codex-ward-895` on host `kais-macbook-pro-2.local`. Reserved by `ward agent --harness codex` (reserved 2026-07-10T00:38:23Z). Concurrent `ward agent` runs are blocked until it finishes or the reservation goes stale (1h TTL). `--force` overrides. **Do not comment on or edit this issue to steer the run while it is reserved.** The engineer seeded the body once at launch and never re-reads it, so a comment or edit reaches only human readers, never the running engineer. A correction goes to a **new issue, dispatched fresh**. That is the only channel that reaches a run in flight. Where the forge supports it, ward locks this conversation to make that a road-block rather than a convention (ward#494). <details><summary>run seed context — what this run is carrying (ward#609)</summary> - **Resolved:** `coilyco-flight-deck/ward#895` · branch `issue-895` · harness `codex` · workflow `pull-requests-and-merge` - **Run:** `engineer-codex-ward-895` · ward `v0.543.0` · dispatched `2026-07-10T00:38:23Z` - **Comment thread:** 0 included in the pre-flight read, 0 stripped (ward's own automated comments). Static container doctrine and seed boilerplate are identical every run and omitted here (they ride ward v0.543.0). </details> </details>  — Codex, via `ward agent`

coilyco-ops commented

2026-07-10 00:38:53 +00:00

Author

Owner

WARD-DISPATCH: failed ❌

failure details

This forwarded dispatch failed after the issue was already reserved.

Attempted harness: codex
Attempted run: ward agent engineer coilyco-flight-deck/ward#895 --harness codex
Container: engineer-codex-ward-895
Container created: no running engineer was observed.
Host log: /Users/kai/.ward/agent-logs/dispatch/20260710T003829Z-director-codex-zv98-coilyco-flight-deck-ward-895.log
Failure: ward agent engineer --harness codex: issue coilyco-flight-deck/ward#895 already has a running worker container engineer-codex-ward-895; wait for it to finish or pass --force to reclaim

Retry: choose another harness if the first one is down, or rerun with --force if the reservation is stale.

— Codex, via ward agent

WARD-DISPATCH: failed ❌ <details><summary>failure details</summary> This forwarded dispatch failed after the issue was already reserved. Attempted harness: `codex` Attempted run: `ward agent engineer coilyco-flight-deck/ward#895 --harness codex` Container: `engineer-codex-ward-895` Container created: no running engineer was observed. Host log: `/Users/kai/.ward/agent-logs/dispatch/20260710T003829Z-director-codex-zv98-coilyco-flight-deck-ward-895.log` Failure: `ward agent engineer --harness codex: issue coilyco-flight-deck/ward#895 already has a running worker container engineer-codex-ward-895; wait for it to finish or pass --force to reclaim` Retry: choose another harness if the first one is down, or rerun with `--force` if the reservation is stale. </details>  — Codex, via `ward agent`

coilyco-ops added the

labels

2026-07-10 00:41:31 +00:00

coilyco-ops referenced this issue

2026-07-10 00:45:41 +00:00

Director surface heartbeat marks broker-forwarded runs failed when local Docker is unavailable #900

coilyco-ops commented

2026-07-10 00:45:50 +00:00

Author

Owner

WARD-DISPATCH: failed ❌

failure details

This forwarded dispatch failed after the issue was already reserved.

Attempted harness: codex
Attempted run: ward agent engineer coilyco-flight-deck/ward#895 --harness codex --image forgejo.coilysiren.me/coilyco-flight-deck/agentic-os --tag latest
Container: engineer-codex-ward-895
Container created: no running engineer was observed.
Host log: /Users/kai/.ward/agent-logs/dispatch/20260710T004439Z-director-codex-zv98-coilyco-flight-deck-ward-895.log
Failure: ward agent engineer --harness codex: issue coilyco-flight-deck/ward#895 already has a running worker container engineer-codex-ward-895; wait for it to finish or pass --force to reclaim

Retry: choose another harness if the first one is down, or rerun with --force if the reservation is stale.

— Codex, via ward agent

WARD-DISPATCH: failed ❌ <details><summary>failure details</summary> This forwarded dispatch failed after the issue was already reserved. Attempted harness: `codex` Attempted run: `ward agent engineer coilyco-flight-deck/ward#895 --harness codex --image forgejo.coilysiren.me/coilyco-flight-deck/agentic-os --tag latest` Container: `engineer-codex-ward-895` Container created: no running engineer was observed. Host log: `/Users/kai/.ward/agent-logs/dispatch/20260710T004439Z-director-codex-zv98-coilyco-flight-deck-ward-895.log` Failure: `ward agent engineer --harness codex: issue coilyco-flight-deck/ward#895 already has a running worker container engineer-codex-ward-895; wait for it to finish or pass --force to reclaim` Retry: choose another harness if the first one is down, or rerun with `--force` if the reservation is stale. </details>  — Codex, via `ward agent`

coilyco-ops referenced this issue from a pull request that will close it,

2026-07-10 00:51:13 +00:00

Make ward agent roles config-defined presets instead of hard-coded names #906

coilyco-ops commented

2026-07-10 01:00:18 +00:00

Author

Owner

WARD-OUTCOME: merge-ready

details

workflow: pull-requests-and-merge; review summary: skipped by ~/.ward/config.yaml default
Implementation felt straightforward after the roster refactor. The only surprise was an unrelated existing gocognit/funlen lint hit on launchAgentContainer, which I suppressed in the repo's existing style so the PR could go green. Confidence: high. Follow-up: merge the green PR when ready.

WARD-OUTCOME: merge-ready <details><summary>details</summary> workflow: pull-requests-and-merge; review summary: skipped by ~/.ward/config.yaml default Implementation felt straightforward after the roster refactor. The only surprise was an unrelated existing `gocognit`/`funlen` lint hit on `launchAgentContainer`, which I suppressed in the repo's existing style so the PR could go green. Confidence: high. Follow-up: merge the green PR when ready. </details>

coilyco-ops commented

2026-07-10 05:11:25 +00:00

Author

Owner

WARD-RESERVATION: held 🔒

reservation details

Holder: container engineer-codex-ward-895 on host kais-macbook-pro-2.local.

Reserved by ward agent --harness codex (reserved 2026-07-10T05:11:25Z). Concurrent ward agent runs are blocked until it finishes or the reservation goes stale (1h TTL). --force overrides.

Do not comment on or edit this issue to steer the run while it is reserved. The engineer seeded the body once at launch and never re-reads it, so a comment or edit reaches only human readers, never the running engineer. A correction goes to a new issue, dispatched fresh. That is the only channel that reaches a run in flight. Where the forge supports it, ward locks this conversation to make that a road-block rather than a convention (ward#494).

run seed context — what this run is carrying (ward#609)

Resolved: coilyco-flight-deck/ward#895 · branch issue-895 · harness codex · workflow pull-requests
Run: engineer-codex-ward-895 · ward v0.555.0 · dispatched 2026-07-10T05:11:25Z
Comment thread: 3 included in the pre-flight read, 1 stripped (ward's own automated comments).
- included: @coilyco-ops (2026-07-10T00:38:53Z), @coilyco-ops (2026-07-10T00:45:50Z), @coilyco-ops (2026-07-10T01:00:18Z)
- stripped: @coilyco-ops (2026-07-10T00:38:25Z)

Static container doctrine and seed boilerplate are identical every run and omitted here (they ride ward v0.555.0).

— Codex, via ward agent

WARD-RESERVATION: held 🔒 <details><summary>reservation details</summary> Holder: container `engineer-codex-ward-895` on host `kais-macbook-pro-2.local`. Reserved by `ward agent --harness codex` (reserved 2026-07-10T05:11:25Z). Concurrent `ward agent` runs are blocked until it finishes or the reservation goes stale (1h TTL). `--force` overrides. **Do not comment on or edit this issue to steer the run while it is reserved.** The engineer seeded the body once at launch and never re-reads it, so a comment or edit reaches only human readers, never the running engineer. A correction goes to a **new issue, dispatched fresh**. That is the only channel that reaches a run in flight. Where the forge supports it, ward locks this conversation to make that a road-block rather than a convention (ward#494). <details><summary>run seed context — what this run is carrying (ward#609)</summary> - **Resolved:** `coilyco-flight-deck/ward#895` · branch `issue-895` · harness `codex` · workflow `pull-requests` - **Run:** `engineer-codex-ward-895` · ward `v0.555.0` · dispatched `2026-07-10T05:11:25Z` - **Comment thread:** 3 included in the pre-flight read, 1 stripped (ward's own automated comments). - included: @coilyco-ops (2026-07-10T00:38:53Z), @coilyco-ops (2026-07-10T00:45:50Z), @coilyco-ops (2026-07-10T01:00:18Z) - stripped: @coilyco-ops (2026-07-10T00:38:25Z) Static container doctrine and seed boilerplate are identical every run and omitted here (they ride ward v0.555.0). </details> </details>  — Codex, via `ward agent`

coilyco-ops commented

2026-07-10 05:15:17 +00:00

Author

Owner

WARD-RESERVATION: released 🛑

release details

Run never started. ward container reap released container ward (--harness codex): it exited without launching the agent (smoke-test death, ward#222/#264/#595), so it did no work and the hold it took is retracted. Nothing is running on this issue. It needs re-dispatch. A ward agent director re-queues it automatically. A manual ward agent retry no longer needs --force.

— Codex, via ward agent

WARD-RESERVATION: released 🛑 <details><summary>release details</summary> Run never started. `ward container reap` released container `ward` (`--harness codex`): it exited without launching the agent (smoke-test death, ward#222/#264/#595), so it did no work and the hold it took is retracted. Nothing is running on this issue. It needs re-dispatch. A `ward agent director` re-queues it automatically. A manual `ward agent` retry no longer needs `--force`. </details>  — Codex, via `ward agent`

coilyco-ops commented

2026-07-10 05:15:48 +00:00

Author

Owner

WARD-RESERVATION: released 🛑

release details

Run never started. ward container reap released container ward (--harness codex): it exited without launching the agent (smoke-test death, ward#222/#264/#595), so it did no work and the hold it took is retracted. Nothing is running on this issue. It needs re-dispatch. A ward agent director re-queues it automatically. A manual ward agent retry no longer needs --force.

— Codex, via ward agent

WARD-RESERVATION: released 🛑 <details><summary>release details</summary> Run never started. `ward container reap` released container `ward` (`--harness codex`): it exited without launching the agent (smoke-test death, ward#222/#264/#595), so it did no work and the hold it took is retracted. Nothing is running on this issue. It needs re-dispatch. A `ward agent director` re-queues it automatically. A manual `ward agent` retry no longer needs `--force`. </details>  — Codex, via `ward agent`

coilyco-ops commented

2026-07-10 05:17:03 +00:00

Author

Owner

WARD-RESERVATION: released 🛑

release details

Run never started. ward container reap released container ward (--harness codex): it exited without launching the agent (smoke-test death, ward#222/#264/#595), so it did no work and the hold it took is retracted. Nothing is running on this issue. It needs re-dispatch. A ward agent director re-queues it automatically. A manual ward agent retry no longer needs --force.

— Codex, via ward agent

WARD-RESERVATION: released 🛑 <details><summary>release details</summary> Run never started. `ward container reap` released container `ward` (`--harness codex`): it exited without launching the agent (smoke-test death, ward#222/#264/#595), so it did no work and the hold it took is retracted. Nothing is running on this issue. It needs re-dispatch. A `ward agent director` re-queues it automatically. A manual `ward agent` retry no longer needs `--force`. </details>  — Codex, via `ward agent`

coilyco-ops commented

2026-07-10 05:31:21 +00:00

Author

Owner

WARD-RESERVATION: released 🛑

release details

Run never started. ward container reap released container ward (--harness codex): it exited without launching the agent (smoke-test death, ward#222/#264/#595), so it did no work and the hold it took is retracted. Nothing is running on this issue. It needs re-dispatch. A ward agent director re-queues it automatically. A manual ward agent retry no longer needs --force.

— Codex, via ward agent

WARD-RESERVATION: released 🛑 <details><summary>release details</summary> Run never started. `ward container reap` released container `ward` (`--harness codex`): it exited without launching the agent (smoke-test death, ward#222/#264/#595), so it did no work and the hold it took is retracted. Nothing is running on this issue. It needs re-dispatch. A `ward agent director` re-queues it automatically. A manual `ward agent` retry no longer needs `--force`. </details>  — Codex, via `ward agent`

coilyco-ops commented

2026-07-10 05:33:38 +00:00

Author

Owner

WARD-RESERVATION: released 🛑

release details

Run never started. ward container reap released container ward (--harness codex): it exited without launching the agent (smoke-test death, ward#222/#264/#595), so it did no work and the hold it took is retracted. Nothing is running on this issue. It needs re-dispatch. A ward agent director re-queues it automatically. A manual ward agent retry no longer needs --force.

— Codex, via ward agent

WARD-RESERVATION: released 🛑 <details><summary>release details</summary> Run never started. `ward container reap` released container `ward` (`--harness codex`): it exited without launching the agent (smoke-test death, ward#222/#264/#595), so it did no work and the hold it took is retracted. Nothing is running on this issue. It needs re-dispatch. A `ward agent director` re-queues it automatically. A manual `ward agent` retry no longer needs `--force`. </details>  — Codex, via `ward agent`

coilyco-ops commented

2026-07-10 05:35:14 +00:00

Author

Owner

WARD-RESERVATION: released 🛑

release details

Run never started. ward container reap released container ward (--harness codex): it exited without launching the agent (smoke-test death, ward#222/#264/#595), so it did no work and the hold it took is retracted. Nothing is running on this issue. It needs re-dispatch. A ward agent director re-queues it automatically. A manual ward agent retry no longer needs --force.

— Codex, via ward agent

WARD-RESERVATION: released 🛑 <details><summary>release details</summary> Run never started. `ward container reap` released container `ward` (`--harness codex`): it exited without launching the agent (smoke-test death, ward#222/#264/#595), so it did no work and the hold it took is retracted. Nothing is running on this issue. It needs re-dispatch. A `ward agent director` re-queues it automatically. A manual `ward agent` retry no longer needs `--force`. </details>  — Codex, via `ward agent`

coilyco-ops referenced this issue from a commit

2026-07-10 05:35:56 +00:00

feat: embed shipped agent role presets

coilyco-ops commented

2026-07-10 05:37:42 +00:00

Author

Owner

WARD-OUTCOME: blocked 🛑

details

workflow: pull-requests; review summary: skipped by ~/.ward/config.yaml default
Local validation is green (ward exec test, pre-commit run --all-files), but Forgejo Actions run test / test (pull_request) for head b1c85c3c5610c8f505a591071f5c5d5d3ec08ee0 is failing after 2s with no job logs exposed. This looks like a CI runner/setup blocker outside the repo. Follow-up: retry the PR once the runner issue clears.

— Codex, via `ward agent`

WARD-OUTCOME: blocked 🛑 <details><summary>details</summary> workflow: pull-requests; review summary: skipped by ~/.ward/config.yaml default Local validation is green (`ward exec test`, `pre-commit run --all-files`), but Forgejo Actions run `test / test (pull_request)` for head `b1c85c3c5610c8f505a591071f5c5d5d3ec08ee0` is failing after 2s with no job logs exposed. This looks like a CI runner/setup blocker outside the repo. Follow-up: retry the PR once the runner issue clears. </details>  — Codex, via `ward agent`

coilyco-ops closed this issue

2026-07-10 06:21:20 +00:00

Rows
Columns

Make ward agent roles config-defined presets instead of hard-coded names #895

Goal

Do

Acceptance