Implementation Recommendations

Phased implementation plan for the 147 babysitter-native gaps. All recommendations are framed from the orchestration platform perspective.

**Note**: This document groups gaps by implementation affinity (what makes sense to build together). The Roadmap groups by dependency ordering (what must be built first). The two use different sequencing -- consult the roadmap for prerequisite chains.

Phase 1: Foundation (Weeks 1-4)

1.1 Prompt Strata Model (GAP-PROMPT-001)

**Objective**: Separate prompt assembly into cache-friendly strata.

**Implementation**: 1. Define PromptStratum type in packages/sdk/src/prompts/ 2. Tag each prompt section with stable, runtime, or turnLocal 3. Compose prompts stratum-by-stratum with clear boundaries 4. Add --show-strata flag to instructions:* commands

**Acceptance Criteria**:

• [ ] All prompt sections tagged with stratum
• [ ] Prompt assembly preserves stratum ordering
• [ ] instructions:babysit-skill --show-strata shows stratum boundaries

1.2 Governance Policy Layer (GAP-SEC-001)

**Objective**: Centralized policy evaluation for security governance.

**Implementation**: 1. Create packages/sdk/src/governance/ module 2. Define PolicyRule type with evaluation logic 3. Evaluate policies at effect dispatch in processContext.ts 4. Log policy decisions to structured JSONL

**Acceptance Criteria**:

• [ ] PolicyEngine evaluates rules at effect dispatch
• [ ] Policy decisions logged to ~/.a5c/logs/
• [ ] Existing breakpoint rules integrated as policy source

1.3 JSON API Foundation (GAP-JSON-001 + GAP-JSON-002)

**Objective**: Programmatic JSON API for run and effect lifecycle.

**Implementation**: 1. Extract CLI command logic into importable API functions 2. Define JSON request/response protocol for runs and effects 3. Expose via MCP tools and direct import 4. Support both sync and async patterns

**Acceptance Criteria**:

• [ ] Run creation, iteration, and status via JSON API
• [ ] Effect dispatch and result posting via JSON API
• [ ] API usable from Node.js without shell invocation

1.4 Streaming Output Capture (GAP-SUBOBS-001)

**Objective**: Real-time output from harness invocations.

**Implementation**: 1. Pipe stdout/stderr from child processes in invokeHarness() 2. Stream events to observer dashboard 3. Store streaming output in task artifacts

**Acceptance Criteria**:

• [ ] Real-time output visible during harness invocation
• [ ] Observer dashboard shows live output per task

1.5 Capability-Based Routing (GAP-HADAPT-001)

**Objective**: Route tasks to harnesses by capability.

**Implementation**: 1. Define capability declarations per harness adapter 2. Add required capabilities to task definitions 3. Implement matching in routing logic

**Acceptance Criteria**:

• [ ] Harnesses declare capabilities (code-gen, search, edit, etc.)
• [ ] Tasks matched to capable harnesses
• [ ] Fallback to default when no match

1.6 Session-to-Run Model (GAP-SESSION-001)

**Objective**: Sessions contain multiple runs.

**Implementation**: 1. Extend session schema to track multiple runIds 2. Add session:list-runs command 3. Preserve session context across run boundaries

**Acceptance Criteria**:

• [ ] Sessions track multiple run IDs
• [ ] Session state persists across runs

1.7 Run Health + Status (GAP-STATE-008 + GAP-UX-005 + GAP-UX-006 + GAP-OBS-001)

**Objective**: Health scoring and unified status view.

**Implementation**: 1. Define RunHealthScore from journal analysis 2. Enhance run:status with --rich flag 3. Add task:list --grouped for organized pending work 4. Integrate health into harness:doctor

**Acceptance Criteria**:

• [ ] Health score computed from journal
• [ ] run:status --rich shows unified view
• [ ] task:list --grouped organizes by kind

1.8 Parallel Execution (GAP-PAR-001 + GAP-PAR-009)

**Objective**: Concurrent effect execution using scheduler hints.

**Implementation**: 1. Read scheduler hints in babysit skill 2. Execute same-group effects concurrently 3. Implement sleep strategy for sleepUntilEpochMs

**Acceptance Criteria**:

• [ ] Parallel-grouped effects execute concurrently
• [ ] Sleep effects deferred until epoch passes

1.9 Tool Quick Wins (GAP-TOOLS-035 + GAP-TOOLS-033 + GAP-TOOLS-038 + GAP-TOOLS-007)

Zero-dependency tool improvements: grep output modes, runtime config tool, ask tool alignment, JS/TS REPL.

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Phase 2: Core Infrastructure (Weeks 5-12)

2.1 Prompt Caching + Cache-Aware Assembly (GAP-PERF-001 + GAP-PERF-005)

Build on strata model for cache optimization. Stable strata cached between iterations.

2.2 Trust, Manifests, and Provenance (GAP-SEC-002 + GAP-SEC-003 + GAP-ECO-001 + GAP-ECO-002)

Unified plugin manifest with trust classification and provenance tracking.

2.3 Feature Registry + Compatibility (GAP-ECO-003 + GAP-ECO-004)

Central feature management with plugin compatibility checking.

2.4 Harness Selection + Routing (GAP-AGENT-008 + GAP-HADAPT-002 + GAP-HADAPT-003 + GAP-HADAPT-004)

Model selection per task, cost-based routing, and fallback chains.

2.5 Session Infrastructure (GAP-SESSION-002 + GAP-SESSION-004 + GAP-STATE-001 + GAP-STATE-003)

Rich session state, cost budgets, memory extraction, and session persistence.

2.6 JSON APIs (GAP-JSON-003 + GAP-JSON-004 + GAP-JSON-005)

Breakpoint API, session API, and event streaming.

2.7 Subagent Visibility (GAP-SUBOBS-002 + GAP-SUBOBS-003)

Progress tracking and per-subagent cost tracking.

2.8 Host Contract + Streaming (GAP-REMOTE-007 + GAP-PERF-004 + GAP-PERF-008)

Formal host contract, streaming rendering, and structured continuity.

2.9 Process Composition (GAP-PROC-001 + GAP-PROC-002 + GAP-PROC-004)

Process chaining, nesting, and parameter schemas.

2.10 Breakpoint Workflows (GAP-BRK-001 + GAP-BRK-002 + GAP-OBS-NEW-001)

Approval chains, external delegation, and webhook alerts.

2.11 User Experience (GAP-USER-001 + GAP-USER-006 + GAP-USER-012 + GAP-USER-017)

Operator command layer, cost tracking, plan mode, and plugin management.

2.12 Security + Observability (GAP-SEC-005 + GAP-OBS-004 + GAP-PROMPT-002 + GAP-PROMPT-005)

Approval postures, policy trail, capability projection, and continuity overlays.

2.13 Async + Cross-Run (GAP-PAR-002 + GAP-AGENT-005 + GAP-AGENT-006)

Async effect execution, cross-run communication, and state sharing.

2.14 Smart Routing Engine (GAP-ROUTE-001)

Centralized routing considering capabilities, cost, model, and health. Large effort -- start framework in Phase 2, complete in Phase 3.

2.15 MCP Integration (GAP-TOOLS-025 + GAP-MCPC-001 + GAP-MCPC-002 + GAP-MCPC-003 + GAP-MCPC-004)

MCP tool discovery/invocation, channel inbound/outbound messaging, channel permission relay, MCP server management UI.

2.16 Tool Infrastructure (GAP-TOOLS-014 + GAP-TOOLS-018 + GAP-TOOLS-030 + GAP-TOOLS-036)

Programmatic task CRUD, structured planning phase, effect cancellation, bash background execution.

2.17 Rich Rendering Foundation (GAP-UX-001 + GAP-UX-001a + GAP-UX-001c + GAP-UX-001e + GAP-UX-001f)

Rich rendering engine, effect tree visualization, permission/breakpoint approval UI, progress/status line, streaming output panels.

2.18 Prompt Enrichment (GAP-PROMPT-008 + GAP-PROMPT-009 + GAP-PROMPT-010)

Coding philosophy prompt section, tool preference rules, safety/reversibility prompt framework. Build on PROMPT-001 strata model.

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Phase 3: Advanced Capabilities (Weeks 13-24)

3.1 Session Compaction (GAP-PERF-002)

Multi-strategy session compaction with auto-compact triggers.

3.2 Sub-Harness Isolation (GAP-AGENT-001 + GAP-AGENT-003)

Isolated child runs, coordinator process pattern, fan-out/fan-in.

3.3 Multi-Harness Parallelism (GAP-PAR-003 + GAP-PAR-010)

Named effect groups, fork-join patterns, multi-harness concurrent dispatch.

3.4 Daemon Mode (GAP-REMOTE-001)

Background service with file watcher and trigger activation.

3.5 Observability Suite (GAP-OBS-002 through GAP-OBS-008)

Phase timeline, prompt observability, context introspection, audit export, progress summarization.

3.6 UX Improvements (GAP-UX-007 through GAP-UX-014)

Rich breakpoints, resume dashboard, failure triage, command discoverability, mode selection.

3.7 Security + Privacy (GAP-SEC-004 + GAP-SEC-007)

General sandbox toggle and privacy settings.

3.8 Process + Effect Advanced (GAP-PROC-003 + GAP-ROUTE-002 + GAP-ROUTE-003)

Process versioning, effect priority, and cross-run caching.

3.9 Subagent Advanced (GAP-SUBOBS-004 + GAP-SUBOBS-005 + GAP-HADAPT-005)

Health monitoring, dashboard drill-down, circuit breaker.

3.10 Session + Run (GAP-SESSION-003 + GAP-RUN-001 + GAP-RUN-003)

Session templates, run comparison, run forking.

3.11 Observer + Profile (GAP-OBS-NEW-002 + GAP-PROF-001)

Observer API and profile-driven auto-configuration.

3.12 Delegation + Templates (GAP-AGENT-004 + GAP-AGENT-007)

Built-in process templates and delegation policy layer.

3.13 Parallelization Polish (GAP-PAR-005 + GAP-PAR-006)

Parallel file operations and streaming parallelism.

3.14 Prompt Advanced (GAP-PROMPT-003 + GAP-PROMPT-004 + GAP-PROMPT-006 + GAP-PROMPT-011 + GAP-PROMPT-012)

Personality overlays, prompt inspection, instructions hook, output efficiency rules, git safety protocol prompt.

3.15 Tool Advanced (GAP-TOOLS-008 + GAP-TOOLS-012 + GAP-TOOLS-017 + GAP-TOOLS-023 + GAP-TOOLS-026 + GAP-TOOLS-027 + GAP-TOOLS-029 + GAP-TOOLS-031 + GAP-TOOLS-032 + GAP-TOOLS-034)

Web search, LSP integration, git worktree isolation, workflow composition, structured user interaction, skill discovery, structured output, MCP resource browsing, MCP authentication, dynamic tool discovery.

3.16 Rich Rendering Polish (GAP-UX-001b + GAP-UX-001d)

Structured diff rendering and message type rendering.

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Phase 4: Extended Platform (Weeks 25-40)

4.1 Remote Infrastructure (GAP-REMOTE-004 + GAP-REMOTE-006 + GAP-REMOTE-008 + GAP-REMOTE-009)

Cron triggers, MCP client, streaming protocol, host-mediated interaction.

4.2 State + Memory (GAP-STATE-002 + GAP-STATE-006)

Memory consolidation and session rewind.

4.3 Analytics + Config (GAP-OBS-006 + GAP-ECO-005 + GAP-SEC-006)

Analytics pipeline, config layering, OAuth integration.

4.4 Performance Polish (GAP-PERF-006 + GAP-PERF-007 + GAP-PROMPT-007)

Incremental streaming, aggressive parallelism, compression families.

4.5 Lifecycle Polish (GAP-BRK-003 + GAP-RUN-002)

Breakpoint analytics and run archival.

4.6 Tool Polish (GAP-TOOLS-020 + GAP-TOOLS-021 + GAP-TOOLS-028 + GAP-TOOLS-037)

Scheduled orchestration triggers, external event triggers, sleep/delay enhancement, fetch content processing.

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Phase 5: Aspirational (Weeks 41+)

5.1 Remote Sessions (GAP-REMOTE-003)

WebSocket-based remote session transport.

5.2 Session Collaboration (GAP-SESSION-005)

Session sharing and collaborative orchestration.

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Dependencies Graph (Critical Path)

Phase 1 Foundation:
  GAP-PROMPT-001 --> Phase 2: GAP-PERF-001, GAP-PERF-005
  GAP-SEC-001 --> Phase 2: GAP-SEC-002, GAP-OBS-004
  GAP-HADAPT-001 --> Phase 2: GAP-HADAPT-002, GAP-ROUTE-001
  GAP-SESSION-001 --> Phase 2: GAP-SESSION-002, GAP-STATE-003
  GAP-JSON-001 --> Phase 2: GAP-JSON-003, GAP-JSON-005
  GAP-SUBOBS-001 --> Phase 2: GAP-SUBOBS-002, GAP-SUBOBS-003

Phase 2 --> Phase 3:
  GAP-PERF-001 --> GAP-PERF-002 (compaction)
  GAP-AGENT-008 --> GAP-AGENT-001 (sub-harness)
  GAP-ROUTE-001 --> GAP-AGENT-003 (coordinator)
  GAP-PAR-002 --> GAP-PAR-003 (multi-harness)

Phase 3 --> Phase 4:
  GAP-REMOTE-007 --> GAP-REMOTE-008 --> GAP-REMOTE-003

Effort Estimates