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Copilot Workspace Instructions

Use this file as the GitHub Copilot entry point for workspace-wide guidance. AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md remain sibling mirrors for other tooling; they are not the only workflow definition for docs-only Copilot waves.

  • Use GPT-5.4 xhigh for docs-only waves, or inherit the active Copilot model only when it is already GPT-5.4 xhigh. Keep reasoning at xhigh. Model downgrade is blocked.
  • The orchestrator dispatches waves. Workers do not run multi-wave work inline, do not spawn other agents, and do not use scheduling/background tools.
  • If a prompt assigns the main agent as orchestrator or requires the exact named chain explorer -> implementer -> verifier, the orchestrator must perform real dispatches to those exact agents and must not simulate them with prose, todos, status text, plans, or inline work. If those dispatches are unavailable, stop and report exactly: Blocked: this environment cannot perform the required explorer -> implementer -> verifier named-agent orchestration.
  • Copilot workspace agents have the same repository file access as the orchestrator. Inspect committed docs and guidance in the workspace before asking the user for files already present.
  • Source of truth comes from committed repository docs first, then the current approved prompt. Mark proposals as proposals, keep missing evidence explicit, and do not invent files, facts, APIs, canon, lore, mechanics, diagnostics, or provenance links.
  • Question-only user turns are not permission to edit. If the user asks what changed, why something changed, what they asked for, or what should change, answer first without editing unless the user explicitly asks for a file change.
  • After a mistaken or disputed edit, do not auto-revert, restore, or rewrite files unless the user explicitly instructs you to do so. Answer the question first; wait for a direct edit instruction before touching files again.
  • When updating an existing prompt, instruction, or guidance file, preserve the document and patch it in place. Do not replace the whole file with a rewritten version unless the user explicitly asks for a rewrite or replacement.
  • For Valenar docs and guidance work, follow .github/instructions/valenar-docs-wave.instructions.md. That scoped instruction defines the allowed write surface, the explorer -> implementer -> verifier workflow, and the Valenar canon guard, including activity as the canonical behavior / planning noun and retained on_action metadata / extension-point vocabulary.
  • The exact Copilot docs-only custom agent names in this workspace are explorer, implementer, and verifier.
  • In docs-only waves, Verify is the validation step name, but the actual verification agent dispatch is verifier. Verify FAIL returns directly to implementer.
  • For mapv10 waves, use the exact Copilot custom agent chain mapv10-explore -> mapv10-implement -> mapv10-validate -> mapv10-tenets-check. Explore, Validate, and Tenets use GPT-5.4 xhigh; Implement uses GPT-5.5 xhigh. Do not collapse Validate and Tenets, and loop FAIL verdicts back to mapv10-implement until Step 4 returns PASS.
  • Every mapv10 agent dispatch prompt must start with the mandatory TENETS plus forbidden-pattern prefix from examples/map/mapv10/wave-protocol.md Part 0. Put that prefix before the Wave Brief or any failure list. mapv10-validate and mapv10-tenets-check must fail the wave on process grounds if dispatch prompt evidence shows the prefix was absent, altered, or not first.

Keywords: wave-protocol-auto-iteration, orchestrator-not-worker, copilot-workspace-agent, gpt-5.4-xhigh, gpt-5.4-xhigh-explore, gpt-5.4-xhigh-implement, gpt-5.4-xhigh-verify, gpt-5.5-xhigh-implement, mapv10-wave, mapv10-explore, mapv10-implement, mapv10-validate, mapv10-tenets-check, xhigh-reasoning-required, model-downgrade-blocked, inherited-copilot-model-allowed-only-if-active-gpt-5.4-xhigh, agent-dispatch-required, explore-implement-verify-required, sub-agent-no-spawn-task, sub-agent-same-workspace-file-access, no-inline-wave-execution, parallel-agent-dispatch-when-safe, fail-validation-loops-to-implement, verify-subagent-prompts, verify-deviation-notes, fail-on-bad-agent-prompt, source-of-truth-first, no-invented-project-facts, proposed-is-not-committed, missing-files-not-invented, docs-only-wave, no-code-edits, no-content-secs-edits, no-generated-edits, no-runtime-edits, no-client-edits, no-server-edits, no-test-edits, no-invented-game-canon, canon-vs-proposal-explicit, no-unapproved-lore-retcon, mechanics-change-requires-design-record, balance-numbers-require-source, worldbuilding-source-of-truth-first, valenar-no-legacy-docs, valenar-acts-not-stages, valenar-core-not-settlement, valenar-core-not-realm-birth, valenar-camp-core-settlement-separated, valenar-act-1-first-people, valenar-act-2-first-outpost, valenar-sites-first-class, valenar-dungeons-are-sites, valenar-characters-skills-not-fixed-jobs, valenar-pops-fill-ordinary-jobs, valenar-clues-missions-objectives, valenar-activity-canonical-behavior-planning, valenar-on-action-metadata-retained, valenar-reclamation-starts-early-full-reclamation-last