jetthoughts · pftg · Aug 22, 2026 · Aug 22, 2026 · Aug 22, 2026 · Aug 22, 2026
diff --git a/.agents/skills/async-first-communication/SKILL.md b/.agents/skills/async-first-communication/SKILL.md
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ the work. A task is not done until its state is readable asynchronously.
 
 | What | Where |
 |---|---|
+| Current WIP + goals snapshot (cold-start entry) | `STATUS.md` at repo root — links only, updated in the same commit as the state change |
 | Decision / groomed design / vote | the project's docs (`docs/projects/<id>/`), with rationale |
 | Task status + claims + handoffs | kanban board (`kanban-md`, local) AND the committed snapshot (project `backlog.md` State section) |
 | Operational state across sessions | the project runbook (statuses + handoff notes pasted VERBATIM) |

diff --git a/.okf/log.md b/.okf/log.md
@@ -79,6 +79,17 @@ Also corrected: the ~1e-6 noise figure in test-gates and in the code comment
 was macOS-local and read as universal. Same overclaim shape the #566 reviewer
 caught one layer down.
 
+## 2026-08-22 - STATUS.md is the repo's cold-start surface
+
+Paul asked for a way for anyone landing in the repo to know the goals and the
+WIP without archaeology. The answer is `STATUS.md` at repo root: goals (links),
+a WIP table, blocked-on-Paul — links only, no duplicated state, updated in the
+same commit as the state change (same enforcement wording as the OKF rule,
+which is the one that has held). Ownership boundary unchanged: the vault still
+owns operations; STATUS.md points, never copies. Recorded in
+[company-layer-ownership](workflows/company-layer-ownership.md); pointer + rule
+added to CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, and the async-first skill's surfaces table.
+
 ## 2026-08-22 - the site sells one thing, and title claims are now a canon rule
 
 Paul changed the positioning: the site sells an embedded team of senior

diff --git a/.okf/workflows/company-layer-ownership.md b/.okf/workflows/company-layer-ownership.md
@@ -43,6 +43,19 @@ into published copy days after they were removed from 13 blog posts.
 Never copy a company number out of a vault note into published copy. Corrected
 in the vault the same day; the guard lives in the CLAUDE.md banner.
 
+# The repo's cold-start surface: STATUS.md
+
+Added 2026-08-22 (Paul, via /claude-md-improver): `STATUS.md` at repo root is
+the single cold-start index — goals, WIP table, blocked-on-Paul — **links
+only**. It never copies vault-owned state (bet status, numbers, weekly loop)
+or company facts into itself; it points at the vault and the per-project
+surfaces (`docs/projects/<id>/README.md` / `backlog.md`). Update rule
+(CLAUDE.md §Behavioral Constraints, AGENTS.md): a session that changed what's
+in flight updates `STATUS.md` in the same commit/PR, or the session is not
+done. Enforcement is rule-only by deliberate choice — no freshness test, no
+hook (the 2510 `_ARCHIVED_TASK-TRACKER` rotted under tooling-free neglect;
+the OKF same-commit wording is the pattern that has held).
+
 # Where the routers point
 
 Aligned 2026-08-17: `AGENTS.md`, `docs/workflows/BASE_HANDBOOK.md`,

diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 Canonical instructions live in `CLAUDE.md`. Read that first.
 Session start: always read `@docs/workflows/BASE_HANDBOOK.md` and `@docs/workflows/flow-router.md`.
 
-**Async-first communication (SOP for ALL agents):** written, discoverable artifacts are the default for every decision, finding, status change, and handoff — sync interaction is the exception and its outcome gets written back same-day. Full rules + canonical surfaces table: `.agents/skills/async-first-communication/SKILL.md`. A task is not done until its state is readable asynchronously.
+**Async-first communication (SOP for ALL agents):** written, discoverable artifacts are the default for every decision, finding, status change, and handoff — sync interaction is the exception and its outcome gets written back same-day. Full rules + canonical surfaces table: `.agents/skills/async-first-communication/SKILL.md`. A task is not done until its state is readable asynchronously. **Cold-start surface: `STATUS.md` at repo root** (goals + WIP + blockers, links only) — a session that changed what's in flight updates it in the same commit/PR, or the session is not done.
 
 **Four eyes on every stage, author != verifier (SOP for ALL agents):** the point is agents collaborating to find the TRUTH — a single agent cannot find its own blind spot, because it checks the thing it MEANT to build. Every change is **written by one sub-agent and verified by a different one**; the author never produces the evidence for its own claim. The review lands before the artifact leaves the workshop: a plan is peer-reviewed BEFORE the user is asked, a diff BEFORE commit, a finding is reproduced before it is reported, a measurement re-derived before it is quoted. Brief reviewers with the goal and the artifact, never your conclusions; ask for measurements, not verdicts. Routing: internal sub-agents for every per-stage review, `/codex:review` ONCE at the final verify before merge for USER-FACING changes (it is slow — never in the inner loop); docs-only and instruction-layer changes ship on internal review + CI and apply its findings as a follow-up. No reviewer tooling in this runtime? Fall back agent → external → peer session → human, and mark the change UNREVIEWED if none is reachable. Full protocol: the `jt-delivery:contract` skill (plugin `jt-delivery@jetthoughts`); repo bindings: `docs/workflows/autonomous-delivery-prompt.md`.
 
@@ -45,14 +45,11 @@ Projects live in `docs/projects/<project-id>/`. Each project follows a standard
 onboarding path:
 
 **First visit — read in this order:**
-1. `PROJECT-INDEX.md` — navigation hub, agent routes, integration rules
-2. `GOAL-AT-A-GLANCE.md` — one-page exec summary, strategy, metrics
-3. `.agent/prd/PRD.md` — formal spec (if PRD-driven project)
-4. `.agent/tasks.json` — machine-readable task graph (if PRD-driven)
-5. `TASK-TRACKER.md` — live task queue, migration schedule, active phase
-
-**Project health:** `.agent/STATUS.md` — cross-project RAG dashboard.
-Per-project PM health reports in `40-49-review/40.10-*.md`.
+1. `STATUS.md` (repo root) — cross-project view: what's in flight, goals, blockers
+2. The project's `README.md` or `GOAL-AT-A-GLANCE.md` — one-page status / exec summary (2608's README is the template: status paragraph, read-order table, open decisions, known reds)
+3. `TASK-TRACKER.md` or `backlog.md` — live task queue, active phase
+
+(The former `.agent/STATUS.md` / `.agent/prd/PRD.md` / `.agent/tasks.json` stack never existed in this repo — removed 2026-08-22; root `STATUS.md` is the cross-project dashboard.)
 
 **Skills:** Project-specific skills in `.skills/`. Global skills loaded via
 `skill` tool.

diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 >
 > **Company FACTS are NOT vault-owned.** Every claim in `.okf/content/claims-canon.md` is canon HERE, enforced by `test/unit/marketing_copy_test.rb`. Never copy a company number out of a vault note into published copy (the vault itself carried two banned strings on 2026-08-17). The vault decides what we're doing; the canon decides what we're allowed to say.
 
+**What's in flight + goals**: `STATUS.md` at repo root — the cold-start surface; update it in the same commit as any WIP change (rule in §Behavioral Constraints).
+
 **Type**: Hugo static site blog | **Build**: `bin/hugo-build`
 **Test**: `bin/qtest --changed` (per change — tests the pages your diff touches) / `bin/test --smoke` (fixed 17-test core net, ~50s / ~30s CI) / `bin/rake test:critical` (milestones) / `bin/test` + `bin/dtest` (PR prep). qtest and smoke are complementary: qtest follows your diff, smoke is a constant basics check.
 **CSS**: PostCSS pipeline | **Content**: `content/blog/` (Markdown + Hugo frontmatter)
@@ -81,7 +83,7 @@ Operational knowledge lives in `.okf/` (`build/`, `content/`, `design/`, `workfl
 - **Feature/idea intake**: `/deliver <idea>` (from the `jt-delivery` plugin) — triage → GOAL → author≠verifier orchestration per the `jt-delivery:contract` skill §1a; repo-specific bindings (gates, canon, reviewer routing): `docs/workflows/autonomous-delivery-prompt.md`.
 - **Manager triage (Paul 2026-08-01)**: Paul adds requests mid-flight; triage each against the active plan — now / sequenced / backlog / groom-first — and report the verdict in one line so he can override. Deferring is a decision; interrupting a gated pipeline for a non-critical request is the failure. **Autonomy grant**: handle sprints end-to-end; for big/critical calls AND any highly OPINIONATED question (design taste, naming, strategy trade-offs — anywhere reasonable people disagree) run a voting panel of subagents with DISTINCT PERSONAS/lenses and organize an explicit vote (Paul 2026-08-21); make the call (split + irreversible → hold for Paul). Record every autonomous call with its evidence. Paul's explicit words override any panel.
 - **Agent 4-eyes on EVERY stage, author ≠ verifier (Paul 2026-08-20, widened 2026-08-21)**: every change is written by one agent and verified by a different one; review lands BEFORE the artifact leaves the workshop (plan before Paul sees it, diff before commit, finding before reported, measurement before quoted). Brief reviewers with goal + artifact, never conclusions; ask for measurements, not verdicts. Internal sub-agents per stage — **model routing (Paul 2026-08-21): critical decisions, editing/outlining AND design critique on fable; coding, code review AND content writing on opus; mechanical/simple tasks on sonnet; spawns never inherit the session model implicitly — pass `model` on every Agent call**; `/codex:review` once at the merge gate for user-facing changes. Full protocol: `jt-delivery:contract` skill §5; repo routing: `docs/workflows/autonomous-delivery-prompt.md`. (Evidence: 2026-08-20/21 — reviewers caught a CSS-breaking defect, a fabricated quote, and 11 findings on the delivery prompt itself, all after author self-review.)
-- **Async-first (MANDATORY)**: written, discoverable artifacts for every decision, finding, and handoff; sync is the exception, written back same-day. A task is not done until a cold session can read its state with zero questions. Canonical surfaces: `.agents/skills/async-first-communication/SKILL.md`; same SOP in `AGENTS.md`.
+- **Async-first (MANDATORY)**: written, discoverable artifacts for every decision, finding, and handoff; sync is the exception, written back same-day. A task is not done until a cold session can read its state with zero questions. Canonical surfaces: `.agents/skills/async-first-communication/SKILL.md`; same SOP in `AGENTS.md`. **Cold-start surface: `STATUS.md` at repo root** — a session that changed what's in flight (started/finished/parked a workstream, shipped a PR, hit a blocker) without updating `STATUS.md` in the same commit/PR is not done.
 - **Company facts have a canon**: check `.okf/content/claims-canon.md` before publishing any number (founding 2008-09-01; tenure from `site.Params.foundingYear`; "4.8/5 on Clutch" linked, NO review count; founder 22+ vs company 18+). A number with no in-repo source is a defect. Correcting one means sweeping the instruction layer too — `PRODUCT.md`, `docs/business/`, outreach kits have re-introduced bad canon before (4 of 8 published figures were wrong on 2026-08-14).
 - **Text ratchets read RENDERED output, not source**: `marketing_copy_test` globs source and missed three rendered-only defects on 2026-08-14 (unglobbed partial, line-wrapped banned phrase, composed nested `<main>`). Queued: `docs/20-29-testing-qa/20.10` §3b P0-4.
 - **Zero**: generic AI language · unsupported claims · Hugo build breaks (`bin/hugo-build` validates) · ad hoc test scripts (header Test line commands only) · Python for analysis (use `rg`/`sed`/`awk`) · duplicate files (`*_new.*`, `*_backup.*`).

diff --git a/STATUS.md b/STATUS.md
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+# Status — what's in flight
+
+> Cold-start surface. One screen: goals, WIP, blockers. Links carry the detail —
+> this file never duplicates project state, it points at it.
+> **Update rule**: any session that changes what's in flight (starts/finishes/parks
+> a workstream, ships a PR, hits a blocker) updates this file in the same commit/PR.
+> **When updating: verify against the artifact (the ledger, the file, the PR), never
+> a tracker line — trackers rot, and this file must not inherit their staleness.**
+
+## Goals
+
+- **Company goals / OKR / weekly numbers**: vault `~/Documents/pkm/jt-operations.md` (host-only — vault owns operations; this repo carries growth/marketing execution).
+- **Bet of record**: Vibe Code Rescue — status is vault-owned (`jt-vcr-runbook.md`; repo mirror [`docs/business/index.md`](docs/business/index.md)); campaign artifacts in [`docs/projects/2607-vibe-code-rescue/`](docs/projects/2607-vibe-code-rescue/backlog.md).
+- **Content plan of record**: [`20.09 (Aug 2026)`](docs/projects/2510-seo-content-strategy/20-29-strategy/20.09-content-plan-revision-aug-2026.md) — its §1 governing constraint: **outreach outranks new posts**.
+
+## Now / WIP
+
+| Workstream | State | Next step | Entry point |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| LinkedIn (primary demand lane) | **LIVE** — 3 posts published (2026-08-13/18/19), first metrics read 2026-08-20; ICP-E lane on disk: 1 posted + 4 approved (of 10 planned), validation clock running | Post an approved draft (week1-tue / week1-wed) at Stream 0 cadence (3-4/wk) | [`metrics-ledger`](linkedin-posts/metrics-ledger.md) · [`plan`](docs/workflows/linkedin-icp-validation-plan.md) |
+| 2608 site design system (v2 `/next/` rail) | Paused 2026-08-22 mid-flight; 3 pilots built + voted | Apply 20.09 repositioned copy; then Paul's 5 decisions | [`2608 README`](docs/projects/2608-site-design-system/README.md) |
+| Blog / SEO (2510) | Constrained by 20.09 §1 (outreach first). R-queue empty/retired; replacement queue is §13 (restocked 2026-08-21) | Per §1: LinkedIn cadence + sourcing outrank a new post; when drafting, take §13 N-queue | [`20.09 §13`](docs/projects/2510-seo-content-strategy/20-29-strategy/20.09-content-plan-revision-aug-2026.md) |
+| 2605 course | v2 live; measuring. Diagnosis: **arrival, not content** (GSC/GA/Clarity triple-read 2026-08-20) | Arrival/discovery actions per 50.05; no new funnel posts on the unproven bridge | [`TASK-TRACKER`](docs/projects/2605-tech-for-non-technical-founders/TASK-TRACKER.md) |
+| 2607 campaign tasks | Cold-public-sourcing premise tested and **failed** (3 sweeps, 4 venues, 0 verified-fresh rows; Reddit still un-openable) | Sept-restart Paul decision: retire the cold lane or buy Reddit API access (backlog §c) | [`2607 backlog`](docs/projects/2607-vibe-code-rescue/backlog.md) |
+| Test/CI hygiene | One known red (stale linux baseline, see 2608 README §Known red) | Diff record-vs-test build paths before re-recording | [`test-gates`](.okf/build/test-gates.md) |
+
+**Not in flight**: 2604 typography — closed 2026-08-08 (P2 leftovers re-homed). 2509 CSS migration — Phase C complete 2026-07-19, Phase D backlog dormant; the 2608 clean-slate rail is the live CSS strategy ([ADR-0006](docs/adr/0006-clean-slate-dual-run.md)).
+
+## Blocked on Paul
+
+| What | Where the full ask lives |
+|---|---|
+| Five 2608 decisions (register pick, 3 claims, first page, legacy CTO sweep, Sept measurement gate) | [`2608 README`](docs/projects/2608-site-design-system/README.md) |
+| **Joy Adamson override** (1 min; only survivor of outreach batch 1, still publicly unanswered) | [`20.09 §1`](docs/projects/2510-seo-content-strategy/20-29-strategy/20.09-content-plan-revision-aug-2026.md) desk table + 2607 backlog card #12 |
+| Three 2605 fabricated-fact findings (five-tech-words client claim, $78K/$400 story, SVG chart stats) | [`2605 TASK-TRACKER`](docs/projects/2605-tech-for-non-technical-founders/TASK-TRACKER.md) §Aug-20 sweep |
+| 2607 T3 (Gmail warm-source consent) + T10 (split strategy docs, [#449](https://github.com/jetthoughts/jetthoughts.github.io/issues/449)) | [`2607 backlog`](docs/projects/2607-vibe-code-rescue/backlog.md) |
+
+Last updated: 2026-08-22