zcl

Original：🇺🇸 English

Translated

Orchestrator workflow for running ZeroContext Lab (ZCL) attempts/suites with deterministic artifacts, trace-backed evidence, and fast post-mortems (shim support for "agent only types tool name").

2installs

Sourcemarcohefti/zero-context-lab

Added on2026-02-20

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add marcohefti/zero-context-lab zcl

SKILL.md Content

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ZCL Orchestrator (Codex Skill)

This skill is for the orchestrator (you), not the spawned "zero context" agent.

Goal

Run a mission through ZCL with funnel-first evidence and deterministic artifacts under

.zcl/

Primary evidence:

```
.zcl/.../tool.calls.jsonl
```
```
.zcl/.../feedback.json
```
(authoritative outcome)

Secondary evidence (optional):

```
.zcl/.../notes.jsonl
```
```
.zcl/.../runner.*.json
```

.zcl/.../runner.command.txt

.zcl/.../runner.stdout.log

.zcl/.../runner.stderr.log

(suite runner IO capture)

Operator Invocation Story

When an operator says "run this through ZCL: <mission>", do this:

Resolve entrypoint: prefer
```
zcl
```
on
```
PATH
```
.
Preflight version policy for agent reliability:
- Check latest metadata:
```
zcl update status --json
```
- Prefer explicit harness floor: set
```
ZCL_MIN_VERSION=<semver>
```
  ; ZCL fails fast with
```
ZCL_E_VERSION_FLOOR
```
  when below floor.
Initialize project if needed:
```
zcl init
```
(idempotent).

Prefer native host spawning when available (Mode A):

Single attempt:

zcl attempt start --suite <suiteId> --mission <missionId> --prompt <promptText> --isolation-model native_spawn --json

Suite batch planning:

zcl suite plan --file <suite.(yaml|yml|json)> --json

Spawn exactly one fresh native agent session per attempt and pass the returned
```
env
```
.

Use process-runner orchestration only as an explicit fallback (Mode B):
- ```
zcl suite run --file <suite.(yaml|yml|json)> --session-isolation process --shim surfwright --json -- <runner-cmd> [args...]
```
- ```
--shim surfwright
```
  lets the agent visibly type
```
surfwright ...
```
  while ZCL still records invocations to
```
tool.calls.jsonl
```
  .
- Suite run captures runner IO by default into
```
runner.*
```
  logs for post-mortems.

Require the agent to finish by running:

zcl feedback --ok|--fail --result ...

--result-json ...

Optionally ask for self-report feedback and persist it as secondary evidence:
- ```
zcl note --kind agent --message "..."
```
Report back from artifacts (not from transcript):
- Primary:
```
tool.calls.jsonl
```
  ,
```
feedback.json
```
- Derived:
```
attempt.report.json
```
- Post-mortem:
```
zcl attempt explain [<attemptDir>]
```
  (tail trace + pointers)

Fixed Harness Preamble (Turn 1)

You must tell the spawned agent:

Finish rule: must end with
```
zcl feedback ...
```
(required for scoring).
Attempt context: ZCL attempt env vars are already provided (do not invent ids).
Tool execution rule depends on how you launched the attempt:
- If running under
```
zcl suite run --session-isolation process --shim surfwright
```
  : the agent should invoke
```
surfwright ...
```
  normally (no
```
zcl run
```
  ceremony).
- If no shim is installed: all actions must go through ZCL funnels (e.g.
```
zcl run -- ...
```
  ) so evidence exists.

Turn 2 (Default)

One sentence mission prompt. Example:

"Use the SurfWright CLI to navigate to https://example.com and record TITLE=<...> via

zcl feedback --ok --result ...

Turn 3 (Optional)

Only if needed: request structured formatting or classification, but do not lead the agent during discovery.

Expectations (Suite Guardrails)

Suite

expects

can be grounded in:

```
feedback.json
```
(
```
expects.ok
```
,
```
expects.result.*
```
)

trace-derived constraints (

expects.trace.*

), e.g.:

maxToolCallsTotal

maxFailuresTotal

maxRepeatStreak

```
requireCommandPrefix: ["surfwright"]
```
to ensure SurfWright was actually invoked

Local Install (CLI + Skill)

zcl

is not on

PATH

(or you want it rebuilt from this checkout):

Build + install the CLI and link the skill:
- ```
scripts/dev-local-install.sh
```
Optional: auto-install on
```
git pull
```
/ branch switch:
- ```
scripts/dev-install-git-hooks.sh
```

zcl