/ws - Workstream Operations

Workstream YAML is the durable identity for lifecycle work until workstreams are graph ops. /ws is the projection and repair surface around .lev/pm/workstreams/*/state/workstream.yaml.

Entity Reconciliation

After authorized material progress, reconcile touched and causally affected artifacts before routing, handoff, or final response. Track entity ref, island/provider locator (a path for file storage), basis/evidence, and the reason/action due. Update through the verified owning CLI/adapter; use a write-authorized skill fallback only when that operation is unavailable. Record updated, no_change(reason), or blocked(reason), preserving unresolved refs. Reading or mentioning a path alone creates no update obligation. Read-only work reports pending changes only. Reminders grant no write authority; task status stays with the bound tracker. Update only artifacts whose content or evidence changed; do not rewrite every referenced document.

Work Link

Lifecycle lane: Router Entity movement: unknown | stale | split -> routed | active | paused Workstream: this skill resolves or updates workstream identity Upstream: /work, any lifecycle skill missing workstream context Downstream: /work, /capture, /propose, /exec, /handoff Router: /work HUD: end with 🧬 {ws} ⚡{exec_count} 📥{capture_count} ⏸️{paused_count} ✅{done_count} | 🚦{gate}={score} | ⏭️ {next} | 🔁{loop_state}

Commands

/ws                    # scan all workstreams
/ws list               # same as /ws
/ws find <query>       # search workstreams and projections
/ws show <id>          # show one workstream state
/ws resume <id>        # load state, recent projections, and next verb
/ws --attach [id]      # identify/reuse a workstream and bind this session
/ws merge <a> <b>      # combine lineages with conflicts called out
/ws branch <id> <name> # fork a workstream
/ws untangle           # detangle agents/lane claims

Attach a Session

skill://ws --attach is skill syntax. It is not a claim that lev ws --attach or equivalent SDK/Poly operations are implemented.

1. Announce only 🧭 locating workstream... during orientation. Resolve the actual session identity, project root, existing binding and explicit target.
2. Reuse a matching workstream folder and its owned outcome/plan pointers. A pasted HUD or incidental filename is candidate evidence, not authorization to change the binding. If candidates remain ambiguous, ask for the choice. Create a workstream only when none fits and creation is within the request.
3. Use the installed, authorized session-binding adapter or verified runtime operation. Inspect its help/contract first. Persist the session-to-workstream reference and read it back; report attached only after IDs and paths agree. If no binding writer is available, retain the selected reference and report attachment unavailable rather than inventing a CLI command.
4. Reuse an existing Markdown context projection of relevant paths and summaries; create/update one only when requested. Keep workstream identity durable across commits, with commit/checkpoint references describing particular revisions. Emit available footer values only. An orientation attempt is not a successful attachment; record the actual outcome in the selected adapter.

When the Lev workstream CLI/SDK/Poly attachment work lands, replace the manual adapter step with its verified operation, preserve session/workstream identity, and test no-match, ambiguous, existing, and explicit-switch cases across surfaces. Keep this follow-up in the existing lifecycle/Entire plans; no parallel tracker.

Protocol

steps:
  - id: read_state
    action: Read matching workstream YAML files.
    validation: "At least one state file was read, or no match is explicit."
    on_failure: "Do not infer identity from memory only."

  - id: associate_projection
    action: Follow the current state's named artifact pointers. Search broadly for other projections only when a pointer is missing, stale, or contradictory.
    validation: "Output separates durable state from projection files."
    on_failure: "Show durable state only and mark projections unknown."

  - id: reconcile_navigation
    action: Reuse the saved outcome map, tracker binding, evidence revision, and rolling horizon when their inputs are unchanged. Reconcile only affected fields after a material change.
    validation: "The horizon has at most ten stable-ID steps; steps 1-3 carry owner, prerequisites, permitted effects, check, and stop condition, or the missing field is an explicit blocker."
    on_failure: "Load skill://lev recursive wayfinding; do not manufacture readiness."

  - id: choose_next_verb
    action: Recommend the lifecycle owner for the next entity movement.
    validation: "Next owner is eligible for the saved entity state and active domain overlay, using the Next Routes table; read-only resume does not execute it."
    on_failure: "Route back to skill://lev."

Next Routes

Preserve the saved frontier and select its owner; resolving identity does not restart planning. Show only applicable choices as a numbered skill://<name> table when uncertain; otherwise name the next route. Resume grants no new authority.

Saved state or gap	Next owner
Uncaptured intent	skill://capture
Evidence stale or missing	skill://prior-art
Material decision open	skill://interview
Broad plan absent or incomplete	skill://lev-plan
Coding slice needs specification or revision	skill://propose
Authorized action ready with current scope and checks	skill://exec; non-coding may use its sufficient plan without proposal
Outcome verified, acceptance pending	skill://close
Pause or blocker remains	skill://handoff
Domain or transition unresolved	skill://lev

Data Sources

Resolve artifact references using their declared base. For an unqualified local reference, check its exact project-root path and the referring artifact's directory within authorized scope. If both exist with different content, expose the ambiguity rather than choosing silently. If neither exists, use a bounded filename inventory; searching file contents for a filename does not establish that the file is absent. Report the locations actually checked and distinguish missing, unreadable and ambiguous references before declaring the frontier blocked.

• .lev/pm/workstreams/*/state/workstream.yaml
• .lev/pm/workstreams/*/captures/*
• .lev/pm/tasks/*/{dna.yaml,execution.yaml}
• .lev/pm/handoffs/*.md as projections
• .lev/pm/plans/*.md, .lev/pm/designs/*.md, .lev/pm/decisions/*
• .lev/mail/* when detangling

Rules

• Workstream YAML wins over handoff markdown.
• Persist outcome and map identity plus revision/event state in top-level navigation_state; persist the ordered projection in next_10. Keep one tracker binding with config provenance. The tracker owns task status; the workstream stores identities and relationships, not a second status database.
• Horizon positions may change while stable entity IDs remain fixed. Refresh after material evidence, decision, dependency, failure, or handoff changes; preserve later milestones and exclusions in the outcome map rather than crowding more than ten steps into the projection.
• Reuse compatible shared release, documentation, distribution, support, and marketing task identities from the bound tracker. Changing tracker backends requires an explicit migration and ID map.
• Merges preserve both lineages and flag conflicting objectives.
• Branches copy the parent state, set provenance to the parent, and clear session extensions.
• Resume reports what changed since the last projection and refreshes affected horizon steps before proposing a next verb. Resume grants no new authority.

Related

• /work routes after /ws resolves identity.
• /handoff writes end-of-session state.
• /capture writes workstream capture artifacts.