Autonomous orchestrator for manifest work items through the development lifecycle
---
name: summon
description: |
Autonomous orchestrator for manifest work items through the development lifecycle
version: 1.9.8
triggers:
- autonomous
- pipeline
- orchestrator
- mission
- running egregore to process a backlog automatically
metadata: {"openclaw": {"homepage": "https://github.com/athola/claude-night-market/tree/master/plugins/egregore", "emoji": "\ud83e\udd9e", "requires": {"config": ["night-market.attune:project-brainstorming", "night-market.attune:project-specification", "night-market.attune:project-planning", "night-market.attune:project-execution", "night-market.pensive:code-refinement", "night-market.conserve:bloat-detector", "night-market.sanctum:pr-prep", "night-market.sanctum:pr-review", "night-market.sanctum:commit-messages", "night-market.conserve:clear-context"]}}}
source: claude-night-market
source_plugin: egregore
---
> **Night Market Skill** — ported from [claude-night-market/egregore](https://github.com/athola/claude-night-market/tree/master/plugins/egregore). For the full experience with agents, hooks, and commands, install the Claude Code plugin.
## Table of Contents
- [Overview](#overview)
- [When To Use](#when-to-use)
- [When NOT To Use](#when-not-to-use)
- [Orchestration Loop](#orchestration-loop)
- [Pipeline-to-Skill Mapping](#pipeline-to-skill-mapping)
- [Context Overflow Protocol](#context-overflow-protocol)
- [Token Budget Protocol](#token-budget-protocol)
- [Failure Handling](#failure-handling)
- [Module Reference](#module-reference)
# Summon
## Overview
Summon is the egregore orchestration loop.
It reads the manifest (`.egregore/manifest.json`), selects
the next active work item, maps the current pipeline step to
a specialist skill, and invokes that skill.
After each step it advances the pipeline, checks context and
token budgets, and repeats until all items are completed or
the budget is exhausted.
The orchestrator never re-implements phase logic.
Each pipeline step delegates to an existing skill via
`Skill()` calls.
Summon only manages state transitions, retries, and budget
guards.
## When To Use
- Processing one or more work items through the full
intake-build-quality-ship pipeline.
- Resuming an interrupted egregore session (manifest already
exists with active items).
- Running autonomously under a watchdog that relaunches on
exit.
## When NOT To Use
- Running a single skill in isolation (call the skill
directly instead).
- Exploratory work where the pipeline does not apply.
- When human review is needed before every step (use manual
skill invocations).
## Launching the Orchestrator
**Always launch the orchestrator agent in the FOREGROUND.**
Do not use `run_in_background: true`. The main session
becomes the egregore -- it blocks on the orchestrator agent
until the egregore finishes or is dismissed.
```
Agent(
subagent_type: "egregore:orchestrator",
prompt: "<context about work items and current state>",
run_in_background: false // Required
)
```
If you launch the orchestrator in the background, the main
session will have nothing to do and will stop. This defeats
the entire purpose of the egregore. The stop hook cannot
prevent this because background agents are detached.
## Manifest Mode
Before launching the orchestrator, ensure the manifest has
the correct run mode:
- **Default (no `--bounded` flag)**: set `"indefinite": true`
in the manifest. The egregore will scan for new work after
completing all items and run until dismissed.
- **With `--bounded` flag**: set `"mode": "bounded"` in the
manifest. The egregore stops after all items are completed
or failed.
If the manifest already exists and has `"mode": "bounded"`
but the user did NOT pass `--bounded`, update the manifest
to `"indefinite": true` before launching.
After launching, do NOT produce any summary, status table,
or "what's happening" output. The orchestrator IS the
session now. Let it run.
## Orchestration Loop
Follow these steps exactly.
Each iteration processes one pipeline step for one work item.
### 1. Load state
```
manifest = Read(".egregore/manifest.json")
config = Read(".egregore/config.json")
budget = Read(".egregore/budget.json")
```
If `manifest.json` does not exist, stop with an error:
"No manifest found. Run `egregore init` first."
### 2. Pick the next work item
```
item = manifest.next_active_item()
```
If `item` is `None`, all work is done.
Save the manifest, report completion, and exit.
### 3. Map current step to a skill
Look up `item.pipeline_stage` and `item.pipeline_step` in the
Pipeline-to-Skill Mapping table below.
Determine the skill name or action to invoke.
### 4. Invoke the skill
Call `Skill()` or execute the mapped action.
Pass any required context (branch name, issue ref, etc.)
from the work item.
### 5. Handle the result
**On success:**
- Call `manifest.advance(item.id)` to move to the next step.
- Reset `item.attempts` to 0.
- Save the manifest.
**On failure:**
- Call `manifest.fail_current_step(item.id, reason)`.
- If `item.attempts < item.max_attempts`, retry the same
step on the next iteration.
- If `item.status` is now `"failed"`, log the failure and
move to the next work item.
- Save the manifest.
### 6. Check context budget
Estimate context window usage.
If usage exceeds 80%:
1. Save the manifest to disk.
2. Write a continuation note to
`.egregore/continuation.json` with the current item ID,
stage, and step.
3. Invoke `Skill(conserve:clear-context)`.
4. The watchdog or caller will relaunch a fresh session that
resumes from the saved state.
### 7. Check token budget
If the last skill call returned a rate limit error:
1. Record the rate limit in `budget.json` via
`budget.record_rate_limit(cooldown_minutes)`.
2. Save `budget.json`.
3. Alert the overseer (see `notify.py`).
4. **Schedule in-session recovery** (2.1.71+): use
`CronCreate` to schedule a one-shot resume prompt at
the cooldown expiry time. The session stays alive and
resumes automatically with context preserved.
5. **Fallback** (pre-2.1.71 or cooldown > 7 days): exit
gracefully. The watchdog checks cooldown before
relaunching.
### 8. Repeat
Go back to step 2.
Continue until all items are completed, all items are failed,
or a budget limit is reached.
## Pipeline-to-Skill Mapping
| Stage | Step | Skill/Action |
|-------|------|--------------|
| intake | parse | Parse prompt or fetch issue via `gh issue view` |
| intake | validate | Validate requirements are actionable |
| intake | prioritize | Order by complexity (single item = skip) |
| build | brainstorm | `Skill(attune:project-brainstorming)` |
| build | specify | `Skill(attune:project-specification)` |
| build | blueprint | `Skill(attune:project-planning)` |
| build | execute | `Skill(attune:project-execution)` |
| quality | code-review | `Skill(pensive:code-refinement)` |
| quality | unbloat | `Skill(conserve:bloat-detector)` |
| quality | code-refinement | `Skill(pensive:code-refinement)` |
| quality | update-tests | `Skill(sanctum:test-updates)` |
| quality | update-docs | `Skill(sanctum:doc-updates)` |
| ship | prepare-pr | `Skill(sanctum:pr-prep)` |
| ship | pr-review | `Skill(sanctum:pr-review)` |
| ship | fix-pr | Apply review fixes |
| ship | merge | `gh pr merge` (if auto_merge enabled) |
The intake stage steps (parse, validate, prioritize) are
handled inline by the orchestrator.
See `modules/intake.md` for details.
## Context Overflow Protocol
The orchestrator runs inside a finite context window.
To avoid losing state when the window fills:
1. **Monitor usage.** After each skill invocation, estimate
how much of the context window has been consumed.
2. **At 80% capacity**, trigger a context save:
- Persist the full manifest to disk.
- Write `.egregore/continuation.json` with a snapshot of
the current position.
- Invoke `Skill(conserve:clear-context)`.
3. **On relaunch**, load `continuation.json` and resume from
the saved position. The manifest on disk is the source of
truth for pipeline progress.
4. **Increment** `manifest.continuation_count` each time a
context-overflow handoff occurs.
This protocol ensures zero lost progress across context
boundaries.
## Progress Monitoring & Self-Healing (2.1.71+)
After loading state (step 1), schedule a recurring heartbeat
that both reports status and recovers stalled pipelines:
```
CronCreate(
cron: "*/5 * * * *",
prompt: "Check .egregore/manifest.json. If there are pending or active items that are not being processed, resume the orchestration loop by invoking Skill(egregore:summon). Otherwise, report status via /egregore:status.",
recurring: true
)
```
This serves two purposes:
1. **Visibility**: emits a status summary every 5 minutes
so autonomous runs are observable.
2. **Self-healing**: if a user prompt, context compaction,
or unexpected error breaks the orchestration loop, the
next heartbeat detects stalled items and re-enters the
pipeline automatically.
The cron task auto-expires after 7 days by default. Use
`durable: true` to persist across restarts, or
`CronDelete` to cancel early.
## Token Budget Protocol
Egregore sessions consume API tokens across a budget window
(default: 5 hours).
The budget protocol prevents runaway spending:
1. **Before each skill call**, check `budget.json` for an
active cooldown. If `is_in_cooldown(budget)` returns
true, exit and let the watchdog retry later.
2. **On rate limit error**, record the event via
`budget.record_rate_limit(cooldown_minutes)`.
The cooldown duration equals the API retry-after header
plus `config.budget.cooldown_padding_minutes`.
3. **Save and exit.** Write `budget.json`, alert the
overseer, and exit with code 0.
4. **The watchdog** checks `budget.json` before relaunching.
It will not start a new session until the cooldown
expires.
See `modules/budget.md` for the full calculation and state
schema.
## Failure Handling
Each work item allows up to `max_attempts` retries per step
(default: 3, configurable in `config.json`).
- **Retry**: If a step fails and `attempts < max_attempts`,
the orchestrator retries the same step on the next
iteration. The manifest is saved between retries.
- **Mark failed**: If `attempts >= max_attempts`, the item
status changes to `"failed"` and `failure_reason` is set.
The orchestrator moves to the next active item.
- **Alert**: On failure, notify the overseer via the
configured notification channel.
- **Never block**: The orchestrator must never wait for human
input. If a step requires clarification, record a decision
(see `modules/decisions.md`) and proceed with the best
available option.
## Module Reference
- **pipeline.md**: Stage and step definitions, transition
rules, idempotency guarantees.
- **budget.md**: Token window management, rate limit
detection, cooldown calculation, graceful shutdown.
- **intake.md**: Work item parsing for prompts and GitHub
issues, brainstorm skip logic.
- **decisions.md**: Autonomous decision-making framework,
decision log format, examples.
don't have the plugin yet? install it then click "run inline in claude" again.