Auto Orchestration Config

Auto-orchestration config reference

The two files that drive the memory push-surface: the operator-tunable config at <vault>/personal-private/auto-orchestration-config.md (toggles, thresholds, cooldowns — auto-seeded with defaults, re-seed never clobbers operator edits) and the runtime state at <vault>/_meta/auto-orchestration-state.json (last-fire-per-chain timestamps plus the last-shown snapshot for the shifted-since-last-shown check). All keys live in DEFAULT_CONFIG in auto_orchestration.py. For the why, see Auto-orchestration; to edit the config, see Tune auto-orchestration.

⚡ Quick Reference

Question	Answer
Where is the operator config?	<vault>/personal-private/auto-orchestration-config.md — auto-seeded, operator-editable.
Where is the runtime state?	<vault>/_meta/auto-orchestration-state.json — last_fire timestamps + last_shown snapshot.
Does a re-seed overwrite my edits?	No. seed_config is idempotent and never clobbers an existing file.
What are the four config groups?	Emission toggles · briefing thresholds · nudge thresholds · chain cooldowns.
What does the state file gate?	Cooldown windows (should_fire(chain, now)) and the shifted-since-last-shown briefing check.
Who writes the state file?	auto_orchestration.py alone — via save_state(). No other script in orchestration_*.py may call save_state directly (V5-5 single-writer invariant, LC-2; enforced by verify-v4.sh segment G).
Related pages	Auto-orchestration, Tune auto-orchestration

Emission toggles

Each enable_* toggle turns one emission off entirely (a false value short-circuits that chain before any work). Set with true / false.

Key	Controls	Default
enable_briefing	the SessionStart pending-state briefing	true
enable_idle_chain	the idle-time orchestration chain	true
enable_phase_integration	post-/work reflect + post-/release skill refresh	true
enable_promote_suggest	the "you keep having this idea — promote it?" nudge	true
enable_stale_promotion_nudge	the stale-promoted watchlist safety-rail nudge	true

Briefing thresholds

The counts that decide whether the SessionStart briefing reports a section. A signal surfaces only at or above its threshold.

Key	Controls	Default
inbox_threshold	_inbox/*.md count at or above which the briefing flags it	10
watchlist_high_threshold	_skill-watchlist/ HIGH + pending-review count to surface	1
incubator_pending_threshold	_idea-incubator/<slug>/ dirs pending research to surface	1
idea_ledger_stale_months	months after which an Ideas-ledger entry is GC-eligible	6

Nudge thresholds

The thresholds applied inside the two nudge counters before a nudge surfaces.

Key	Controls	Default
promote_mention_threshold	times a single idea must recur in the Ideas ledger to suggest /memory promote	3
stale_promotion_days	days a _skill-watchlist/ entry can sit status: promoted before the nudge fires	30

Chain cooldowns

The minimum window (hours) between fires of each chain, honored by should_fire(chain, now). A non-positive value means "always eligible".

Key	Controls	Default
briefing_cooldown_hours	min gap between SessionStart briefing emissions (chain briefing)	8
idle_chain_cooldown_hours	min gap between idle-chain runs (chain idle_chain)	24
phase_reflect_cooldown_hours	min gap for the phase-integration dispatches (chains phase_reflect + phase_release)	1

Idle-chain steps

The bounded steps the idle chain runs in order. The whole chain is gated by enable_idle_chain + the idle_chain cooldown — there is no per-step config toggle. Each underlying script self-no-ops when its input is empty.

Step	What it runs	Bound
reflect-corpus	reflect.py corpus --execute — mine unseen session transcripts	--batch-size 5 --max-batches 1 (≤5 sessions/pass)
discover-skills	discover_skills.py --cadence-check — refresh discovery sources	cadence-check (self-throttled)
adapt-pass1	adapt_skills.py --limit 3 — stage Pass-1 candidate JSONs	--limit 3

Note

Pass-2 (the adapt-evaluator sub-agent) is not an idle-chain step. A hook fires outside the agent loop and cannot dispatch a sub-agent, so the chain stages Pass-1 candidates and surfaces the staged count (staged_candidates in the run result); the Pass-2 hand-off lands via phase-dispatch / nudge where dispatch is operator-gated.

State file shape

<vault>/_meta/auto-orchestration-state.json — written exclusively by auto_orchestration.py:save_state() (V5-5 LC-2 single-writer invariant). No other script writes this file directly; sibling orchestration scripts call through ao.save_state(). Not tracked by git. JSON with two top-level objects.

Field	Type	Meaning
last_fire	object	{<chain>: <ISO-8601 timestamp>} of the most recent fire per chain; read by should_fire. Chains: briefing, idle_chain, phase_reflect, phase_release.
last_shown	object	{<signal>: <count>} snapshot of the over-threshold signals the briefing last displayed; state_shifted_since_last_shown compares against it to suppress re-firing until a count changes.

Related

• Auto-orchestration — what these knobs change and why the surface never nags.
• Tune auto-orchestration — the recipe for editing the config.
• AgentMemory context payload — the vault folder map (_inbox/, _idea-incubator/, _meta/, personal-private/) these files reference.