docs(agent-skill): say the skill is on by default and stays out of git

Every place that called the Codeman Agent Skill setting off by default now
says it is on by default since 1.50.0, where to turn it off, and that turning
it off still removes no copy already written (`codeman skill uninstall --case
<name>` does). The README, the wiki's Codeman Skill page and the FAQ say an
agent inside Codeman usually has the skill without an install step, and that
the copy ignores itself in git.

Also written down: an install whose App Settings were saved on an earlier
version stored the old default and stays off until switched on; with the
Claude Code plugin installed, Claude Code lists the skill twice (both work);
and, in the invariants, the self-ignoring `.gitignore` rules and the
measurement that Claude Code 2.1.319 never runs `git check-ignore` on a skill
folder. The agent control plan keeps its original default-off decision and
gains a dated note for the flip.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

docs/agent-control-plan.md

@@ -8,6 +8,14 @@ see [§7 Build log](#7-build-log-what-actually-happened) for what shipped, what
 verification round found, and the two items that genuinely remain open (§2.4's footgun
 guard and the Part 3 deferrals).
 
+**Update 2026-11-08 (1.50.0)**: `agentSkillEnabled` is now **on by default** (owner decision:
+"enable the codeman skill by default"), the flip §2.2 planned for after dogfooding. An absent
+key means on in both readers (server `getAgentSkillEnabled()` and the App Settings switch, both
+`!== false`); an explicit false stays off. To keep users' repositories clean, every managed copy
+now carries a `.gitignore` of `*` (written once with `wx`, removed by uninstall only when it is
+the last file left). Turning the setting off still sweeps nothing. The sections below record the
+original default-off decision as it was made.
+
 **Date**: 2026-08-08
 **Scope**: Part 1 (agent skill) and Part 2 (wait primitives) were specified and built.
 Parts 3 to 5 are captured so they are not lost, but remain deliberately deferred.
@@ -119,7 +127,7 @@ Install paths, in order of how a user gets it:
 
 Setting name: `agentSkillEnabled`. Synced (not per-device), since it changes on-disk case
 content rather than display. Default: **ON after the dogfooding phase, OFF in the first
-release**. Rationale for starting OFF: Claude Code loads every skill's name and description
+release** (flipped to ON in 1.50.0, see the Status update at the top). Rationale for starting OFF: Claude Code loads every skill's name and description
 into context on every turn, so an always-on skill has a small permanent token cost, and we
 should measure that we are buying something with it first.
 
@@ -543,6 +551,7 @@ without the wait endpoints, so the wait work goes first.
 1. ✅ `skills/` at the repo root: accepted (built that way; the install one-liner depends on it).
 2. ✅ `agentSkillEnabled` default: **OFF** for the first release, per §2.2's rationale (skills
    cost context on every turn; measure before defaulting on). Flip later if dogfooding earns it.
+   **Flipped to ON in 1.50.0** (2026-11-08), with the copy made self-ignoring in git.
 3. ✅ Both: global install via `npx skills add` / `codeman skill install`, AND per-case
    auto-injection behind the (default-off) setting. Injection is add-only at session create and
    marker-guarded, so a user-authored copy is never touched.
@@ -681,9 +690,9 @@ Built to the §2.6 file list, mirroring the statusLine mechanism throughout:
 | ----- | ----- |
 | `applyAgentSkill(casePath, enabled)` + `installAgentSkillInto` / `removeAgentSkillFrom` | `src/hooks-config.ts` |
 | `codeman skill install` / `skill uninstall` (`--global` default, `--case <name>`) | `src/cli.ts` |
-| `agentSkillEnabled` (SYNCED, default OFF) | `schemas.ts` (`SettingsUpdateSchema`), `getAgentSkillEnabled()` on `ConfigPort`/`server.ts`, checkbox in `index.html` + `settings-ui.js` |
+| `agentSkillEnabled` (SYNCED, default OFF; ON since 1.50.0) | `schemas.ts` (`SettingsUpdateSchema`), `getAgentSkillEnabled()` on `ConfigPort`/`server.ts`, checkbox in `index.html` + `settings-ui.js` |
 | Injection call sites (Claude mode only) | `POST /api/sessions` next to `refreshStaleCodemanHooks`; `POST /api/quick-start` after the case-create/self-heal blocks (local + docker cases; remote skipped, its path lives on another host) |
-| Tests | `test/agent-skill.test.ts` (10 unit), `test/quick-start.test.ts` (real server: default-off, PUT accepts key, injection on create, shell-mode skipped) |
+| Tests | `test/agent-skill.test.ts` (unit, incl. the self-ignoring `.gitignore` against real git since 1.50.0), `test/quick-start.test.ts` (real server: default-off at first, default-on since 1.50.0 incl. a partial PUT and an explicit false, injection on create, shell-mode skipped), `test/agent-skill-setting-ui.test.ts` (the App Settings switch reads an absent key as on) |
 
 Decisions worth keeping:
 

docs/architecture-invariants.md

@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ Spawn commands are pinned as literal strings in `test/cli-registry-spawn-golden.
 
 Further detail: `stop`/`blocked` now fire for **`claude` and `deepseek`** (`shell` installs no hooks either); asking for one explicitly on any other mode is a 400 and the default set silently drops them. `deepseek` qualifies because the DeepSeek Harness TUI REPORTS idle/working/blocked to its supervisor and Codeman is that supervisor (`deepseek-status-shim.ts`), so its signals are definitive rather than inferred, and `hooksAvailableForMode()` in `session-wait-registry.ts` is the one place that rule lives (see the External CLI modes section for the per-session `statusReporting` wrinkle and the two dsh traps baked into the skill preamble: boot `idle` landing ~300 ms before the composer paints, and `sendwait` asking for `wait:"stop,exit"`). That is also why `deepseek` is the one non-claude mode the skill drives like claude: `spawn_workers alpha beta:deepseek` is a mixed fleet in one call, and `sendwait`/`last_text` need no variant. ⚠️ **`blocked` alone has a second source**: a CLI with no hook for it can declare the dialogs it blocks on (`capabilities.workDetect.blockedLine`, codex), and `blockedSignalAvailable()` (hooks OR that field) is the rule for that one signal; `stop` stays hooks-only, since nothing on a screen says a turn ended. A screen-read `blocked` is a LEVEL the server keeps reading (`Session.screenBlocked`), so the wait route answers it immediately (`currentSignalForWait()`) when the caller asked for `blocked`, and only then: such a pane is also `idle`, and `until=idle` must keep answering `idle`. See [Screen-read blocked dialogs](#screen-read-blocked-dialogs-codex).
 
-**Packaging as the `skills/codeman` agent skill.** The primitives are packaged as the `skills/codeman` agent skill, installable three ways: via `codeman skill install [--case <name>]` / `skill uninstall`; as a Claude Code plugin from the repo's own marketplace (`/plugin marketplace add Ark0N/Codeman` + `/plugin install codeman@codeman`, see the root-files note in CLAUDE.md); or auto-injected into a case on session create behind `agentSkillEnabled` (SYNCED, default OFF). ⚠️ WHERE it lands is registry data, `capabilities.agentSkillDir` (absent with `agentSkillInjection: true` = `.claude/skills`): `.claude/skills/codeman` for claude, `.agents/skills/codeman` for every other CLI that takes it (pi does not: a project skill triggers its trust prompt). `agentSkillDir` is a CLOSED enum (`AGENT_SKILL_DIRS`, schema.ts) because `clis.json` can set it and it decides where the server writes. The per-session preamble is seeded for every local session whose CLI takes the skill, and `codeman skill uninstall --case` removes the copy from every distinct registry directory (`registryAgentSkillDirs()`, cli.ts). ⚠️ Plugin skills are namespaced, so a Claude Code holding BOTH the plugin and a user-level or per-case copy lists the skill twice, `codeman` and `codeman:codeman` (measured 2026-09-14: neither shadows the other, both work); the docs tell users to pick one route.
+**Packaging as the `skills/codeman` agent skill.** The primitives are packaged as the `skills/codeman` agent skill, installable three ways: via `codeman skill install [--case <name>]` / `skill uninstall`; as a Claude Code plugin from the repo's own marketplace (`/plugin marketplace add Ark0N/Codeman` + `/plugin install codeman@codeman`, see the root-files note in CLAUDE.md); or auto-injected into a case on session create behind `agentSkillEnabled` (SYNCED, default ON since 1.50.0, default OFF before). ⚠️ An ABSENT key means on in BOTH readers, the server's `getAgentSkillEnabled()` and the App Settings switch (both `!== false`): a page that showed an absent key as off would write `false` on the next Save of any other setting. Only an explicit false is off, so an install whose App Settings were saved on 1.49.0 or earlier (which wrote the old default) stays off until the user turns it on. Turning it off sweeps nothing. ⚠️ Every managed copy ignores itself in git, which is what makes the default safe in a user's repository: `installAgentSkillInto()` writes `<copy>/.gitignore` holding `*` FIRST (so a `git status` mid-install never lists it), with `wx` (a file already there is the user's and is never overwritten; a symlink at the name is refused), and outside the content list `readAgentSkillSource()` compares, so it never appears in `skills/codeman/` or the plugin mirror. A copy injected before 1.50.0 gains it on its next install (`refreshed`). `removeAgentSkillFrom()` deletes it only when it is the last entry left and holds exactly `*`, so a user's extra files there stay ignored. The repository's own `.gitignore` and `info/exclude` are never touched for it (the managed-worktree exclude in git-worktrees.ts is a separate, older line and still added). Measured against Claude Code 2.1.319: its skill discovery runs `git check-ignore` only on directories at or above `.claude/skills` (the nested-skills walk), never on a skill folder or its SKILL.md, and a `*` inside `codeman/` ignores the folder's contents, not the folder, so the skill still loads; codex 0.162 has no gitignore check on skills. ⚠️ WHERE it lands is registry data, `capabilities.agentSkillDir` (absent with `agentSkillInjection: true` = `.claude/skills`): `.claude/skills/codeman` for claude, `.agents/skills/codeman` for every other CLI that takes it (pi does not: a project skill triggers its trust prompt). `agentSkillDir` is a CLOSED enum (`AGENT_SKILL_DIRS`, schema.ts) because `clis.json` can set it and it decides where the server writes. The per-session preamble is seeded for every local session whose CLI takes the skill, and `codeman skill uninstall --case` removes the copy from every distinct registry directory (`registryAgentSkillDirs()`, cli.ts). ⚠️ Plugin skills are namespaced, so a Claude Code holding BOTH the plugin and a user-level or per-case copy lists the skill twice, `codeman` and `codeman:codeman` (measured 2026-09-14: neither shadows the other, both work); the docs tell users to pick one route, and since the per-case injection is on by default, a plugin user turns that setting off.
 
 Injection is ADD-ONLY at create, marker-owned (`applyAgentSkill` in `hooks-config.ts` never touches an unmarked user copy) and refuses symlinks (this repo's own `.claude/skills/codeman` is a symlink to the source, which the injector must never write through). ⚠️ Claude Code loads a same-named USER-LEVEL skill (`~/.claude/skills/codeman`, written once by `codeman skill install` with no `--case`) over the per-case copy, and nothing used to refresh it: a stale Aug-9 user copy shadowed every fresh injection (2026-08-14: agents ran the old recipes, spawned workers serially and lost their lineage arcs), so session create now also refreshes a marker-owned user copy (`refreshUserAgentSkill`; refresh-only, never installs, foreign/symlink refused).
 
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ History: before the tree, every pair got a U-bridge bezier hanging below the str
 
 **Title and composition.** `deriveAutoSessionName()` strips CSI/control bytes, refuses slash commands by the `/^\/[a-z][a-z0-9_:-]*(\s|$)/i` shape (a path has a second slash where the whitespace should be, so `/home/me/notes.txt what is this` is a prompt) and `!` shell escapes, cuts at the first sentence terminator only past 8 code points ("e.g. fix this now" is not "e.g."), drops a trailing full stop, and caps at 72 code points on a word boundary. `composeAutoSessionName()` prepends the placeholder (`w3-myapp: fix the login redirect`) and fits the result into `MAX_SESSION_NAME_LENGTH` in UTF-16 units, the unit the rename route caps in.
 
-**Opt-in, and the listener orders its checks for cost.** The prompt lands in the tab name, `mux-sessions.json`, every `session:updated` broadcast, the TUI, both home screens and `/api/search` (which matches on `sessionName`), while Read My Mind deliberately keeps prompts 0600 and out of search because prompts can carry secrets; so `autoNameSessions` is synced and default OFF, like `agentSkillEnabled`, `approvalsInboxEnabled` and `readMyMindEnabled`. The listener checks `nameSource` and derives the title BEFORE reading `settings.json`, so an already-named session costs nothing per prompt.
+**Opt-in, and the listener orders its checks for cost.** The prompt lands in the tab name, `mux-sessions.json`, every `session:updated` broadcast, the TUI, both home screens and `/api/search` (which matches on `sessionName`), while Read My Mind deliberately keeps prompts 0600 and out of search because prompts can carry secrets; so `autoNameSessions` is synced and default OFF, like `approvalsInboxEnabled` and `readMyMindEnabled`. The listener checks `nameSource` and derives the title BEFORE reading `settings.json`, so an already-named session costs nothing per prompt.
 
 **`nameSource` also decides what claude is told to call the conversation.** `--name` is the prompt-box label, the `/resume` picker entry and the terminal title at once, and a pinned title stops Claude generating its own, so by default only a `manual` name is passed (`Session.cliPinnedName`); pinning the `w1-myapp` placeholder gave every conversation of a case the same `/resume` entry, because `_nextCaseSessionStartNumber()` numbers from the highest OPEN tab and restarts once a case's tabs are closed. The opt-in synced `pinCliSessionName` (default OFF) pins every non-blank tab name for users who want the CLI labels to match their tabs; it is read fresh at every claude create and respawn (`readPinCliSessionNameEnabled()`, hooks-config.ts, like `readPlanUsageTelemetryEnabled()`), so a toggle applies from the next spawn with no restart. ⚠️ Its cost: Claude stops generating its own titles for those sessions, and a rename holds only until the next turn, because a pane spawned with `--name` re-appends its in-memory title after every turn (`claude-session-title.ts`); a server restart re-attaches the live pane without respawning it. A rename through `PUT /api/sessions/:id/name` is carried into `/resume` by appending the `custom-title` row `/rename` writes (`claude-session-title.ts`), for local transcripts only: a remote pane's lives on the remote host and a docker pane's inside the container. The route returns early on an unchanged name, because the Session Options field saves on blur and recomposes the same placeholder, which would otherwise flip it to `manual` and re-pin it.
 

docs/extending-codeman.md

@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ agent skill instead of teaching it these calls by hand: `skills/codeman` in the
 (`npx skills add Ark0N/Codeman --skill codeman -g`, or `codeman skill install
 [--case <name>] [--mode <mode>]`, or the synced `agentSkillEnabled` App Setting for
 automatic per-case injection on session create, into the directory each CLI scans for
-skills). The skill carries the guard, the safety rules, and verified
+skills, on by default since 1.50.0). The skill carries the guard, the safety rules, and verified
 wait/orchestration recipes.
 
 If the caller speaks the Model Context Protocol (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex, any MCP

docs/wiki/Codeman-Skill.md

@@ -43,7 +43,11 @@ DeepSeek Harness worker on a local qwen model and a Claude Code worker power on
 
 ## Install it
 
-Pick one route. The skill only acts inside a Codeman session, so a global install is safe.
+Usually you do not have to: since 1.50.0 Codeman puts the skill into every new session's
+folder by default (the Web UI row below), where that session's CLI looks for skills. The copy
+ignores itself in git, so your repository never lists it as a new file.
+
+Otherwise pick one route. The skill only acts inside a Codeman session, so a global install is safe.
 
 | How                | Command                                                                         | Scope |
 | ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- |
@@ -51,10 +55,13 @@ Pick one route. The skill only acts inside a Codeman session, so a global instal
 | Claude Code plugin | `/plugin marketplace add Ark0N/Codeman`, then `/plugin install codeman@codeman` | Global, through Claude Code's plugin manager. `/plugin update codeman` follows releases. |
 | Bundled CLI        | `codeman skill install`                                                         | Global, at `~/.claude/skills/codeman`. |
 | Bundled CLI        | `codeman skill install --case <name> [--mode <mode>]`                           | One case. `--mode codex` (or any other run mode) writes it where that CLI looks for skills. |
-| Web UI             | **App Settings → Agents & CLIs → All agent CLIs → Codeman Agent Skill**         | Injects it into each case when a session is created, where that session's CLI looks: `.claude/skills/` for Claude Code, `.agents/skills/` for Codex, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, Antigravity, Grok, DeepSeek and OMP. Off by default. |
+| Web UI             | **App Settings → Agents & CLIs → All agent CLIs → Codeman Agent Skill**         | Injects it into each case when a session is created, where that session's CLI looks: `.claude/skills/` for Claude Code, `.agents/skills/` for Codex, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, Antigravity, Grok, DeepSeek and OMP. On by default since 1.50.0. |
 
 Use the plugin **or** `codeman skill install`, not both: a Claude Code with both lists the
-skill twice (`codeman` and `codeman:codeman`).
+skill twice (`codeman` and `codeman:codeman`). The Web UI copy counts too, and it is on by
+default: with the plugin installed, Claude Code sessions in Codeman list the skill twice.
+Both work. Turn **Codeman Agent Skill** off if the duplicate bothers you (other CLIs then
+lose their copy too), or use the Web UI copy instead of the plugin.
 
 The web UI route skips pi, because a project skill makes pi ask to trust the folder at
 startup. A pi or plain shell session uses the [`codeman agent`
@@ -67,9 +74,15 @@ same verbs as shell commands.
 Codeman-managed copy in that case, whichever CLI's directory it sits in). It never touches a
 `skills/codeman` you wrote yourself.
 
-Turning the web UI setting back off **does not remove copies it already injected**, because
+To stop the Web UI copy, turn **App Settings → Agents & CLIs → All agent CLIs → Codeman Agent
+Skill** off. It is on by default since 1.50.0: a settings file without the setting means on,
+and only switching it off turns it off. An install whose App Settings were saved on an
+earlier version stored the old default (off), so there it stays off until you switch it on.
+
+Turning the web UI setting off **does not remove copies it already injected**, because
 a sweep at session start would pull the skill out from under other live sessions sharing
-that directory. Remove them per case with `codeman skill uninstall --case <name>`.
+that directory. Remove them per case with `codeman skill uninstall --case <name>`, which
+also removes the copy's `.gitignore`.
 
 ## Then just ask
 

docs/wiki/Driving-Codeman-From-An-Agent.md

@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ A skill in the `SKILL.md` format that Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, OpenCode,
 and most other agent CLIs read. It teaches the agent the whole API, so you ask in plain
 English instead of pasting endpoint documentation into prompts:
 
+Since 1.50.0 Codeman puts it into every new session's folder by default (App Settings →
+Agents & CLIs → **Codeman Agent Skill**), so an agent inside Codeman usually has it already.
+For pi, or a copy that does not depend on that setting:
+
 ```bash
 codeman skill install    # or: npx skills add Ark0N/Codeman --skill codeman -g
 ```

docs/wiki/FAQ.md

@@ -215,7 +215,9 @@ Yes. Codeman ships an agent skill that lets an agent inside a session drive the
 list sessions, spawn workers in any installed CLI, send prompts, and block until a worker's
 turn finishes. Install it once with `codeman skill install` or the Claude Code plugin, then
 ask in plain English, for example *"use codeman to start 5 claude workers, one per TODO
-item"*. The web UI setting that injects it into every new session's case is off by default.
+item"*. Since 1.50.0 Codeman also injects it into every new session's case by default, so an
+agent inside Codeman usually has it already (App Settings → Agents & CLIs → **Codeman Agent
+Skill** turns that off).
 
 See [The Codeman Skill](Codeman-Skill), with recordings of real runs, and
 [Driving Codeman From An Agent](Driving-Codeman-From-An-Agent) for the other routes.

docs/wiki/Git-Worktrees.md

@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ lists mark a session that runs in one with a `⑂ <name>` pill.
 
 The main checkout does not show the worktrees as untracked: Codeman adds `/.claude/worktrees/`
 (and `/.claude/settings.local.json`, the hooks file it writes for every Claude session, plus the
-`codeman` folder it writes when **Codeman Agent Skill** is on) to the repository's local
+`codeman` folder it writes while **Codeman Agent Skill** is on, the default) to the repository's local
 `.git/info/exclude` when git does not ignore them already. Without that, those files would make
 every worktree look modified and git would refuse to remove it. Your tracked `.gitignore` is
 never touched.

docs/wiki/Settings-Reference.md

@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ instead of its native cloud backend. See [Custom Model Endpoints](Custom-Model-E
 | Ralph / Todo Tracker             | Enables the Ralph loop surfaces.                                                               |
 | Agent Teams                      | Experimental teams. Also needs the CLI's own environment flag.                                 |
 | Pin tab names on the CLI         | Launches every Claude session with `--name` set to its tab name, so Claude Code's prompt label and `/resume` list match your tabs. Claude then stops generating its own titles for those sessions, and a rename in Codeman holds only until the next turn. Synced, off by default; applies from the next session start or respawn. |
-| Codeman Agent Skill              | Under **All agent CLIs**. Injects the agent skill into each new session's case, where that session's CLI looks for skills (every CLI except Pi and a plain shell). Off by default. See [The Codeman Skill](Codeman-Skill). |
+| Codeman Agent Skill              | Under **All agent CLIs**. Injects the agent skill into each new session's case, where that session's CLI looks for skills (every CLI except Pi and a plain shell). On by default since 1.50.0; the copy ignores itself in git, so your repository never lists it. Off stops new copies but removes none (`codeman skill uninstall --case <name>` does). See [The Codeman Skill](Codeman-Skill). |
 | Remote auto-reconnect            | Reattaches dropped remote SSH sessions. On by default.                                         |
 | Nice priority / value            | Runs agent processes at a lower CPU priority.                                                  |
 | Default Codex model              | Model for new local Codex sessions; empty uses Codex's own config. Letters, digits, `.` `_` `-` `/` only. |