coordinator-source-of-truth

Load this skill when: the coordinator (or any agent) needs to resolve a "where does this state belong?" or "who is allowed to write this file?" question — e.g., when about to write .squad/decisions.md, when reviewing whether an agent broke the append-only rule, when answering a user question about Squad's file layout, or when adjudicating a conflict between two files. The short summary in squad.agent.md is for routing; this skill is the full reference.

State backend note

Files below marked as "Derived / append-only" are mutable state — agents access them with runtime state tools (squad_state_read, squad_state_write, squad_state_append, squad_state_delete, squad_state_list). The runtime decides whether the configured backend stores them on disk, git-native state, or an external provider. Files marked as "Authoritative" are static config and always live on disk regardless of backend.

File hierarchy

File	Status	Who May Write	Who May Read
.github/agents/squad.agent.md	Authoritative governance. All roles, handoffs, gates, and enforcement rules.	Repo maintainer (human)	Squad (Coordinator)
.squad/decisions.md	Authoritative decision ledger. Single canonical location for scope, architecture, and process decisions.	Squad (Coordinator) — append only	All agents
.squad/team.md	Authoritative roster. Current team composition.	Squad (Coordinator)	All agents
.squad/routing.md	Authoritative routing. Work assignment rules.	Squad (Coordinator)	Squad (Coordinator)
.squad/ceremonies.md	Authoritative ceremony config. Definitions, triggers, and participants for team ceremonies.	Squad (Coordinator)	Squad (Coordinator), Facilitator agent (read-only at ceremony time)
.squad/casting/policy.json	Authoritative casting config. Universe allowlist and capacity.	Squad (Coordinator)	Squad (Coordinator)
.squad/casting/registry.json	Authoritative name registry. Persistent agent-to-name mappings.	Squad (Coordinator)	Squad (Coordinator)
.squad/casting/history.json	Derived / append-only. Universe usage history and assignment snapshots.	Squad (Coordinator) — append only	Squad (Coordinator)
.squad/agents/{name}/charter.md	Authoritative agent identity. Per-agent role and boundaries.	Squad (Coordinator) at creation; agent may not self-modify	Squad (Coordinator) reads to inline at spawn; owning agent receives via prompt
.squad/agents/{name}/history.md	Derived / append-only. Personal learnings. Never authoritative for enforcement.	Owning agent (append only), Scribe (cross-agent updates, summarization)	Owning agent only
.squad/agents/{name}/history-archive.md	Derived / append-only. Archived history entries. Preserved for reference.	Scribe	Owning agent (read-only)
.squad/orchestration-log/	Derived / append-only. Agent routing evidence. Never edited after write.	Scribe	All agents (read-only)
.squad/log/	Derived / append-only. Session logs. Diagnostic archive. Never edited after write.	Scribe	All agents (read-only)
.squad/templates/	Reference. Format guides for runtime files. Not authoritative for enforcement.	Squad (Coordinator) at init	Squad (Coordinator)
.squad/rai/policy.md	Authoritative RAI policy. Check categories, terminology standards, and opt-out rules.	Squad (Coordinator) at init; Rai may propose updates via decisions inbox	Rai, All agents (read-only)
.squad/rai/audit-trail.md	Derived / append-only. RAI review evidence log. Redacted — never contains raw secrets or harmful content.	Rai (append only)	Rai, Squad (Coordinator)
.squad/fact-checker/policy.md	Authoritative verification + Devil's Advocate policy. Confidence rating taxonomy, hard anti-fabrication rules, mode triggers, opt-out model.	Squad (Coordinator) at init; Fact Checker may propose updates via decisions inbox	Fact Checker, All agents (read-only)
.squad/fact-checker/audit-trail.md	Derived / append-only. Verification verdicts + DA brief evidence log. Succinct — verdict + citation, never raw source material.	Fact Checker (append only)	Fact Checker, Squad (Coordinator)
.squad/plugins/marketplaces.json	Authoritative plugin config. Registered marketplace sources.	Squad CLI (squad plugin marketplace)	Squad (Coordinator)

Rules

1. If squad.agent.md and any other file conflict, squad.agent.md wins. It is the only file with hard governance authority.
2. Append-only files must never be retroactively edited to change meaning. They are diagnostic and audit-trail material. Corrections go in a new entry that references the prior one.
3. Agents may only write to files listed in their "Who May Write" column above. Violations are a contract bug; runtime state-backends will refuse the write on non-local backends.
4. Non-coordinator agents may propose decisions in their responses, but only Squad (Coordinator) records accepted decisions in .squad/decisions.md.