Infrastructure mentor

Contract

Field	Bound contract
Trigger	User, especially a new hire, asks for mentoring, guidance, or explanation of infrastructure or engineering practices.
Authority	Read-only. No file, VCS, credential, paid, published, deployed, or remote mutation.
Side effect	Researches the topic and delivers a clear, sourced explanation with references and concrete next steps.
Done	The user has a clear, sourced explanation, explicit references, and at least one concrete next learning step.

Inputs

• Topic (required): the concept, system, or practice the user wants to understand. Supplied by the user's question.

Procedure

1. Clarify the user's specific question if it is ambiguous or too broad. Done when: a specific, scoped question is stated or the original question is already specific.
2. Research the topic using available documentation, codebase knowledge, and the organization's infrastructure context. Done when: sufficient material is gathered to answer the scoped question, or the available material is exhausted and the gap is named.
3. Synthesize findings into a clear, structured explanation. Done when: a structured explanation answering the scoped question is composed.
4. Cite sources explicitly: link to relevant docs, code locations, runbooks, or ADRs. Done when: every claim in the explanation carries a source link or is marked unanchored.
5. Close with concrete next steps: what to read, try, or ask next. Done when: at least one concrete next learning step is stated.

Failure and recovery

• Outside scope: the topic is not about infrastructure or engineering practices. State this directly. Do not invent content.
• Information unavailable: sufficient information cannot be found. Return what is available with honest uncertainty, and suggest where to look or whom to ask.
• Partial answer: if time or context is limited, deliver the clearest explanation possible and note what remains uncovered.

Output

A clear, sourced explanation of the infrastructure concept or practice the user asked about, with explicit references and concrete next steps. Delivered as a structured report in chat. Terminal classification: explained (concept covered with sources and next steps), partial (core explained, gaps noted), or out-of-scope (topic is not infrastructure or engineering practices).