AI-DLC — express scope

Drive the AI-DLC engine with the express scope fixed. This is the same deterministic forwarding loop the /aidlc orchestrator runs, with --scope express baked into the first next so scope detection is skipped. The engine owns all routing; the conductor persona arrives in the conductor_persona field of the first run-stage, or of the first rules part when it is sent ahead of that run-stage. Adopt it for the whole run.

The loop

1. directive = aidlc engine orchestrate next --scope express $ARGUMENTS
2. Before acting on each directive, read .claude/aidlc-common/protocols/stage-protocol.md once per session, then read every .claude/aidlc-common/protocols/stage-protocol-<module>.md named by directive.protocol_modules. Load every listed module before acting; skip only a module already loaded earlier in this session. Then act on directive.kind exactly as the orchestrator does (load-steering / run-stage / invoke-swarm / ask / print / error / done). A load-steering directive brings a stage's rules in parts ahead of its run-stage (most stages on GitHub Copilot): apply directive.rules_content in array order and keep it as that stage's rules, adopt conductor_persona when the part carries it, then run aidlc engine orchestrate continue <directive.receipt> (copy the 8-character receipt printed at the top of the directive, never rebuild it) and act on the directive it returns. Never report a part or tell the user about it. Every engine ask carries ask_type and response_route: next follows the chosen command, command runs resume_command only when the human chooses to resume and then re-runs next (otherwise it waits for their direction), claim follows the Unit claim contract, and execute-remedy offers only executable guard remedies and executes the human-selected command or action. An empty remedy list is terminal; wait for the human and invent no report, receipt, reset, or decision. For intent-pick, choose the select_commands entry by its exact selector and execute its complete command verbatim, never by selector interpolation. Scope and compose commands retain --request <8hex id>; never append the request text. The ask names the request only by id (a pasted <document> block stays in the question store as data), while question echoes at most 240 characters, ending in .... The engine carries the request through a second new-work-routing ask (a question of its own) on any harness and through compose/creation handoffs until creation succeeds; a repeated answer carries on with the work it started instead of creating it twice. That ask carries its routes as new_intent_command, scope_commands, compose_command, and continue_command for the active workflow or (with available_intents) select_commands and reshape_commands; run the chosen one verbatim and preserve its description and scope; an unselected intent with new work waiting is not an intent-pick. Legacy Plan Approval recovery keeps its explicit bare-next choice. Never use report as a fallback for an engine ask answer; a selected guard remedy may still explicitly name a stage report.
3. aidlc engine orchestrate report --stage <directive.stage> --result <outcome> [--user-input "<text>"] only after acting on a stage directive. A redo, jump, or start-fresh request on re-entry is the sole non-stage report round-trip and uses report --result resumed --choice <redo|jump|fresh>.
4. Pass $ARGUMENTS only to the first next in step 1: every later pass runs bare aidlc engine orchestrate next, with no --scope and no $ARGUMENTS (repeating them would redo a jump or a setting the person already asked for). Keep going until directive.kind == done. A done without directive.workflow_continues is the real end: present the completion summary and stop. A done that carries it only recorded a step: run that bare next at once and act on what it returns, with no completion summary. If the person's reply that led to that step also asked to stop the workflow there for now (not to pause on one decision inside the work), run aidlc engine orchestrate park instead and act on its parked directive.

On that first next, pass $ARGUMENTS through verbatim after --scope express; the engine parses any flags (--status, --stage, …) and the --scope from the state file always wins on an existing workflow, so re-running a started workflow resumes it. To run a different scope, use /aidlc --scope <other> instead.

Starting unrelated new work?

Before you forward $ARGUMENTS on step 1, make the SAME recognise-vs-route judgment the /aidlc orchestrator makes: does this input continue the active intent, or does it describe a genuinely new, unrelated piece of work? This matters most when the active intent is already complete: then next correctly returns done (the engine never creates alongside a live intent without the confirmed new-work route), and the loop above would simply stop. New work is NOT a continuation; the escape hatch is next --new-intent.

This recognition and conductor-authored offer apply only before an engine ask is emitted. Once an ask exists, follow its typed route and supplied commands, preserving any --request id rather than rebuilding the request.

• Default to CONTINUATION. Treat the input as new-work ONLY when it clearly names a distinct feature/bug/unit unrelated to the active intent's subject (aidlc engine intent list --json gives its slug and status). When in doubt, continue: false-positive offers are the main risk.

• On genuine new-work, OFFER, never auto-create. Surface an AskUserQuestion showing the active intent and the proposed new one, including the scope you'd give the new intent. Default that scope to this runner's baked express (the new work is likely the same flavour that made the user reach for this command), but if the new work clearly fits a DIFFERENT scope, propose that instead, and name it so the human can correct it. Lead the affirmative option with "Yes" (e.g. "Yes, start a second intent"). Never create it without their explicit yes.

• On CONFIRM, re-run next with --new-intent, the confirmed scope, and the new-work text:

  aidlc engine orchestrate next --new-intent --scope <the confirmed scope> "<the new-work description>"
  

  The engine returns a print directive naming the intent-create command (with the --label "<2-3 word kebab essence>" placeholder). Act on it exactly as the loop's print handling describes: create the intent, then re-run next and carry on into the new work's first stage in this chat. Say the narration's line about starting it in a clean chat once: it is an option for the person, never a stop.

• On DECLINE, proceed with the active intent, the normal loop above.