icm

ICM — how to operate here

ICM replaces multi-agent frameworks with filesystem structure: an agent navigates a tree of folders and markdown that says where to go, what to read, and where to write. Do not break the structure. The canon is NOT inlined below — load it on demand from docs/ (pointers at the end).

Detect

Root AGENTS.md / CONTEXT.md, numbered dept/room folders (01-, 02.1-), a per-folder docs/. The real entry-point AGENTS.md may be ABOVE your CWD — if a parent folder also has one, read it first (it routes between sub-workspaces), then the nested one.

Start — every productive agent (the light path)

1. Read root AGENTS.md (identity + base rules), then root CONTEXT.md (routing); match your task to a Routing row.
2. Go to that folder's CONTEXT.md; if it's a department, follow its inner table to the room.
3. Read the room's CONTEXT.md and its tools.json; load only what the room's Inputs name (incl. its own docs/memory/) — nothing else.
4. Do the work; write only to the Outputs target; drop markers (a script owns state). If Done-when isn't met, say so — don't declare done early.

Productive agents never detour through maintenance/ — that path is for the commands below.

Base rules (always)

1. Read AGENTS.md first; load only what a contract's Inputs name.
2. Write only to your run's output target + your own docs/memory/. Never another room's or run's folder; never edit Layer 3 (docs/) during a run; never hand-edit machine state — drop markers.
3. Never mutate structure (move/rename/add rooms, change a contract or routing). File a CR; a human disposes.
4. A room MAY evolve its OWN process in place if it stays within convention — read the modify-room rules first. Anything structural or cross-room → modify-workspace (gated).

Commands — maintenance ops (these route through the maintenance dept first)

• /icm:new (or /icm -new) — create or change structure → the modify-workspace room.
• /icm:assimilate (or /icm -assimilate) — audit an existing ICM workspace, read-only → the audit room.

Full procedures: commands/new.md, commands/assimilate.md.

Dispatch + canon

• Hand work to another room, or run a review pre-pass → the dispatch-subagent skill.
• Canon, loaded only when needed: docs/LAYERS.md (the 5 layers) · docs/CONVENTIONS.md (invariants + tooling model) · docs/ROOM-CONTRACT.md (the contract shape) · docs/ROUTING.md (routing).