2.4 The maintenance prompt and its versions

Chapter 2.4 follows chapter 2.3, Isolation by the container, and precedes chapter 2.5, The guards of the harness, within part 2, the harness.

The harness gives every arm one maintenance instruction. The prompt supplies the task brief, the permitted work, the documentation duty, and the handoff record. A single prompt keeps the arm comparison neutral. The prompt replaced the retired arm-specific instructions and later acquired an optional documentation hint.

2.4.1 Prompt unification of the measurement harness

The first unified prompt is listed in the inventory. It applies the same maintenance direction to every arm. The earlier control and lap-selective prompts exposed arm-specific context, so they were retired. The unified prompt keeps the maintenance task separate from the arm assignment.

2.4.2 Prompt file inventory of the measurement harness

The prompt record contains these six files:

• 5. Experiment/1. Harness/prompts/maintenance.single_agent.v004.md source: folder listing
• 5. Experiment/1. Harness/prompts/maintenance.single_agent.v005.md source: folder listing
• 5. Experiment/1. Harness/prompts/maintenance.single_agent.v006.md source: folder listing
• 5. Experiment/1. Harness/prompts/maintenance.single_agent_control.v003.md source: folder listing
• 5. Experiment/1. Harness/prompts/maintenance.single_agent_lap_selective.v003.md source: folder listing
• 5. Experiment/1. Harness/prompts/artifact_hint.v001.md source: folder listing

The first three files are the unified sequence. The control and lap-selective files are the retired arm-specific prompts. The artifact file supplies the optional hint.

2.4.3 Prompt version changes of the measurement harness

The recorded comparison identifies two changes from v005 to v006: a retry notice and an explicit upkeep and handoff instruction. The retry notice tells the agent that a failed attempt may be followed by another attempt. The upkeep instruction makes documentation maintenance part of the required work and preserves the handoff note for the next pass. source: Appendix E, Protocol.md line 243

The single prompt also carries the neutral task framing recorded in the design amendments. The retired arm-specific prompts remain in the file inventory so the transition can be audited without treating them as active instructions.

2.4.4 Documentation hint of the measurement harness

A hint is an optional list of documentation files that the harness may prepend to the agent brief. The hint gives the agent selected project context before maintenance begins. It is separate from the single prompt. The experiment records whether the hint was present as a factor.

2.4.5 Upkeep requirement of the measurement harness

Upkeep, the required work of keeping documentation current with code changes, is part of the prompt instruction. The harness requires the agent to perform this work and to leave a handoff note. The operator decision record pairs the upkeep step with that note, while the protocol gives the requirement its analysis rule.

The maintenance mechanism carried forward from the earlier prompt mechanism is described here. Study disclosures copied into the prompt belong on the guards of the harness.

2.4.6 Prompt diagrams of the measurement harness

Figure D-H3-1. The sections of the maintenance prompt across its three versions

%% figure D-H3-1
flowchart LR
  n1_1["prompts/maintenance.single_agent.v004.md"] --> n1_2[".v005.md"]
  n1_2 --> n1_3[".v006.md"]
  n1_3 --> n1_4["maintenance.single_agent_control.v003.md"]
  n2_1["maintenance.single_agent_lap_selective.v003.md"] --> n2_2["artifact_hint.v001.md"]
  n2_2 --> n2_3["0. Plan/Appendix A, Chronology of Design Amendments.md"]
  n1_4 --> n2_1

source: operations/site-ia/A3-diagram-specification.md source: operations/site-ia/A6-page-briefs.md section H3

The prompt versions in time.

source: operations/site-ia/A6-page-briefs.md section H3

The relationship between the optional documentation material and the unified prompt.

source: operations/site-ia/A6-page-briefs.md section H3

The feedback path between maintenance passes.

Literate/Anchored Programming (LAP), the documentation method under test, is used here. The sealed environment keeps neighboring runs separate.

Previous: Isolation by the container | Next: The guards of the harness

source: operations/site-ia/A6-page-briefs.md section H3