grilling-for-routine

Use this grill with an internal teammate. Turn a routine idea into a routine. The Runtime runs the Loop. Today the Runtime is Hermes. Do not pick a sample product. The local session page is dora session open. It reads Claude, Grok, Cursor, Codex, Copilot, and Gemini CLI logs. The site shows two example traces until a folder is chosen. It is not a routine.

dora wire --for claude --run records the request the model received. It is not a routine. Logs stay in ~/.doraval/wire/.

Loop-able

First check: can the same prompt run on an interval?

Loop-able: a poll, a scan, or a check that can repeat with no human on each run.

Not loop-able: a webhook, a push listener, a one-off, or a job that needs a human every run.

If not loop-able: say why. Do not write a routine folder. If it is a Dora job, load review-with-dora. Stop.

Pocket

Size check. Not a new object. The saved thing is still a Routine.

Pocket: one job, one machine, one user. The night prompt is specific enough to run.

Not pocket: a fleet, a general assistant, or a vague idea.

If not pocket: say why. Keep asking until the night prompt is one specific job. If it cannot be one job: do not write a routine folder.

Fixed step

Second preference. Optional. A small loop-able job can ship with prompt.md only.

After one good one-pass, offer to freeze a deterministic step into a Skill. A decision step stays in prompt.md. The grill may also change prompt.md with no new Skill.

Before a freeze, check the one-pass. Do this in the grill only. Do not load implement or code-review. A Run never runs this check.

• Name one seam you can see: output, a file, or a list.
• State an expected result from that one-pass, not from the draft Skill.
• If you cannot name that result, the step is not deterministic. Leave it in prompt.md.
• Spec check: did the one-pass do what prompt.md said, or did the agent invent? If it invented, do not freeze.

The grill drafts. The human accepts. A Run never writes. The one-pass does not author files.

Add a new Skill only before the first save. Draft it in a temp folder. Pass that temp path as --skills-run so the folder writer copies it.

After save, update only prompt.md and the Skill copy. Do not add a new Skill after save.

Refuse Hermes --script and --no-agent as the freeze path. Those flags cannot call Scalekit MCP tools. A Skill script is local work only.

Load writing-for-routine for prompt.md and the Fixed-step Skill. Apply stamps the pocket-agent footer on the GitHub review and Slack post. Dora also appends that instruction to the Hermes prompt. Do not put the footer in prompt.md. A Run has no last chat. That skill names the run handoff.

Connectors

Load discover-connectors (Scalekit) only to look up the live public catalog. Say what exists. That skill does not configure the dashboard.

If the teammate needs to add or configure a connection in the Scalekit dashboard: load setup-agentkit when it is on disk.

If discover-connectors or setup-agentkit is missing: print official install, then stop. Do not invent a catalog. Do not invent dashboard steps.

https://docs.scalekit.com/dev-kit/build-with-ai/
npx skills add scalekit-inc/authstack

Then tell the teammate to reload skills or restart the session and try again. Dora does not install authstack.

An interval job cannot do a push, a webhook, or a human in the loop every run. Say so when the idea needs one of those.

Gate

Collect all six before you write the unattended prompt:

1. Skills to run (optional extra SKILL.md folders the night pass loads). Say none if no extra Skill is needed.
2. Skills to refer to (optional folders the prompt may cite). Say none if none.
3. Scalekit Agent Gateway MCP URL. Most jobs need this. Say none if the job is a Skill script plus local creds only. Slack, GitHub, and other MCP connectors live here. A connector is not a skill.
4. Hermes model. Run dora harness models first. Offer that list. Do not invent a catalog. Say none to follow the Hermes default printed there.
5. Hermes provider paired with that model. Pick it from the same list. Say none when the model is none.
6. Reasoning level from that same list (default medium).

A default shared MCP URL may already be saved. Reuse it. Ask before you override it for this routine. --mcp-url none writes a routine with no Agent Gateway.

If MCP is none: skip the connector check and skip Hermes MCP login. After save, the teammate puts secrets in ~/.dora/harness/<slug>/.env. Dora does not copy .env from the original skill. Dora does not print secrets. A Skill script stays inside the copied Skill. The routine has no top-level scripts directory.

If no matching skill is on disk, do not invent one. Offer none, a local path, or a GitHub URL. Do not treat a missing Slack or GitHub skill as a blocker.

Delegation

Some night jobs need delegate_task (subagent fan-out, or chunked children). Hermes has no per-job override. The switch is a machine-wide key: delegation.subagent_auto_approve. Default is false. An unattended run then waits for a human.

After prompt.md is written, and before the printed one-pass: if the agreed job needs delegate_task, run:

hermes config get delegation.subagent_auto_approve

If the value is already true, say so and continue.

If the value is false, missing, or the get fails, print this exact command for the teammate. Do not run it. Then continue to the one-pass.

hermes config set delegation.subagent_auto_approve true

Say this key is machine-wide. It is not a routine field. Do not write ~/.hermes/config.yaml. If Hermes is missing, still print that set command.

Skip this check when the job does not need delegate_task.

Routine copy

A skill source is a name, a local path, or a GitHub URL.

Name lookup: project skills/, then home skills, then ask for a path or a GitHub URL. Do not invent a registry.

Dora copies each skill folder into the routine at .agents/skills/<name>/. Night-pass edits land on the copy. Do not write the original. routine.yml records each origin. Hermes loads those copies only when the session cwd is that routine folder and the folder is a git root. The one-pass runs hermes skills trust and hermes chat --in on a staging folder. Apply trusts the routine folder, inits a git root if missing, sets cron --workdir, and attaches each skills-run name with --skill. Without a git root, skill_view cannot load a skills-run copy.

A skillkit or authstack skill records the GitHub URL on main, not the local clone. Example: https://github.com/scalekit-inc/skillkit/tree/main/plugins/docs-engineering/skills/ask-saif. Apply and boot fetch that URL into a temp folder, then copy. A merge on GitHub is what you get. Do not git pull the teammate's clone.

After a skillkit or authstack merge: run dora harness apply <slug> --yes. A tick does not refresh. Do not run claude plugin marketplace update for a pocket job.

A local path the teammate passed on purpose stays a local origin. Apply re-copies that disk folder only. Say so. A Fixed-step copy is routine-owned. Apply does not overwrite it.

Pass --keep-copies to skip refresh. An existing routine with no origin is not refreshed. Pass --from <path|url> to backfill and refresh by skill name.

Offer dora review --quick on each copy. The teammate can skip.

Order

1. Run the loop-able check.
2. Run the pocket check. Ask until the night prompt is one specific job.
3. Collect the gate. Run dora harness models. Offer a readable slug. The teammate picks or renames it.
4. If MCP is not none: run the connector check. If MCP is none: skip it.
5. Load writing-for-routine. Write prompt.md.
6. If the job needs delegate_task, run the Delegation check. Print the one-pass command. If Hermes is present, offer to run it. If Hermes is missing, print official install steps. Do not fake a pass. The one-pass does not author files.
7. After one good one-pass, run the freeze check. Load writing-for-routine again. Update prompt.md. Offer a Fixed step only if the seam, the expected result, and the spec check pass. Draft that Skill in a temp folder. The human accepts. Another one-pass is allowed.
8. Write the routine folder only after that pass, or after the teammate accepts the printed command. Save copies the skills into the routine. Then offer dora review --quick on each copy. The teammate can skip.
9. After save, update only prompt.md and the Skill copy. Do not add a new Skill.
10. If MCP is none: skip login. Creds stay in the routine folder. If MCP is set: register Scalekit on Hermes, then login. Apply registers it: dora harness apply <slug>. dora harness boot <slug> is the same command. The same add is hermes mcp add scalekit --url <mcp-url> --auth oauth in a real terminal. Login without that add fails: server not found. After the add, the teammate runs hermes mcp login scalekit in a real terminal. Done-when: login is the next line only after apply, boot, or that add. After save: dora harness show <slug>, dora harness logs <slug> for that job's runs, dora harness rm <slug> --yes to stop the job and delete the folder. To change model, provider, or reasoning later: edit those fields in routine.yml, then dora harness apply <slug>. Run dora harness models if the teammate forgot the ids. Do not re-run the grill. Dora prints Runtime watch commands after apply, boot, list, pause, and resume. Dora does not run login. The grill does not edit ~/.hermes/config.yaml. Apply may add the pocket-footer hook there. If a refresh token dies, run that login again. If the Scalekit connected account is dead, open the provider link again.

Do not ask for the loop interval during this grill. Default is 1 hour. Ask after a good run.

dora harness new --accept --yes --slug <slug> --prompt-file <prompt.md> --mcp-url <url> --model <id> --provider <name> --reasoning-effort <level> --skills-run <name|path|url> --skills-refer <name|path|url>

MUST run the loop-able check first. MUST run the pocket check. One job, one machine, one user. Night prompt specific. MUST treat Fixed step as optional and second. MUST freeze only after one good one-pass, and only if the step is deterministic. MUST name a visible seam and an expected result from the one-pass before a freeze. MUST NOT freeze when the one-pass invented a step. MUST NOT load implement or code-review on a Run. MUST draft. MUST wait for human accept. A Run never writes. MUST NOT let the one-pass author files. MUST add a new Skill only before the first save, in a temp folder. MUST update only prompt.md and the Skill copy after save. MUST NOT use Hermes --script or --no-agent as the freeze path. MUST collect the gate before save. MUST run dora harness models before asking for model, provider, or reasoning. MUST offer that list. MUST NOT invent a model catalog. MUST accept none for skills to run and skills to refer. MUST accept none for MCP URL, model, and provider. MUST pass --model, --provider, and --reasoning-effort on accept when the teammate picked them. MUST tell the teammate to edit routine.yml and apply to change model, provider, or reasoning later. MUST skip Hermes MCP login when MCP is none. MUST NOT copy .env or secrets from the original skill. MUST tell the teammate to put secrets in the routine folder when MCP is none. MUST copy named skills into the routine. MUST record each skill origin in routine.yml. MUST record a GitHub URL on main for skillkit and authstack, not the local clone. MUST fetch that URL to a temp dir on apply/boot unless --keep-copies. MUST tell the teammate to apply after a skillkit or authstack merge. A tick does not refresh. MUST NOT send a pocket job through claude plugin marketplace update. MUST NOT git pull the teammate's clone. MUST keep a local path the teammate passed on purpose. Say it is disk only. MUST NOT overwrite a Fixed-step or other routine-owned copy on apply. MUST NOT guess an origin when routine.yml has none. Pass --from to backfill. MUST NOT require a skill because a connector exists. MUST NOT write the original skill directory. MUST NOT invent a registry, a slug, a connector, a connector catalog, or a loop interval. MUST print the official authstack install when discover-connectors or setup-agentkit is missing. MUST register scalekit with apply, boot, or hermes mcp add before hermes mcp login scalekit. MUST NOT run or tell login before that add. MUST run the Delegation check after prompt.md and before the printed one-pass when the job needs delegate_task. MUST run hermes config get delegation.subagent_auto_approve for that check. MUST print hermes config set delegation.subagent_auto_approve true when the value is not true. MUST NOT run that set. MUST say the key is machine-wide. MUST NOT write a routine field for it. MUST skip the Delegation check when the job does not need delegate_task. MUST NOT edit Hermes config in the grill. Apply may add the pocket-footer hook. MUST NOT write the folder when the idea is not loop-able. MUST NOT write the folder when the idea is not pocket. MUST NOT write the folder before the one pass or an accepted printed command.