An answer is not a loose message to whichever coding session happens to run next. It is the operator's choice recorded against the card that asked. That binding returns intent to the right thread even when several decisions and work paths exist.
For the task-tracker card, the operator selects reversible archive and may add a note explaining the desired restoration behavior. ROOK records that choice against the archive card, not against the independently running search-shortcut thread.
A fair manual comparison
Without ROOK, the developer can copy “use reversible archive” into an issue and paste it into the next terminal session. That works when the issue clearly names the fork and no competing prompt can be mistaken for it.
The friction grows when several short answers are waiting. Recency is not identity: the newest answer is not necessarily for the newest session, and a note makes little sense after it has been separated from the options it qualified.
Choose and record
The operator selects one of the card's concrete options and may attach a note in their own words. ROOK records both against the originating card. It does not run the note through another model to reinterpret or summarize it.
The matching card is the checkpoint. If the answer does not identify the card waiting for it, ROOK does not apply the choice as though it belonged somewhere else. Other cards remain open and the search-shortcut thread keeps its own history.
Continue in fresh context
For the parked archive thread, the recorded answer supplies the missing intent. A fresh coding session receives:
- the card's archive situation;
- the reversible-archive choice and any operator note;
- the documented state of the originating thread; and
- current project context read by the coding agent.
The fresh session can now implement the chosen behavior and record what happens next. The earlier terminal does not need to stay alive, and the driver does not paraphrase the answer or choose how it should be understood.
What an answer settles
| It settles | It does not settle |
|---|---|
| Which presented archive option the operator chose | Whether the card omitted a better option |
| Which card and thread receive the choice | Whether implementation will pass its checks |
| The operator's note as recorded | How the coding agent should invent missing intent |
If the card is unclear, the operator can withhold the answer. Recording a choice makes the handoff durable; it does not make a weak decision good or guarantee a successful result.
The archive card and its answer now survive beyond both terminal sessions. The next section asks where that durable history lives and why desktop and phone views do not become competing truths.
Next
Continue to The record.