The decision loop carries one genuine fork from a coding session to the operator, then returns the answer to the thread that asked. It replaces a waiting terminal prompt with a durable, bounded handoff; it does not replace the operator's judgment.
In the archive thread, the coding agent can explain reversible archive and permanent deletion, but it should not choose the product policy. It authors one card and lets that thread wait.
From work to one card
The coding agent writes the situation in plain language: completed projects need an archive action, but the product has not decided whether users must be able to restore them. It gives concrete options, places each consequence beside its option and states its recommendation.
ROOK records that card and shows it on the answer surfaces. If the card blocks the archive thread, that thread parks. The driver does not read the wording and decide whether the choice is urgent; it follows the recorded lifecycle effect.
A fair manual comparison
Without ROOK, the developer can paste the question into a note or issue, send it to themselves and later type the answer into a new terminal. This is entirely workable when few questions are open and the developer can keep each answer attached to the right task.
The repeated risk is not that manual notes are bad. It is that a short answer such as “make it reversible” can become detached from the options and consequences it resolved. ROOK keeps the question, choice and originating thread joined in the record.
From answer to fresh context
The operator selects an option and may add a note. ROOK records the answer against the card that asked. It is not routed by whichever prompt is newest, and another open card does not inherit it.
A fresh coding session receives the archive card, the recorded answer and the documented state of that thread. It can now implement the chosen behavior with current project context. The earlier terminal process does not need to remain alive.
| The record carries | It does not guarantee |
|---|---|
| The exact card that asked | That every important option was included |
| The operator's selected option and note | That the recommendation was wise |
| The originating work thread | That implementation will succeed |
| The next session's resulting writeback | That another runnable task always exists |
ROOK transports the decision without improving or reinterpreting it. If the card is unclear, the operator can withhold the choice until the underlying question is made answerable.
The two loops now meet through one object. The next lesson opens that object and asks what it must contain to carry a decision without carrying an entire terminal transcript.
Next
Look more closely at Decision cards.