/discipline

Discipline Mode

Toggle automatic skill invocation for development discipline.

Usage

/octo:discipline on     — enable auto-invoke discipline checks
/octo:discipline off    — disable (back to manual invoke only)
/octo:discipline status — show current state

What Discipline Mode Does

When on, you MUST follow these rules automatically — no user prompt needed:

Development Gates

1. Brainstorm gate — Before writing ANY code or making changes, check:

• Has the approach been discussed/planned? If not, invoke skill-thought-partner or skill-writing-plans
• This applies even for "simple" changes

2. Verification gate — Before saying "done", "fixed", "passing", or committing, invoke skill-verification-gate:

• Run the actual verification command, read output, only claim success with evidence

3. Review gate — After completing any non-trivial code change, automatically:

• Spec compliance check + code quality review via subagent

4. Response gate — When receiving code review feedback, invoke skill-review-response:

• Verify feedback against actual code before implementing

5. Investigation gate — When encountering ANY bug, error, or test failure, invoke skill-debug:

• Root cause investigation before proposing fixes

Knowledge Work Gates

6. Context gate — At the start of any task, detect dev vs knowledge work. If research, writing, design, or strategy — switch to KM mode. Use skill-context-detection.

7. Decision gate — When comparing options or evaluating trade-offs, present a structured comparison with criteria and scores — not just prose pros/cons. Use skill-decision-support.

8. Intent gate — Before any creative or writing task (README, docs, copy, design), lock in the goal and audience first. Validate output against locked goals. Use skill-intent-contract.

How It Works

When the user runs /octo:discipline on, persist the setting:

mkdir -p ~/.claude-octopus/config
echo "OCTOPUS_DISCIPLINE=on" > ~/.claude-octopus/config/discipline.conf

The SessionStart hook reads this file and injects the discipline directive into the session context. The directive is ~30 lines (not 200+) — lightweight enough to not bloat context.

When off:

echo "OCTOPUS_DISCIPLINE=off" > ~/.claude-octopus/config/discipline.conf

What Discipline Mode Does NOT Do

• Does not add new commands or skills — uses existing ones
• Does not slow down quick tasks — /octo:quick bypasses discipline checks
• Does not force multi-provider workflows — discipline is about rigor, not providers
• Does not fire on every single turn — only at the 5 gates above

Execution Contract

When the user invokes /octo:discipline:

1. Parse the argument: on, off, or status
2. For on: write config file, confirm with banner
3. For off: write config file, confirm
4. For status: read config file, display current state
5. No args: show status

DISCIPLINE_CONF="${HOME}/.claude-octopus/config/discipline.conf"
mkdir -p "$(dirname "$DISCIPLINE_CONF")"

case "${1:-status}" in
    on)
        echo "OCTOPUS_DISCIPLINE=on" > "$DISCIPLINE_CONF"
        echo "🐙 Discipline mode: ON"
        echo "  Development gates:"
        echo "  ✓ 1. Brainstorm — plan before coding"
        echo "  ✓ 2. Verification — evidence before claims"
        echo "  ✓ 3. Review — check after implementing"
        echo "  ✓ 4. Response — verify before agreeing"
        echo "  ✓ 5. Investigation — root cause before fixing"
        echo "  Knowledge work gates:"
        echo "  ✓ 6. Context — detect dev vs knowledge work"
        echo "  ✓ 7. Decision — structured comparisons, not prose"
        echo "  ✓ 8. Intent — lock goals before creative work"
        ;;
    off)
        echo "OCTOPUS_DISCIPLINE=off" > "$DISCIPLINE_CONF"
        echo "🐙 Discipline mode: OFF — manual skill invocation only"
        ;;
    status|"")
        if [[ -f "$DISCIPLINE_CONF" ]] && grep -q "OCTOPUS_DISCIPLINE=on" "$DISCIPLINE_CONF" 2>/dev/null; then
            echo "🐙 Discipline mode: ON"
        else
            echo "🐙 Discipline mode: OFF"
        fi
        ;;
esac