/negotiate

/harness:negotiate — Generator ↔ Evaluator contract negotiation

Runs AFTER analyze.md clears and BEFORE the Generator builds. Translates the Planner's high-level contract into a testable implementation plan that both Generator and Evaluator commit to.

When it runs automatically: In the full sprint.md flow, /harness:negotiate runs automatically between ANALYZE and BUILD. You don't invoke it manually in the happy path.

When to invoke manually:

• /harness:resume landed on phase "negotiating" after session interruption
• You edited the draft contract and want to re-negotiate before rebuilding
• Previous negotiation was escalated to human and you now want to restart it

Why this exists

The Planner stays at the "what & why" level on purpose. File paths, component boundaries, data schemas, and API shapes are NOT in the architecture doc. This negotiation is where those details get pinned down — but by the agents that will actually build and test, not by the Planner upfront. This prevents the Planner from cascading wrong technical details into the entire downstream pipeline.

Procedure

1. Generator proposes (writes proposal.md)

   • Reads: draft contract, architecture direction, constitution, criteria
   • Writes: implementation plan with components, files, schemas, test strategy
   • Does NOT write code

2. Evaluator reviews (writes review.md)

   • Reads: contract, proposal, criteria
   • Checks: HOW clarity, AC testability, risk flags
   • Writes: verdict (agreed / needs-revision) + specific asks
   • Does NOT run Playwright — there's no app yet

3. If needs-revision: Generator revises proposal (append new round to proposal.md), Evaluator re-reviews. Max 3 rounds.

4. If no agreement after 3 rounds: Escalate to human with:

   • Diff of what Generator wants vs what Evaluator wants
   • The core disagreement summarized
   • Options: force one side, rewrite the draft contract, abandon feature

5. On agreement: Generator writes final contract.md (overwrites Planner's draft) merging the original deliverables + negotiated implementation details + any Evaluator-added ACs.

Dispatch blocks

Full shell-dispatch blocks (Round 1 Generator NEGOTIATE, Round 2 Evaluator REVIEW-PROPOSAL, final Generator FINALIZE-CONTRACT) live in sprint.md § 2c. NEGOTIATE. Reuse them verbatim.

Anti-patterns to watch for

• Generator proposing every detail (over-specifying) → Evaluator should push back on anything not needed to test the AC
• Evaluator rubber-stamping without reading → check review.md — if it's 3 lines, the Evaluator didn't actually engage
• Negotiation loop going 3+ rounds → the draft contract itself is probably unclear; escalate to human rather than letting agents thrash

Generator and Evaluator MUST be separate subagents with fresh context. Do NOT self-evaluate.