feat(chief-tools): dynamic project-chief spawn/monitor/terminate (POC Phase 0+1)#9
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…, Phase 0+1)
Adds 4 new MCP tools for main:manager to delegate complex tasks to
dynamically-spawned chief sub-agents:
- chief_spawn(name, brief, lifetime, terminate_policy)
Creates an isolated kanban board + ready initial task assigned to
'chief-manager'. Dispatcher's per-board tick spawns a worker that
loads the chief-manager skill and owns the project end-to-end.
- chief_status(chief_id)
Aggregates the chief's board into a Main-friendly summary (alive,
stage, subtask counts, last comment, runtime). Designed for
periodic polling by main:manager without diving into ops detail.
- chief_list(include_archived)
Enumerates all chief boards on the host (filter: board.json has
kind=chief). Shows parent_chief_id links so Main can see the tree.
- chief_terminate(chief_id, force)
Cascade policy: recursively archives every sub-chief that lists
this chief as parent_chief_id. Independent policy returns NYI
(Phase 2). Optional force=true SIGTERMs running workers.
Architecture & lifecycle policies documented in
plans/dynamic-chief-spawn-and-lifecycle.md (in nnnet/AiManager).
Foundational changes in kanban_db.create_board / write_board_metadata:
adds meta_extra kwarg so chief metadata (kind, lifetime, parent_chief_id,
spawned_at, terminate_policy) can be persisted in board.json without
schema migration. Reserved keys (slug, db_path) cannot be overridden.
Skill: skills/devops/chief-manager/SKILL.md — defines worker behavior:
orient → decompose → monitor → heartbeat → complete pattern, what NOT
to do (no direct user communication, no recursion past depth 3), digest
shape for progress comments.
Tests: 14 new in tests/tools/test_chief_tools.py — spawn validation,
status aggregation, list filtering, cascade termination, recursion
depth guard, independent NYI rejection.
Note: the multi_board_env fixture in test_kanban_tools.py needed
kb.create_board('alt') explicit call — connect()'s no-resurrect guard
(from earlier fix/kanban-delete-active-board branch) refuses implicit
mkdir for non-default boards.
Phase 2-5 (independent policy, GC daemon, dashboard widget, etc) — see
the plan doc.
POC verification (manual, not deployed): all 167 tests in
tests/tools/test_kanban_tools.py + tests/tools/test_chief_tools.py +
tests/hermes_cli/test_kanban_db.py pass.
# Conflicts: # tests/tools/test_kanban_tools.py
4 tasks
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Summary
POC for dynamic project-chief spawn. Implements 4 MCP tools that let
main:manager (or another chief) create an isolated kanban board +
worker for a complex/long-running project, monitor its state, and
terminate it on demand.
Design reference:
plans/dynamic-chief-spawn-and-lifecycle.mdArchitecture
Lifecycle policy (
cascade|independent) fixed at spawn, stored inboard.json.meta_extra. Cascade implemented; independent is Phase 2 (NYI).Tools
chief_spawnassignee=chief-managerchief_statuschief_listchief_terminateFiles
tools/chief_tools.py(+695) — all four MCP tools + slugify/lifecycle helpersskills/devops/chief-manager/SKILL.md(+132) — behaviour contract for the chief workerhermes_cli/kanban_db.py(+21) —meta_extrasupport for board metadatatests/tools/test_chief_tools.py(+286) — unit-test all four tools, lifecycle paths, gatingtests/tools/test_kanban_tools.py(+12) — bump profile count 33 → 34 for new tool+1144 / −2 LoC, 5 files.
Test plan
pytest tests/tools/test_chief_tools.py tests/tools/test_kanban_tools.py -v -o "addopts="→ 85 passed in 7.15schief_spawn(brief='small test project')from main:manager session, verify board+task created, dispatcher spawns worker, worker loads chief-manager skill.Architecture note — relation to MC (Mission Control)
This PR introduces chief-spawn as a Hermes-INTERNAL orchestration primitive.
A follow-up PR will add an
mc_pipeline_runtool so a chief (or main:manager)can delegate heavy workflows to an external Mission Control backend when the
in-Hermes path isn't enough — see
_runtime-notes/merge-and-integration-plan.mdfor the full Hermes ↔ MC integration roadmap. The two systems are
complementary, not competing: chief = light-weight in-Hermes coordination;
MC = multi-framework execution engine with dashboard.
Rollback
Revert this PR. New tools are additive; existing tools unchanged.
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