---
name: presence
description: |
  Defines how ArcheFlow communicates its activity to the user — visible but not noisy.
  Show value, not process. Auto-loaded by the run skill.
---

# ArcheFlow Presence — Visible Value, Not Noise

ArcheFlow should feel like a skilled colleague working alongside you: you know they're there, you see results, but they don't narrate every keystroke.

## Principles

1. **Show outcomes, not mechanics.** "Guardian caught a timeline bug" — good. "Spawning Guardian agent with attention filters..." — noise.
2. **One line per phase, not per agent.** The user sees phases complete, not individual agent lifecycle.
3. **Numbers over words.** "2 fixes applied" beats "We have successfully applied two fixes to the codebase."
4. **Silence is fine.** If a phase completes cleanly with no findings, don't announce it. Clean passes are the expected case.
5. **Value at the end.** The completion summary is the most important output — what was built, what was caught, what was fixed.

## Status Line Format

At key moments during a run, output a compact status line:

### Run Start
```
── archeflow ── <task> ── <workflow> (<max_cycles> cycles) ──
```
Example:
```
── archeflow ── Write story "Der Huster" ── kurzgeschichte (2 cycles) ──
```

### Phase Complete (only if something happened worth mentioning)
```
  ✓ plan    explorer: 3 directions → chose C (Koffer) | creator: 6 scenes
  ✓ do      6004 words drafted
  △ check   guardian: 1 fix needed | sage: 5 voice adjustments
  ✓ act     6 fixes applied
```

Symbols:
- `✓` — phase clean, no issues
- `△` — phase found issues (fixes needed)
- `✗` — phase failed (blocked, needs user input)

### Run Complete
```
── done ── 1 cycle · 5 agents · 6 fixes · ~22 min ──
```

If value was delivered, add a one-liner:
```
── done ── 1 cycle · 5 agents · 6 fixes · ~22 min ──
   story drafted, reviewed, and polished. see stories/01-der-huster.md
```

### Run Complete (with DAG, if terminal supports it)
Only show if the user explicitly asks or if `progress.dag_on_complete: true` in config:
```
── archeflow ── complete ──────────────────────
#1 run.start
├── #2 explorer → #3 decision (C) → #4 creator
├── #6 maker (6004 words)
├── #8 guardian △1 · #9 sage △5
└── #12 complete [6 fixes]
───────────────────────────────────────────────
```

## When to Be Silent

- **Agent spawning/completion** — don't announce
- **Event emission** — internal bookkeeping, never visible
- **Artifact routing** — internal
- **Clean review passes** — if Guardian says APPROVED with 0 findings, skip it
- **Phase transitions** — only show if the phase produced visible output

## When to Speak

- **Run start** — always (user should know ArcheFlow activated)
- **Findings found** — always (this is the value)
- **Fixes applied** — always (this is the outcome)
- **Run complete** — always (closure)
- **Budget warnings** — always (user needs to know)
- **Shadow detected** — always (something went wrong)
- **User decision needed** — always (blocking)

## Activation Indicator

When ArcheFlow activates at session start (via the `using-archeflow` skill), show ONE line:

```
archeflow v0.6.0 · 24 skills · writing domain detected
```

Or for code projects:
```
archeflow v0.6.0 · 24 skills · code domain
```

If ArcheFlow decides NOT to activate (simple task, single file):
```
(nothing — silence is correct for simple tasks)
```

## Integration with Progress File

The `.archeflow/progress.md` file is the detailed view for users who want more. The status lines above are the default — brief, inline, part of the conversation flow.

Users who want the full picture: `archeflow-progress.sh <run_id> --watch` in a second terminal.

## Anti-Patterns (Don't Do This)

```
❌ "I'm now activating the ArcheFlow orchestration framework..."
❌ "Spawning Explorer agent with model haiku and attention filter..."
❌ "The Guardian archetype has completed its security review and found..."
❌ "Let me run the convergence detection algorithm to check..."
❌ "According to the ArcheFlow process-log event schema..."
```

These expose internal mechanics. The user doesn't care about archetypes, attention filters, or event schemas. They care about: what was done, what was found, what was fixed.

## Examples: Good Presence

### Example 1: Feature Implementation
```
── archeflow ── Add JWT auth ── standard (2 cycles) ──
  ✓ plan    3 files affected, JWT + middleware approach
  ✓ do      implemented (auth.ts, middleware.ts, tests)
  △ check   guardian: missing token expiry check
  ✓ act     1 fix applied
── done ── 1 cycle · 4 agents · 1 fix · ~8 min ──
```

### Example 2: Story Writing
```
── archeflow ── Write "Der Huster" ── kurzgeschichte (2 cycles) ──
  ✓ plan    3 plot directions → chose C (Mo krank + Koffer)
  ✓ do      6004 words, 7 scenes
  △ check   1 timeline bug, 5 voice adjustments
  ✓ act     6 fixes applied
── done ── 1 cycle · 5 agents · 6 fixes · ~22 min ──
   stories/01-der-huster.md ready
```

### Example 3: Quick Fix (minimal output)
```
── archeflow ── Fix pagination bug ── fast ──
  ✓ fix applied, tests pass
── done ── 1 cycle · 3 agents · ~4 min ──
```

### Example 4: Multi-Project
```
── archeflow ── giesing-story-v2 ── 3 projects ──
  ✓ archeflow    artifact routing improved
  ✓ colette      voice validation added
  ✓ giesing      story #2 drafted (5800 words)
── done ── 3 projects · 12 agents · ~35 min ──
```