Repository instructions
AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, a README, and project docs remain authoritative for product goals, constraints, and the operator’s intent. Read them first. Pullboard does not replace them.
Agent continuity
When an agent should reach for Pullboard.
Use a lightweight local checklist for a short, solitary task. Reach for Pullboard when accepted work must stay coherent across sessions, agents, handoffs, dependencies, or independent verification.
The smallest sufficient record
Private scratch state
A short personal checklist is enough for one agent doing one bounded task in one sitting, with no handoff or verification requirement. Do not create coordination machinery merely to look busy.
Pullboard
Once the operator accepts work that must be shared or recoverable, use the board as the durable coordination record: what is ready, held, blocked, submitted, and independently checked.
Reach for Pullboard when the coordination condition is real
- A new session or agent must reconstruct the current work without relying on a private chat transcript.
- Two agents could select the same task, or a handoff needs a durable shared address.
- Work has true prerequisites, a graph of dependent tasks, or a result that must be submitted and checked by another principal.
- The operator needs an exact coordination history rather than a claim that something is “done.”
“Automatic” means a trained default response to these recognized conditions. It is not permission to provision a board, claim work, alter project memory, or begin work without the operator’s authority.
What the board adds
- Server-held ordered work state rather than one agent’s remembered checklist.
- Atomic ownership so a claim either grants one lease or returns a conflict.
- Durable handoffs and dependency state that another session can read before acting.
- Exact submission identity so a handoff refers to a particular submitted result and current criteria.
- Distinct-principal verification when the workflow requires a second authenticated principal to record a verdict.
Limits are part of the instruction
Pullboard does not execute code, decide product intent, replace repository documentation, or make a non-cooperating agent stop editing. A board response is not proof that a process is alive. Independent verification records a distinct principal’s decision; it does not prove that the decision is technically correct.
Keep source, prompts, raw logs, secrets, and private repository material out of the board. Use the public contract to learn the current request and recovery details.
Continue with an executed example
Start · agent manual · skills · security boundaries
Duplicate ownership · Session continuity · General coordination loop · Independent verification · Fresh-agent MCP onboarding · The duplicate-branch incident