Nelson

Execute this workflow for the user’s mission.

1. Issue Sailing Orders

• Review the user’s brief for ambiguity. If the outcome, scope, or constraints are unclear, ask the user to clarify before drafting sailing orders.
• Write one sentence for outcome, metric, and deadline.
• Set constraints: token budget, reliability floor, compliance rules, and forbidden actions.
• Define what is out of scope.
• Define stop criteria and required handoff artifacts.

You MUST read references/admiralty-templates/sailing-orders.md and use the sailing-orders template when the user does not provide structure.

Session Hygiene: Before forming the squadron, execute session hygiene per references/damage-control/session-hygiene.md. Clear stale damage reports and turnover briefs from any previous session. Skip this step when resuming an interrupted session.

2. Form The Squadron

• Brief captains on mission intent and constraints. Make the plan clear, invite questions early.
• Select one mode:
• single-session: Use for sequential tasks, low complexity, or heavy same-file editing.
• subagents: Use for parallel scouting or isolated tasks that report only to admiral.
• agent-team: Use when independent agents must coordinate with each other directly.
• Set team size from mission complexity:
• Default to 1 admiral + 3-6 captains.
• Add 1 red-cell navigator for medium/high threat work.
• Do not exceed 10 squadron-level agents (admiral, captains, red-cell navigator). Crew are additional.
• Assign each captain a ship name from references/crew-roles.md matching task weight (frigate for general, destroyer for high-risk, patrol vessel for small, flagship for critical-path, submarine for research).
• Captain decides crew composition per ship using the crew-or-direct decision tree in references/crew-roles.md.
• Captains may also deploy Royal Marines during execution for short-lived sorties — see references/royal-marines.md and use references/admiralty-templates/marine-deployment-brief.md for the deployment brief.

You MUST read references/squadron-composition.md for selection rules. You MUST read references/crew-roles.md for ship naming and crew composition. You MUST consult the Standing Orders table below before forming the squadron.

3. Draft Battle Plan

• Split mission into independent tasks with clear deliverables.
• Assign owner for each task and explicit dependencies.
• Assign file ownership when implementation touches code.
• Keep one task in progress per agent unless the mission explicitly requires multitasking.
• For each captain’s task, include a ship manifest. If crew are mustered, list crew roles with sub-tasks and sequence. If the captain implements directly (0 crew), note “Captain implements directly.” If the captain anticipates needing marine support, note marine capacity in the ship manifest (max 2).

You MUST read references/admiralty-templates/battle-plan.md for the battle plan template. You MUST read references/admiralty-templates/ship-manifest.md for the ship manifest template. You MUST consult the Standing Orders table below when assigning files or if scope is unclear.

Before proceeding to Step 4: Verify sailing orders exist, squadron is formed, and every task has an owner, deliverable, and action station tier.

Crew Briefing: When spawning each teammate via Task(), you MUST include a crew briefing using the template from references/admiralty-templates/crew-briefing.md. Teammates do NOT inherit the lead’s conversation context — they start with a clean slate and need explicit mission context to operate independently.

Turnover Briefs: When a ship is relieved due to context exhaustion, it writes a turnover brief using references/admiralty-templates/turnover-brief.md. See references/damage-control/relief-on-station.md for the full procedure.

4. Run Quarterdeck Rhythm

• Keep admiral focused on coordination and unblock actions.
• The admiral sets the mood of the squadron. Acknowledge progress, recognise strong work, and maintain cheerfulness under pressure.
• Run checkpoints at fixed cadence (for example every 15-30 minutes):
• Update progress by task state: pending, in_progress, completed.
• Identify blockers and choose a concrete next action.
• Confirm each crew member has active sub-tasks; flag idle crew or role mismatches.
• Check for active marine deployments; verify marines have returned and outputs are incorporated.
• Track burn against token/time budget.
• Check hull integrity: collect damage reports from all ships, update the squadron readiness board, and take action per references/damage-control/hull-integrity.md. The admiral must also check its own hull integrity at each checkpoint.
• Re-scope early when a task drifts from mission metric.
• When a mission encounters difficulties, you MUST consult the Damage Control table below for recovery and escalation procedures.

You MUST use references/admiralty-templates/quarterdeck-report.md for the quarterdeck report template. You MUST use references/admiralty-templates/damage-report.md for damage report format. You MUST consult the Standing Orders table below if admiral is doing implementation or tasks are drifting from scope. You MUST use references/commendations.md for recognition signals and graduated correction.

5. Set Action Stations

• You MUST read and apply station tiers from references/action-stations.md.
• Require verification evidence before marking tasks complete:
• Test or validation output.
• Failure modes and rollback notes.
• Red-cell review for medium+ station tiers.
• Trigger quality checks on:
• Task completion.
• Agent idle with unverified outputs.
• Before final synthesis.
• For crewed tasks, verify crew outputs align with role boundaries (consult references/crew-roles.md and the Standing Orders table below if role violations are detected).
• Marine deployments follow station-tier rules in references/royal-marines.md. Station 2+ marine deployments require admiral approval.

You MUST read references/admiralty-templates/red-cell-review.md for the red-cell review template. You MUST consult the Standing Orders table below if tasks lack a tier or red-cell is assigned implementation work.

6. Stand Down And Log Action

• Stop or archive all agent sessions, including crew.
• Produce captain’s log:
• Decisions and rationale.
• Diffs or artifacts.
• Validation evidence.
• Open risks and follow-ups.
• Mentioned in Despatches: name agents and contributions that were exemplary.
• Record reusable patterns and failure modes for future missions.

You MUST use references/admiralty-templates/captains-log.md for the captain’s log template. You MUST use references/commendations.md for Mentioned in Despatches criteria.

Standing Orders

Consult the specific standing order that matches the situation.

Damage Control

Consult the specific procedure that matches the situation.

Admiralty Doctrine

• Optimize for mission throughput, not equal work distribution.
• Prefer replacing stalled agents over waiting on undefined blockers.
• Recognise strong performance; motivation compounds across missions.
• Keep coordination messages targeted and concise.
• Escalate uncertainty early with options and one recommendation.