Session Lifecycle
One sitting of governed work, birth to archive: what happens, in what order, and what each refusal means. (You ran this in the Quickstart — here is what was happening underneath.)
Watch it run — one real sitting, start to proof (~2 min, no cuts):
1. Opening: eight details, zero guessing
A session needs skill, mode, stage, target, intent, work style, objective, and flow. Miss any and Vyasa refuses, naming exactly what's missing — it never guesses why you're working. Then, in order: the target is proven workable (exists, unfinished, dependencies ready, nothing pending) → the node is locked (nobody else can work it) → a briefing is prepared (who, what, where, exact output shape) → the start is recorded. The lock is the first thing written; everything before it only reads.
Two flavors: simple sittings skip the second examiner; scoring sittings submit to one (a validator grades per rubric line; below bar returns with a report card, bounded retries).
2. While active: alone in a prepared room
The worker reads its briefing, writes output into a staging area
that mirrors final locations, checks its own work (validate),
and claims completion. It can read broadly but write in exactly
one place. Other nodes' sittings proceed in parallel — each has
its own room. Time limits apply; extensions, notes, and honest
pauses (parked on system issues, resumable) are built in.
3. Closing: inspected, labeled, filed
Ending checks for live workers (won't orphan one without
--force), audits what changed against the opening fingerprint,
counts violations, archives context + metrics + a summary with
next steps, releases the lock, deletes the room, and records the
whole sitting. Ending saves state — it never advances the work
item. Only gates do that (next page).
4. Failure is instruction (the refusals you'll meet)
Unknown names → valid lists included · disabled item → exact enable command · finished/replaced target → pick a workable one (hints name successors) · unready dependencies → advance them first · pending proposal → accept or discard it first · live lock → end that sitting or wait (stale locks auto-clear) · live worker → close it or force · open violations → resolve with reason. Every refusal names its fix — see When It Says No for the full catalog in plain words.