Prime Agent

---
name: prime-agent
description: "Use on scheduled-agent wake or lean prime restart - replaces the full thrum prime briefing with a lean two-step warmup tuned for short-lived scheduled-agent invocations. Step 1 reads the inbox literally (NOT a discipline assumption); step 2 surfaces newly-shipped skills since the agent last ran."
---

# Thrum: Prime Scheduled Agent (Lean)

This skill is the wake-time variant of `thrum prime` for scheduled agents. Full
`thrum prime` is too heavy when the agent is
going to run for a few minutes and then exit — but the two pieces of state that
matter MUST run literally, not as a discipline.

## Step 1: Read the inbox

**Run this exact command. Do not skip it. Do not defer it.**

```bash
thrum inbox --unread
```

This is a hard-required step (not a discipline assumption). The `agent.wake`
message that triggered this session lives in the inbox; the wake-primer
payload + any operator escalations land there too. Reading the inbox is how the
agent learns WHY it was woken and WHAT the primer said.

If `thrum inbox --unread` returns no messages, the agent was likely woken
without a wake message (manual restart, daemon error). In that case, continue to
Step 2 — the skill-library check is still useful — but flag the missing wake
message in the status report at end of session.

## Step 2: Skill-library check

**Run this exact diff against the last-seen skill set, then write the current
set back so the NEXT wake compares against THIS wake.**

```bash
ls .claude/skills/ > /tmp/current_skills.txt
AGENT_NAME=$(thrum whoami --field agent_id)
LAST_SEEN=".thrum/agents/${AGENT_NAME}/last_seen_skills.txt"
if [ -f "${LAST_SEEN}" ]; then
  diff "${LAST_SEEN}" /tmp/current_skills.txt || true
else
  echo "First wake for this agent — full skill library:"
  cat /tmp/current_skills.txt
fi

# Update last_seen_skills.txt — this wake's skill set becomes the
# next wake's baseline. Do this AT BOOT (not at end-of-session) so
# the next wake's diff surfaces only what's truly NEW since this
# boot, not since end-of-session (which might be drift-free if no
# new skills shipped during the session).
#
# Atomic write via temp-file + mv. A crash mid-cp would leave a partial
# last_seen_skills.txt; the next wake's diff would then emit
# "all skills new" (false-positive drift). Temp+mv eliminates the
# partial-write window.
mkdir -p ".thrum/agents/${AGENT_NAME}"
cp /tmp/current_skills.txt "${LAST_SEEN}.tmp" && \
  mv "${LAST_SEEN}.tmp" "${LAST_SEEN}"
```

When a new skill ships to `.claude/skills/`, the next wake's lean-prime
surfaces it. Writing `last_seen_skills.txt` at the END of Step 2 (after the diff) means each
wake updates its own baseline — the diff at wake N+1 reflects what's NEW since
wake N's boot, regardless of mid-session skill drift.

Do not skip this step even if Step 1's inbox was empty. Skill drift between
wakes is a real failure mode — agents can miss a critical new skill if the
lean-prime suppresses the diff during quiet sessions.

## When NOT to use this skill

This is the SCHEDULED-AGENT wake variant. If you're a coordinator or a
human-operator-spawned agent, use `thrum prime` instead — the full briefing
covers team state, project state, work context, and recent commits that the lean
variant skips. The lean variant exists because scheduled agents run for a few
minutes and exit; the full briefing's setup cost isn't recouped over the session
lifetime.

If the session will exceed ~30 minutes, or coordination with other agents is
needed, defer to `thrum prime`.

**Exception: post-`/thrum-compact` resume — MANUAL FALLBACK ONLY.** After
`/thrum-compact` or `/thrum-compact`, the SessionStart hook now
auto-injects a zero-turn light briefing (`thrum prime --light`) directly into
context on a healthy daemon — no turn spent reading a file or running a skill.
This skill is the correct choice here only as a **fallback**, when that
auto-injection didn't fire or failed (e.g. the hook's "auto-injection failed"
notice, daemon unreachable). In that fallback case: read the snapshot first,
then run this skill. See `/thrum-compact`'s "How resume
works" section.

## After Step 2

Once both steps complete, proceed with the work the wake-primer asked for.

The former agent-state update and recovery skills were retired. Personal
continuity now uses `thrum state` (personal_state kind). The
`last_seen_skills.txt` baseline write in Step 2 above is unaffected.