---
title: "HQ Deployment Documentation and Codex Skills Integration"
date: 2026-01-13
keywords: [hq, worker-cli, codex, skills-deployment, cross-agent, nix-module, orch-consensus]
commits: 3
compression_status: uncompressed
---

# Session Summary

**Date:** 2026-01-13 (Continuation of HQ multi-agent architecture work)
**Focus Area:** Making HQ deployable, adding Codex support to skills infrastructure

# Accomplishments

- [x] Ran orch consensus on HQ architecture - received comprehensive feedback from GPT-5.2
- [x] Filed orch bug report (orch-d08) for Gemini/OpenRouter model failures
- [x] Created worker release documentation (`docs/releasing-worker.md`)
- [x] Created nix package template (`pkgs/worker/default.nix`)
- [x] Built and released worker v0.1.0 tarball (327KB)
- [x] Added `hq` and `review-gate` to `skills.nix`
- [x] Created comprehensive `skills/hq/README.md` deployment guide
- [x] Updated `skills/hq/SKILL.md` with requirements table and model config
- [x] Filed dotfiles-u96: Add worker CLI package
- [x] Filed dotfiles-ha0: Add Codex skills deployment
- [x] Added `codexSkills` option to ai-skills nix module
- [x] Added Codex per-repo support to `use-skills.sh`
- [x] Closed skills-legi: Codex per-repo skills support

# Key Decisions

## Decision 1: Binary release distribution (like beads)

- **Context:** worker CLI is a Nim binary needing distribution for HQ to work
- **Options considered:**
  1. Build from source in nix flake (requires Nim, lockfile complexity)
  2. Binary releases via git forge (simple, like beads pattern)
  3. Separate worker flake (overkill)
- **Rationale:** Option 2 matches existing beads pattern, simple to implement
- **Impact:** Tarball committed to repo, fetchable via git forge raw URL

## Decision 2: Extend ai-skills module for Codex

- **Context:** Codex loads skills from `~/.codex/skills/`, not covered by existing module
- **Options considered:**
  1. Extend ai-skills module with `codexSkills` option
  2. Symlink approach in home-manager
  3. Use Codex's skill-installer
- **Rationale:** Option 1 keeps consistent pattern with Claude/OpenCode
- **Impact:** Single config manages all three agent skill deployments

## Decision 3: Per-repo Codex skills via CODEX_HOME

- **Context:** `use-skills.sh` deploys to `.claude/skills/` and `.opencode/skills/`
- **Rationale:** Check for `CODEX_HOME` env var, deploy to `$CODEX_HOME/skills/` if set
- **Impact:** Users set `export CODEX_HOME="$PWD/.codex"` in .envrc for per-repo Codex skills

# Problems & Solutions

| Problem | Solution | Learning |
|---------|----------|----------|
| Orch consensus failed for Gemini/OpenRouter models | Filed bug orch-d08; models work via `llm` directly but fail through orch | Issue in async model loading, not API keys |
| Can't merge integration→master (worktree conflict) | Left on integration branch, documented for later | Beads worktree setup blocks ff-merge |
| releases/ was gitignored | Un-ignored and committed tarball directly | 327KB small enough for git |
| No URL for worker binary | Committed to repo, accessible via git forge raw URL | `https://git.clarun.xyz/.../releases/worker_0.1.0_linux_amd64.tar.gz` |

# Technical Details

## Code Changes

- Total files modified: 16
- Key files changed:
  - `modules/ai-skills.nix` - Added `codexSkills` option and deployment
  - `bin/use-skills.sh` - Added `$CODEX_HOME/skills/` symlink support
  - `skills/hq/SKILL.md` - Model config section, explicit `--model sonnet-4.5`
  - `skills/hq/README.md` - Comprehensive deployment guide
  - `pkgs/worker/default.nix` - Nix package template for worker CLI
- New files created:
  - `docs/releasing-worker.md` - Build and release process
  - `releases/worker_0.1.0_linux_amd64.tar.gz` - Binary release
  - `skills/hq/README.md` - Deployment documentation

## Commands Used

```bash
# Create release tarball
tar -czvf "releases/worker_${VERSION}_linux_amd64.tar.gz" \
    -C src worker.out --transform "s/worker.out/worker/"

# Get SHA256 for nix
nix hash to-sri sha256:$(sha256sum releases/worker_0.1.0_linux_amd64.tar.gz | cut -d' ' -f1)
# Result: sha256-Lz+gnjeedjwVV31rcijjQpMguMrBfvSfOUcOyLaFiI8=

# Clean up stale workers
worker cancel --taskId=skills-xyz --cleanup --reason="Stale from testing"

# Orch consensus (GPT worked, Gemini/OpenRouter failed)
orch consensus "architecture review..." flash gemini gpt --temperature 1.0
```

## Architecture Notes

### HQ Deployment Model
```
skills repo provides:
├── skills/hq/           # Skill files (SKILL.md, templates, scripts)
├── pkgs/worker/         # Nix package template
├── releases/            # Binary tarballs
└── modules/ai-skills.nix # Home-manager module

dotfiles configures:
├── pkgs/worker/         # Copy of nix package
├── home.packages        # Install worker globally
└── services.ai-skills   # Deploy skills to ~/.codex/skills/
```

### Cross-Agent Skills Flow
```
Global skills:  nix flake → home-manager → ~/.claude/skills/
                                         → ~/.config/opencode/skills/
                                         → ~/.codex/skills/ (NEW)

Per-repo:       .skills manifest → direnv → .claude/skills/
                                          → .opencode/skills/
                                          → $CODEX_HOME/skills/ (NEW)
```

# Process and Workflow

## What Worked Well

- Orch consensus provided valuable architecture feedback (even with only GPT)
- Following beads pattern for binary distribution kept things simple
- Filing issues for dotfiles keeps concerns separated
- Existing ai-skills module made Codex addition trivial

## What Was Challenging

- Orch model failures (Gemini, OpenRouter) - works directly via llm but not through orch
- Worktree blocking master branch merge
- Multiple layers of deployment (skills repo → dotfiles → user repos)

# Learning and Insights

## Technical Insights

- `llm` library plugins load correctly but orch's async model loading has issues
- Codex uses `~/.codex/skills/` (different from Claude/OpenCode patterns)
- Worker CLI is actually already installed globally via nix profile
- Tarball in git is fine for small binaries (~300KB)

## Process Insights

- Filing issues in downstream repos (dotfiles, orch) keeps separation clean
- Each repo handles its own concerns - skills provides, dotfiles integrates

## Architectural Insights

- Three-tier skill deployment: system (Codex built-in), global (home-manager), per-repo (direnv)
- Skills are portable across Claude/OpenCode/Codex - same SKILL.md format
- HQ depends on worker CLI which needs separate installation path

# Context for Future Work

## Open Questions

- How to merge integration→master with worktree conflict?
- Should orch handle model failures more gracefully?
- Best practice for worker version updates?

## Next Steps

- Dotfiles: Implement dotfiles-u96 (worker CLI package)
- Dotfiles: Implement dotfiles-ha0 (Codex skills deployment)
- Merge integration→master once worktree resolved
- Test full HQ workflow with Codex as orchestrator

## Related Work

- Previous: [[file:2026-01-11-hq-architecture-orch-consensus-beads-cleanup.org][HQ Architecture and Orch Consensus]]
- Previous: [[file:2026-01-11-worker-cli-cleanup-refactors.org][Worker CLI Cleanup]]
- Issues: dotfiles-u96 (worker package), dotfiles-ha0 (Codex skills), orch-d08 (model failures)

# Raw Notes

## Orch Consensus Summary (GPT-5.2)

Key feedback on HQ architecture:
- **Support** overall - "Git worktrees + explicit state machine + text-based skills makes the system portable"
- **Risk:** Split-brain state between SQLite, git, and bd comments
- **Gap:** Idempotency/crash recovery under-specified
- **Gap:** Implicit dependencies (same files) not detected
- **Suggestion:** WIP limit of 3-7 workers, measure review queue time
- **Suggestion:** Human checkpoints for security/auth, large refactors, >2 request-changes cycles

## Files Pushed to Git Forge

Worker binary accessible at:
```
https://git.clarun.xyz/dan/skills/raw/branch/master/releases/worker_0.1.0_linux_amd64.tar.gz
SHA256: sha256-Lz+gnjeedjwVV31rcijjQpMguMrBfvSfOUcOyLaFiI8=
```

# Session Metrics

- Commits made: 3 (on integration branch)
- Files touched: 16
- Lines added/removed: +1106/-10
- Issues filed: 3 (dotfiles-u96, dotfiles-ha0, orch-d08)
- Issues closed: 1 (skills-legi)
