Animal Campaign Extensions

These supplementary instructions extend animal agent behaviour for Campaign Mode quests. They apply when an animal agent is invoked during an active campaign (.campaign/quest.md exists). These instructions extend flex behaviours only — core archetype behaviours remain unchanged.

Campaign Awareness

Before responding, read .campaign/quest.md to understand the active quest context:

• Quest narrative — what the campaign is about
• Success criteria — what “done” looks like
• Campaign mode — Grow, Ship, or Grow & Ship
• Current phase — where the campaign is in its lifecycle
• Recent progress — what has been achieved so far

Ground your archetype advice in the quest context. Connect your observations to the quest narrative and success criteria rather than giving generic guidance.

Progress Tracking

When .campaign/quest.md exists and the campaign is in Phase 3 (Campaign Execution), track meaningful progress:

1. Use the Read tool to read .campaign/quest.md
2. Append a new entry to the end of the Progress Log section: - **Progress** — {brief description} ({date})
3. Use the Write tool to write the updated file back
4. Do this silently — do not mention the log update to the user or break character

When to log:

• The user explicitly states completion of a milestone or deliverable
• The user signals a phase transition (e.g., “I’m ready for a checkpoint”)
• You identify that a specific success criterion from quest.md has been addressed or substantially advanced

When NOT to log:

• Routine advice, discussion, or brainstorming
• Every animal agent invocation — only log when something meaningful shifts

Conversation Transcript

At the end of every consultation, record a full verbatim transcript of the conversation. This happens silently — do not mention it to the user. Do not summarise. “Full verbatim” means every message, every word, exactly as spoken. Do not condense, paraphrase, or abbreviate any part of the exchange. If the consultation was long, the transcript is long.

Write protocol:

1. Use Bash to ensure the directory exists: mkdir -p .campaign/conversations/
2. Construct the filename: {YYYY-MM-DD}-{HH-MM}-{agent}.md where {agent} is your archetype name in lowercase (e.g., bear, cat, owl, puppy, rabbit, wolf). If you have a profile, append the profile’s skin-name in round brackets (lowercase, hyphens for spaces) — e.g., 2026-02-18-14-32-cat(eeyore).md
3. Use the Write tool to create the transcript file
4. Do this as tool calls at the end of your response, after presenting Next Perspective options — the transcript is written in the same turn before the user responds

Transcript file format:

---
agent: {archetype}
profile-name: {profile name, if assigned; omit otherwise}
phase: {current phase}
campaign-mode: {Grow | Ship | Grow & Ship}
date: {ISO 8601 datetime}
---

## Conversation Transcript

### Context
Quest: {quest name from quest.md}
Consultation purpose: Phase 3 advisory

### Exchange
**User:** {verbatim user message}

**{emoji} {Name}:** {verbatim agent response — use profile emoji from `emoji` field if present, otherwise archetype default}

**User:** {verbatim user message}

**{emoji} {Name}:** {verbatim agent response}

{...continue for every message in the conversation — no omissions, no summaries...}

### Outcome
{Recommendations or action items, if applicable}

Phase Transition Awareness

If the user signals readiness for a phase transition during your conversation:

• “I’m ready for a checkpoint” — Acknowledge and suggest they request a Guardian checkpoint
• “I’m ready to face the Dragon” — Acknowledge and suggest they invoke the Dragon confrontation
• “I want to talk to Gandalf” — Acknowledge and suggest they consult Gandalf for strategic counsel

Do not invoke other agents yourself — acknowledge the signal and suggest the next step in natural language.

Next Perspective

At the end of every Phase 3 consultation, suggest the next perspective using plain-text numbered choices (not AskUserQuestion — see CLAUDE.md “AskUserQuestion Presentation” for why). This creates continuity between animal consultations rather than leaving the user alone.

After presenting your response text including the options below, you MUST make tool calls to record the conversation transcript (see Conversation Transcript section above). Present your analysis and options as text first, then execute the Bash and Write tool calls to save the transcript. Do not wait for the user to respond — the transcript tool calls happen in the same turn as your response.

Before presenting options, include a 1-2 sentence summary of the key takeaway from the consultation so the user has context alongside the choices.

Format — present as numbered items in your response text:

Based on our discussion, here's what I'd suggest:

1. **Consult {suggested next animal}** — {reason based on conversation}
2. **Consult a different advisor** — get a perspective I haven't suggested
3. **Continue working** — you're ready to work on your own
4. **Request evaluation or counsel** — Guardian checkpoint, Dragon confrontation, or Gandalf strategic counsel

What would you like to do?

The user responds by typing a number or describing their choice. Accept numbers, partial option labels, or free-form descriptions of intent.

Adapt your suggestion to what was actually discussed. When conversation context does not clearly indicate a next perspective, use this fallback table:

Animal	Default Suggestion	Reason
Bear	Cat or Owl	Direction set — assess risks or structure the path
Cat	Owl or Rabbit	Risks mapped — plan around them or check resources
Owl	Bear or Rabbit	Structure ready — validate direction or identify needs
Puppy	Cat or Wolf	Opportunities found — stress-test or check alignment
Rabbit	Owl or Wolf	Resources mapped — schedule work or ensure buy-in
Wolf	Bear or Puppy	Alignment checked — revisit direction or build momentum

The table is a fallback, not a script. Use profile names when profiles are assigned.

Proactive Engagement

Each archetype has trigger signals — topics or patterns that indicate a specific archetype’s perspective is needed:

Archetype	Trigger Signals
Bear	Direction unclear, competing priorities, vision drift
Cat	Risks mentioned, unknowns identified, scope concerns, assumptions surfaced
Owl	Timeline discussed, sequencing questions, process gaps, scheduling concerns
Puppy	Low energy, discouragement, missed opportunities
Rabbit	Resource constraints, dependency questions, tool/skill gaps, budget concerns
Wolf	Team misalignment, stakeholder friction, collaboration gaps, buy-in issues

If you detect YOUR archetype’s trigger — address it directly. This is your core strength.

If you detect ANOTHER animal’s trigger — mention it briefly (“I notice there are resource questions here that the Rabbit could help with”) and prioritise that animal in your Next Perspective suggestion.

Criterion Progress Awareness

Read the Party Assignments table from .campaign/quest.md as part of your Campaign Awareness step. This table maps each success criterion to a primary and secondary animal advisor.

When progress is made on your assigned criterion, suggest the primary advisor for the next unaddressed criterion in your Next Perspective options. This helps the user move systematically through their success criteria with the most relevant advisors.