@proflandrigan/shards 1.1.0

package/src/agents/specific_instructions/ml_engineer/research.md

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+# ML Engineer Autonomous Research Mode
+
+This file governs `[AR]` — Autonomous Research mode for the ML Engineer. A
+self-steering loop that iteratively pushes a single primary metric as far as it
+will go within a budget, generating hypotheses adaptively, auto-keeping or
+auto-reverting each change based on metric movement. Complements `[EX]` (fixed
+pre-planned experiments) rather than replacing it.
+
+You are the ML Engineer throughout. No persona transfer.
+
+Read `.claude/agents/specific_instructions/shared/autonomous_research.md` in
+full before executing this file — it defines Sections A-I of the protocol.
+This file is the ML-Engineer-specific configuration layered on top.
+
+---
+
+## When to use `[AR]` vs `[EX]`
+
+Pick the mode that matches the shape of the work:
+
+| Mode | Shape | Use when |
+|------|-------|----------|
+| `[EX]` | 3-5 human-planned experiments, fixed N | You have specific things to try |
+| `[AR]` interactive | 10 adaptive iterations, user nearby | You have a metric and want it pushed, conversationally |
+| `[AR]` overnight | 100 adaptive iterations, user away | You want a budget spent autonomously against a metric. Interrupt via Steering Notes in the brief. |
+| `[AR]` fan-out | K parallel AR loops, one per approach family | You want to compare tree-based vs neural vs linear (or similar) head-to-head |
+
+---
+
+## Phase 0 — Research Setup (GATE)
+
+Same as `[EX]` Phase 0 but with expanded parameter confirmation.
+
+### Context loading
+
+1. Locate `project-specs.md` in the project directory (typically
+   `models/<project_name>/project-specs.md` or
+   `<existing_service_dir>/project-specs.md`).
+   - If no `project-specs.md` exists: stop and ask the user to provide project
+     context (problem statement, model type, current metrics, code location)
+     before proceeding.
+2. Read `project-specs.md` in full.
+3. Scan the project directory for relevant files: training scripts, feature
+   pipelines, evaluation scripts, config files.
+4. Identify the current metrics baseline — look in project-specs.md or ask the
+   user if no baseline is documented.
+5. Establish the `experiments/` subdirectory: `<project_dir>/experiments/`.
+
+### Versioning detection
+
+Read `.claude/agents/specific_instructions/shared/experiment_versioning.md` in
+full and follow **Section A (Detection)**. AR **requires** a functioning git
+(or DVC) — the auto-revert mechanism depends on file-scoped checkout against
+`lastGreenCommit`. If versioning mode is `none`, warn the user and offer to:
+(a) run `git init` in the project, (b) drop to `[EX]` which can run without
+revert, or (c) cancel.
+
+### Knowledge retrieval
+
+Read `.claude/agents/specific_instructions/shared/knowledge_retrieval.md` and
+follow the AR entry point. Match on metric, domain, and approach family —
+prior AR runs on this problem shape inform baseline expectations and warn you
+off known-dead-end hypotheses.
+
+### Preset selection
+
+Present the preset choice:
+
+```
+AR runs in one of two presets:
+
+[interactive] — budget=10, reviewer cadence=3, cost ceiling optional.
+                You're nearby, I go adaptive with you in the loop.
+
+[overnight]   — budget=100, reviewer cadence=10, cost ceiling required.
+                I run long. You come back to a converged result.
+                Interrupt anytime by editing experiments/research_brief.md
+                Steering Notes (I re-read it every iteration).
+
+[custom]      — I ask you for each parameter.
+```
+
+Confirm the chosen preset.
+
+### Parameter confirmation
+
+Present and confirm:
+- **Primary metric:** single north-star (F1, AUC, RMSE, precision@k, recall@k)
+- **Direction:** maximize | minimize
+- **Baseline value + source**
+- **Target value** (optional)
+- **Iteration budget** (preset default, user may override)
+- **Per-iteration time limit** (optional; interactive default: none; overnight default: 15min)
+- **Max consecutive regressions** (default: 3)
+- **Metric degradation floor** (optional — loop halts if primary metric falls below this)
+- **Epsilon** (GREEN/YELLOW/RED threshold — default: 1% of baseline)
+- **Cost ceiling:**
+  - Optional for interactive
+  - **Required for overnight** (tokens, dollars, or both — set hard stop)
+- **Reviewer cadence** (default: 3 interactive / 10 overnight)
+- **Plateau window W** (default: 5)
+- **Diminishing returns threshold** (default: 0.1% of baseline)
+- **Full eval cadence M** (default: 5 interactive / 10 overnight)
+- **Mutable scope** (files/dirs/globs the agent may modify):
+  - Typical: training scripts, configs, feature pipelines
+  - Examples: `training/train.py`, `training/config/*.yaml`, `features/**/*.py`
+- **Immutable scope** (files/dirs the agent must not touch):
+  - Typical: raw data, eval harness, tests, deployment manifests
+  - Examples: `data/`, `eval/harness.py`, `tests/`, `deploy/`
+
+### UI detection
+
+If `.shards/ui.port` exists, read
+`.claude/agents/specific_instructions/ml_engineer/research_ui_mode.md` in full
+and follow its push instructions throughout the session.
+
+### Document Phase 0
+
+Append to `project-specs.md`:
+
+```markdown
+---
+
+## Phase 0: AR Setup (ML Engineer)
+
+- **Mode:** Autonomous Research (`[AR]`)
+- **Preset:** <interactive | overnight | custom>
+- **Primary metric:** <name> (<maximize | minimize>)
+- **Baseline:** <value> (source: <source>)
+- **Target:** <value or "none">
+- **Iteration budget:** <N>
+- **Reviewer cadence:** <K>
+- **Cost ceiling:** <tokens: N / dollars: N, or "none">
+- **Metric floor:** <value or "none">
+- **Mutable scope:** <list>
+- **Immutable scope:** <list>
+- **Versioning mode:** <dvc | git>
+- **Project directory:** <path>
+- **Experiments directory:** <path>/experiments/
+
+### Knowledge Ledger
+- **Entries checked:** <N> | N/A — ledger not found
+- **Relevant entries found:** <N>
+  - <title> (<type>, <confidence>) — <relevance>
+- **Or:** No relevant entries found
+- **Relevant features:** <N>
+  - <title> (<feature_type>, grain: <grain>, verified by: <agent> in <project>)
+```
+
+::GATE:: id=specific-instructions-ml-engineer-research-phase0 phase=0 kind=execute
+Read this section back to the user. Stop here — do not begin Phase 1 until the
+user confirms. Do not interpret silence or partial agreement as confirmation.
+::ENDGATE::
+
+---
+
+## Phase 1 — Research Brief + Optional DIVERGE (GATE)
+
+### Draft the research brief
+
+Follow Section A of
+`.claude/agents/specific_instructions/shared/autonomous_research.md`. Use the
+template at `templates/research-brief.md`, populate every placeholder from
+Phase 0 decisions, write to `<project_dir>/experiments/research_brief.md`.
+
+Also write `<project_dir>/experiments/results.json` per Section F schema with
+`mode: "autonomous-research"` and `preset: <chosen>`.
+
+Update `project-specs.md` with a new `## Autonomous Research` section
+referencing the brief path, metric, budget, and preset.
+
+### Consider DIVERGE fan-out
+
+While drafting the brief, consider whether 2-3 viable, fundamentally different
+approach families warrant parallel exploration. Fan-out preconditions (per
+`diverge_protocol.md` Section A and `autonomous_research.md` Section H):
+- 2-3 mutually exclusive approach families, not tuning variations
+- No single family is clearly superior
+- The user's iteration budget multiplied by K is acceptable
+
+**Typical ML Engineer approach families for fan-out:**
+- Tree-based (XGBoost, LightGBM, CatBoost)
+- Neural (MLP, TabNet, or deeper architectures if data permits)
+- Linear / regularized (logistic, linear, elastic net — cheap baseline)
+- Rule-based / heuristic (for problems where it's genuinely competitive)
+- Ensemble / stacking (if multiple viable component models exist)
+
+**Typical slugs:** `ml-xgboost`, `ml-neural-net`, `ml-linear-baseline`, `ml-ensemble`.
+
+If fan-out is warranted, propose DIVERGE per `diverge_protocol.md` Section B,
+using the AR gate ID namespace
+(`specific-instructions-shared-diverge-protocol-ar-<project>`). The user
+confirms either solo AR (current brief) or fan-out.
+
+### Behavioral exception announcement
+
+Before the gate, announce:
+
+> "Facilitate, don't generate" is suspended for Phase 2 of this AR session. I
+> will autonomously generate hypotheses, implement changes, and auto-keep or
+> auto-revert each iteration based on the primary metric. You can steer at any
+> time by editing `experiments/research_brief.md` — I re-read it every
+> iteration. Phase 0, Phase 1, and Phase 3 remain gated.
+
+### Optional `/goal` activation
+
+Read `.claude/agents/specific_instructions/shared/goal_mode.md` in full before
+writing the gate. Compose a candidate `/goal` condition from this run's
+Phase 0 settings (primary metric, direction, target if set, iteration budget,
+metric floor) using the AR condition template, and include the resulting
+copy-paste block in the message that precedes the Phase 1 gate:
+
+```text
+/goal The AR loop is complete when ANY of the following is true:
+  (a) the most recent inline iteration summary shows <primary_metric> has
+      <crossed target X in the maximize direction
+       | dropped below target X in the minimize direction>;
+  (b) the most recent iteration summary or status line contains
+      "Convergence detected" with reason in {plateau, diminishing-returns,
+      budget-exhausted, cost-ceiling, consecutive-failures,
+      metric-floor-breach, user-interrupt, reviewer-pause,
+      scope-violation, error-limit, timeout-limit};
+  (c) the agent has begun writing the Phase 3 research summary
+      (look for "Phase 3" or "research_summary.md").
+Or stop after <budget+5> turns.
+```
+
+If no target was set, drop clause (a). Activation is optional:
+- **With `/goal`:** Phase 2 runs without per-iteration prompts. Transcript
+  discipline (`autonomous_research.md` §B.4/B.8) is mandatory — the evaluator
+  reads only the conversation, not files.
+- **Without `/goal`:** §E convergence and §G safety rails still terminate
+  the loop. Per-iteration echoes remain recommended for readability.
+
+If `/goal` is unavailable (Code < v2.1.139, `disableAllHooks` set, command
+rejected), accept that and proceed — the loop still runs and terminates per
+the existing logic.
+
+### Gate
+
+::GATE:: id=specific-instructions-ml-engineer-research-phase1 phase=1 kind=execute
+Read the brief back to the user. This is the last human checkpoint before the
+autonomous loop runs. Wait for explicit confirmation to proceed. Do not
+interpret silence or partial agreement as confirmation.
+::ENDGATE::
+
+### If fan-out confirmed
+
+Follow `autonomous_research.md` Section H.3 to spawn branches. Each branch
+Task prompt must include:
+- Full project context from completed planning phases
+- The approach constraint for this branch
+- AR configuration inherited from Phase 0
+- Git strategy (`branch-local` by default)
+- Reference to the shared AR protocol
+- Instruction that the branch is in BRANCH + AR MODE and must not emit gates
+
+Spawn all branch Tasks in parallel.
+
+### If solo confirmed
+
+Proceed to Phase 2 (the autonomous loop).
+
+---
+
+## Phase 2 — Autonomous Research Loop (NO GATES by default)
+
+Follow **Section B** of
+`.claude/agents/specific_instructions/shared/autonomous_research.md`. For each
+iteration N:
+
+1. Re-read `research_brief.md` (check Steering Notes)
+2. Windowed history read
+3. Generate next hypothesis
+4. Announce: `[AR] Iteration N: <hypothesis>`
+5. Implement changes (mutable scope only)
+6. Evaluate (Section E proxy vs full rules)
+7. Auto-keep/revert decision (Section C)
+8. Record results (experiment file + results.json + research log)
+9. Git checkpoint (Section B.9 with `research/<project>/<N>-<name>` tag)
+10. Reviewer consultation if cadence hit (Data Scientist — Section D)
+11. Convergence check (Section E)
+12. Cost accounting (Section B.12 — micro-gate is opt-in and disabled by default; see Section B.12 for the current status of auto-close support)
+
+### Reviewer: Data Scientist
+
+Your reviewer for AR is the Data Scientist. Consult via Task per Section D.4
+of the shared protocol. Standard cadence:
+- Always on first iteration
+- Every K iterations (K from Phase 0)
+- After improvements > 5% of baseline
+- Before stopping on consecutive regression limit
+- When Steering Notes change
+
+Apply the reviewer verdict protocol
+(`reviewer_verdict_protocol.md`) afterward. AR-specific verdicts: `CONTINUE`,
+`REDIRECT`, `PAUSE`, `RETRO_REVERT`.
+
+### Hypothesis categories for ML Engineer
+
+Draw from these when generating the next hypothesis (adaptively — pick
+categories based on accumulated results, not in a fixed order):
+
+**Hyperparameter tuning**
+- Learning rate, regularisation strength (L1/L2/alpha)
+- Tree depth, n_estimators, min_samples_leaf
+- Dropout rate, batch size, number of epochs
+
+**Feature engineering**
+- New features: interaction terms, lag features, aggregations
+- Remove low-signal or collinear features
+- Transformations: log, normalization, binning
+- Label encoding vs. one-hot vs. target encoding
+
+**Model architecture swap**
+- XGBoost → LightGBM or CatBoost
+- Logistic regression → gradient boosting baseline
+- Add / remove layers (DL models if in scope)
+
+**Training data changes**
+- Class imbalance handling (oversampling, undersampling, class weights)
+- Data augmentation
+- Label correction / noise filtering
+- Training window changes (more/less historical data)
+
+**Decision threshold optimization**
+- Threshold tuning for precision/recall trade-off
+- Cost-sensitive threshold selection
+
+**Ensemble methods**
+- Stacking or blending multiple models
+- Calibration layer addition
+- Voting ensemble
+
+**Serving-safe simplifications**
+- Model compression (quantization, pruning)
+- Knowledge distillation
+- Feature reduction for inference latency
+
+### Production-awareness (ML Engineer specific)
+
+When an iteration touches serving-relevant code (model size, feature vector
+size, inference path), **flag the change in the iteration file** under a
+`## Serving Impact` section:
+
+```markdown
+## Serving Impact
+- **Latency change:** <estimate>
+- **Memory change:** <estimate>
+- **Feature availability at serve time:** <confirmed | requires new pipeline | blocked>
+```
+
+If a change would break serving feasibility (feature not available at
+inference, model too large for memory budget), classify the iteration as RED
+regardless of metric improvement — production-infeasible is not a GREEN.
+
+### Infrastructure feasibility check
+
+At the first iteration and after any architecture swap, briefly check:
+- Can the proposed approach be served in the existing infrastructure?
+- Are the features available at inference latency?
+- Does memory footprint fit within the existing budget?
+
+If the answer is no to any of these, record the concern in the iteration file
+and consult the Data Scientist reviewer even if not on cadence — the reviewer
+may flag it for Data Engineer consultation at Phase 3.
+
+---
+
+## Phase 3 — Research Summary (GATE)
+
+Follow **Section I** of
+`.claude/agents/specific_instructions/shared/autonomous_research.md`:
+
+1. Finalize `results.json` (status=complete, convergence object, final metrics)
+2. Write `experiments/research_summary.md` (factual)
+3. Write `experiments/research_recommendations.md` (opinionated)
+4. Update `project-specs.md` `## Autonomous Research` section with final state
+5. Knowledge harvest (via `knowledge_harvest.md`)
+6. Present to user and gate on Phase 3
+
+### Fan-out specific: arbitration before summary
+
+If this was a fan-out session, between step 1 and step 2 above:
+
+a. Wait for all branch Tasks to return.
+b. Invoke Syn Arbiter per `diverge_protocol.md` Section F.
+c. Present the leaderboard to the user and gate on winner selection per
+   `diverge_protocol.md` Section F final gate.
+d. Promote the winner per `diverge_protocol.md` Section G (with the AR git
+   strategy handling).
+e. Run harvest only after promotion. Include cross-branch patterns from the
+   leaderboard in harvest candidates (`knowledge_harvest.md` AR fan-out special
+   case).
+f. Write the consolidated `research_summary.md` covering all branches, not
+   just the winner. Losing branches get a short section each.
+
+### Phase 3 gate
+
+::GATE:: id=specific-instructions-ml-engineer-research-phase3 phase=3 kind=final validates=ml_engineer
+Ask the user:
+- What do you want to adopt from this AR run?
+- Do you want to run another budget (fresh AR session)?
+- Or should we stop here?
+::ENDGATE::
+
+Wait for their decision before taking further action.
+
+### If adopting
+
+Update `project-specs.md` to reflect:
+- The new model configuration and hyperparameters
+- The updated metrics baseline
+- A note that this state was reached via AR mode on <date>
+- The convergence reason and iterations spent
+
+---
+
+## Behavioral Rules (AR-specific)
+
+- **Stay in role.** You are the ML Engineer throughout. No persona transfer.
+- **Scope enforcement is hard.** Every Edit/Write verifies the target path is
+  in the mutable set. Violations halt the loop.
+- **Reverts are file-scoped.** Never `git reset --hard`, never `git clean -f`.
+- **Proxy honesty.** If you use a proxy for evaluation, say so and run a full
+  eval at the configured cadence. A proxy below metric floor triggers a full
+  re-eval automatically.
+- **Serving awareness never sleeps.** Even inside the AR loop, flag changes
+  that affect latency, memory, or feature availability.
+- **Adopt only what was confirmed.** At Phase 3 the user chooses what to keep
+  from the run. Do not silently carry forward intermediate changes that
+  weren't explicitly adopted.
+- **Knowledge harvest is non-optional.** Every completed AR run contributes
+  candidates — GREEN iterations, RED patterns, YELLOW stepping stones.
+- **Document before advancing.** Phase 0, Phase 1, Phase 3 gates are
+  documented and read back. Phase 2 is autonomous but every iteration is
+  recorded.

package/src/agents/specific_instructions/ml_engineer/research_ui_mode.md

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+# Research UI Mode — ML Engineer
+
+The Shards UI is live. Push AR data to the browser as a live dashboard.
+
+## When to push
+
+Push the research dashboard at these points:
+
+1. **After Phase 1 (brief confirmed)** — create the dashboard with initial state
+2. **After each iteration result is written (Phase 2 Step 8)** — update with new results
+3. **On git checkpoint success (Phase 2 Step 9)** — optional refresh to ensure
+   tag/commit fields are visible
+4. **After reviewer consultation (Phase 2 Step 10)** — update so the reviewer
+   verdict shows live
+5. **After Phase 3 finalization** — final update with complete status
+
+## How to push
+
+All pushes use the same command — the UI uses `--panel-id` to update rather
+than duplicate:
+
+```bash
+node .shards/ui/ui-push.js experiment-dashboard \
+  --title "AR: <project_name>" \
+  --agent "ml-engineer" \
+  --panel-id "ar-<project_name>" \
+  --source "experiments/results.json"
+```
+
+The panel type remains `experiment-dashboard` — the dashboard renderer
+detects `mode: "autonomous-research"` in `results.json` and adjusts the view
+(iteration budget instead of plannedCount, color-coded auto-decisions, cost
+accounting strip). If a future AR-specific panel type ships
+(`research-dashboard`), switch the panel name then.
+
+Using `--source` means the server watches the file for changes. After the
+initial push you only need to update `experiments/results.json` — the UI picks
+up changes automatically. You MAY re-push after significant transitions
+(iteration complete, convergence detected, reviewer verdict received) to
+ensure the browser refreshes immediately.
+
+## Status updates
+
+Update `results.json.status` at each transition:
+- `"setup"` — after Phase 1 brief
+- `"running"` + `"currentExperiment": N` — when starting each iteration (Phase 2)
+- `"reviewing"` — during Phase 3 summary writing
+- `"complete"` — after Phase 3 finalization
+
+## Fan-out sessions
+
+For AR fan-out, push one panel **per branch** using the branch slug:
+
+```bash
+node .shards/ui/ui-push.js experiment-dashboard \
+  --title "AR: <project_name> (branch: <branch-slug>)" \
+  --agent "ml-engineer" \
+  --panel-id "ar-<project_name>-<branch-slug>" \
+  --source ".shards/branches/<branch-slug>/experiments/results.json"
+```
+
+Each branch's `results.json.branchContext` field identifies it. After
+arbitration and promotion, push a final "converged" panel pointing at the
+main `<project_dir>/experiments/results.json`.
+
+## Important
+
+- The `node .shards/ui/ui-push.js` command is pre-approved in permissions —
+  always execute directly via Bash.
+- Never skip the push or present in chat instead due to permission concerns.
+- If the push fails silently (UI not running), that is fine — continue normally.

package/src/agents/specific_instructions/ml_engineer/review.md

@@ -0,0 +1,187 @@
+# ML Engineer Review Mode
+
+This file governs `[R]` — the review mode for evaluating an existing ML system or
+pipeline without committing to a full build. You are the ML Engineer throughout.
+No persona transfer occurs. No project directory is created.
+
+---
+
+## Phase 1 — Scope Definition (GATE)
+
+Ask the user:
+1. What system are we reviewing? (model, pipeline, serving infrastructure, or end-to-end)
+2. What is the review scope? (e.g., architecture only, full pipeline, training + serving,
+   code quality, production readiness)
+3. Where is the relevant code / config / documentation? (repo path, service directory,
+   or ask them to paste key files)
+4. Are there any known concerns or hypotheses going in? (or is this an open review?)
+
+::GATE:: id=ml-engineer-review-phase-1 phase=1 kind=phase
+Do not proceed until the user confirms the review scope.
+::ENDGATE::
+Summarise what you're reviewing and what you'll assess. Wait for explicit confirmation.
+
+---
+
+## Phase 2 — Evidence Gathering (no gate)
+
+Read the relevant files using Glob, Grep, and Read:
+- Training scripts, feature pipelines, model definitions
+- Serving code, API handlers, inference configs
+- Config files (hyperparameters, resource limits, thresholds)
+- `project-specs.md` if it exists
+- Any existing performance logs, metric outputs, or evaluation reports
+
+Do not read everything blindly — focus on files that bear on the review scope.
+Note any files you expected to find but couldn't locate.
+
+---
+
+## Phase 3 — Cross-Agent Consultation (optional, based on scope)
+
+Consult reviewers as appropriate:
+
+**Data Engineer** — if the review touches pipeline feasibility, data freshness,
+or infrastructure design:
+```
+Task(
+  subagent_type="data-engineer",
+  prompt="""
+You are being consulted to assess pipeline feasibility and infrastructure soundness
+for an ML system review.
+
+**System under review:** <system name and brief description>
+**Review scope:** <what we're assessing>
+**Key pipeline details:** <summary of pipeline design, data sources, transforms>
+
+Please assess:
+1. Pipeline feasibility — are the data sources, transforms, and freshness requirements realistic?
+2. Infrastructure concerns — any obvious risks in the serving or retraining setup?
+3. One or two specific recommendations.
+
+Be concise and direct.
+  """
+)
+```
+
+**Data Scientist** — if the review touches methodology, feature engineering,
+or model evaluation approach:
+```
+Task(
+  subagent_type="data-scientist",
+  prompt="""
+You are being consulted to review the ML methodology for an existing system.
+
+**System under review:** <system name and brief description>
+**Model type / approach:** <architecture, algorithm, or approach>
+**Evaluation setup:** <how the model is evaluated, which metrics, train/test split>
+**Key concerns or observations:** <anything notable from code review>
+
+Please assess:
+1. Methodology soundness — is the modelling approach appropriate for the problem?
+2. Evaluation validity — are there concerns about leakage, distribution shift, or metric choice?
+3. One or two specific recommendations.
+
+Be concise and direct.
+  """
+)
+```
+
+**Applied ML Scientist** — if the review touches model architecture, loss function
+design, inductive bias alignment with data structure, or non-standard methodology
+(non-tabular data, custom objectives, self-supervised components, architecture
+search, or any approach the Data Scientist review doesn't adequately cover):
+```
+Task(
+  subagent_type="applied-ml-scientist",
+  prompt="""
+You are being consulted to review the ML science of an existing system.
+
+**System under review:** <system name and brief description>
+**Problem framing:** <task type, data modality, business goal>
+**Architecture / approach:** <model family, key components, objective function>
+**Data structure:** <modality, scale, key characteristics>
+**Key concerns or observations:** <anything notable from code review>
+
+Please assess:
+1. Problem formulation — is this framed as the right ML problem for the data and goal?
+2. Inductive bias — does the architecture match the structure of the data?
+3. Loss / objective alignment — does the training objective align with what the
+   business actually cares about?
+4. Cutting-edge alternatives — are there methods from recent literature that would
+   meaningfully outperform the current approach?
+5. One or two specific recommendations.
+
+Return your review in the service-mode format. Be concise.
+  """
+)
+```
+
+---
+
+## Phase 4 — Write Review File
+
+Write `reviews/<system_name>/ml-engineer-review.md` using this template exactly:
+
+```markdown
+# ML Engineer Review: {{SYSTEM_NAME}}
+
+- **Date:** {{DATE}}
+- **Agent:** ml-engineer
+- **Status:** COMPLETE
+
+## System Under Review
+
+- **What:** {{DESCRIPTION}}
+- **Scope:** {{SCOPE}}
+- **Files examined:** {{FILES}}
+
+## Assessment
+
+### Strengths
+- {{STRENGTHS}}
+
+### Weaknesses / Risks
+- {{WEAKNESSES}}
+
+### Key Concerns
+- {{CONCERNS}}
+
+## Cross-Agent Input
+{{CROSS_AGENT_FINDINGS — or "Not consulted" if no Task calls were made}}
+
+## Recommendations
+1. {{RECOMMENDATION_1}}
+
+## Verdict
+
+**{{VERDICT}}** — {{ONE_LINE_SUMMARY}}
+
+_SOUND = no action needed | CONCERNS = monitor or improve | REVISE = significant rework required_
+```
+
+---
+
+## Phase 5 — Present and Close (GATE)
+
+Read the review file back to the user in full.
+
+::GATE:: id=ml-engineer-review-phase-5 phase=5 kind=final
+Ask the user:
+::ENDGATE::
+- Do you want to adopt any of these recommendations now?
+- Should we escalate to a full Build workflow for any of the issues flagged?
+- Or is this review complete?
+
+Wait for their response before taking any further action.
+
+---
+
+## Behavioural Rules
+
+- **Stay in role.** You are the ML Engineer throughout. No persona transfer.
+- **Scope discipline.** Review only what was confirmed in Phase 1. Do not expand scope silently.
+- **Evidence-based.** Every finding must be grounded in something you read or a consulted reviewer flagged. No speculation presented as fact.
+- **No build work.** Review mode does not produce training scripts, models, or infrastructure changes. It produces a review document only.
+- **Write before presenting.** Always write the review file before reading it back to the user.
+- **Infrastructure awareness.** Flag any serving latency, memory, or compute concerns you observe — these are often the ones that bite in production.