@rse/ase 0.9.47 → 0.9.49

package/dst/ase-kv.js

@@ -30,10 +30,10 @@ export class KV {
         KV.validateKey(key);
         return KV.store.has(key);
     }
-    /*  get a value by key; returns undefined if no value is stored  */
+    /*  get a deep copy of a value by key; returns undefined if no value is stored  */
     static get(key) {
         KV.validateKey(key);
-        return KV.store.get(key);
+        return structuredClone(KV.store.get(key));
     }
     /*  set a value under the given key; overwrites any existing value  */
     static set(key, val) {
@@ -103,6 +103,17 @@ export class KV {
             throw new Error(`invalid command "${String(c.command)}"`);
     }
 }
+/*  extract the message of a caught error  */
+const errorMessage = (err) => err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+/*  execute a single key/value command and render it as an MCP tool result  */
+const mcpToolExec = (c) => {
+    try {
+        return { content: [{ type: "text", text: KV.execute(c) }] };
+    }
+    catch (err) {
+        return { isError: true, content: [{ type: "text", text: `ERROR: ${errorMessage(err)}` }] };
+    }
+};
 /*  MCP registration entry point for in-memory key/value tools  */
 export class KVMCP {
     register(mcp) {
@@ -115,16 +126,7 @@ export class KVMCP {
                 key: z.string()
                     .describe("key identifier (non-empty, no whitespace-only, no control characters, up to 1024 characters)")
             }
-        }, async (args) => {
-            try {
-                const text = KV.execute({ command: "get", key: args.key });
-                return { content: [{ type: "text", text }] };
-            }
-            catch (err) {
-                const message = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
-                return { isError: true, content: [{ type: "text", text: `ERROR: ${message}` }] };
-            }
-        });
+        }, async (args) => mcpToolExec({ command: "get", key: args.key }));
         /*  key/value set  */
         mcp.registerTool("ase_kv_set", {
             title: "ASE key/value set",
@@ -137,16 +139,7 @@ export class KVMCP {
                 val: z.union([z.string(), z.number(), z.boolean(), z.null(), z.array(z.unknown()), z.record(z.string(), z.unknown())])
                     .describe("arbitrary JSON-compatible value to store under `key`")
             }
-        }, async (args) => {
-            try {
-                const text = KV.execute({ command: "set", key: args.key, val: args.val });
-                return { content: [{ type: "text", text }] };
-            }
-            catch (err) {
-                const message = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
-                return { isError: true, content: [{ type: "text", text: `ERROR: ${message}` }] };
-            }
-        });
+        }, async (args) => mcpToolExec({ command: "set", key: args.key, val: args.val }));
         /*  key/value clear  */
         mcp.registerTool("ase_kv_clear", {
             title: "ASE key/value clear",
@@ -158,16 +151,7 @@ export class KVMCP {
                 prefix: z.string().optional()
                     .describe("if given, only remove keys starting with this prefix (otherwise remove all keys)")
             }
-        }, async (args) => {
-            try {
-                const text = KV.execute({ command: "clear", prefix: args.prefix });
-                return { content: [{ type: "text", text }] };
-            }
-            catch (err) {
-                const message = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
-                return { isError: true, content: [{ type: "text", text: `ERROR: ${message}` }] };
-            }
-        });
+        }, async (args) => mcpToolExec({ command: "clear", prefix: args.prefix }));
         /*  key/value delete  */
         mcp.registerTool("ase_kv_delete", {
             title: "ASE key/value delete",
@@ -177,16 +161,7 @@ export class KVMCP {
                 key: z.string()
                     .describe("key identifier (non-empty, no whitespace-only, no control characters, up to 1024 characters)")
             }
-        }, async (args) => {
-            try {
-                const text = KV.execute({ command: "delete", key: args.key });
-                return { content: [{ type: "text", text }] };
-            }
-            catch (err) {
-                const message = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
-                return { isError: true, content: [{ type: "text", text: `ERROR: ${message}` }] };
-            }
-        });
+        }, async (args) => mcpToolExec({ command: "delete", key: args.key }));
         /*  key/value batch  */
         mcp.registerTool("ase_kv_batch", {
             title: "ASE key/value batch",
@@ -226,7 +201,7 @@ export class KVMCP {
                     results.push(KV.execute(c));
                 }
                 catch (err) {
-                    const message = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+                    const message = errorMessage(err);
                     if (tx) {
                         if (snapshot !== null)
                             KV.restore(snapshot);

package/dst/ase-mcp.js

@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ export default class MCPCommand {
         let ctx = this.loadContext();
         /*  fast path: already running  */
         if (ctx.port !== null) {
-            const match = await probe(ctx.port, ctx.projectId);
+            const match = await probe(ctx.port, ctx.projectId).catch(() => null);
             if (match === true)
                 return { projectId: ctx.projectId, port: ctx.port };
         }

package/dst/ase-meta.js

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 import path from "node:path";
 import fs from "node:fs";
 import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
-import { writeStdout } from "./ase-stdout.js";
+import { writeStdout } from "./ase-stdio.js";
 /*  reusable functionality: resolve and read plugin "meta/" files  */
 export class Meta {
     /*  determine the plugin "meta/" directory; the build process copies

package/dst/ase-service.js

@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import { TaskMCP } from "./ase-task.js";
 import { MarkdownMCP } from "./ase-markdown.js";
 import { ArtifactMCP } from "./ase-artifact.js";
 import { KVMCP } from "./ase-kv.js";
-import PersonaMCP from "./ase-persona.js";
 import { TimestampMCP } from "./ase-timestamp.js";
 import { GetoptMCP } from "./ase-getopt.js";
 import { SkillsMCP } from "./ase-skills.js";
@@ -243,7 +242,6 @@ export default class ServiceCommand {
             new MarkdownMCP().register(mcp);
             new ArtifactMCP(this.log).register(mcp);
             new KVMCP().register(mcp);
-            new PersonaMCP(this.log).register(mcp);
             new TimestampMCP().register(mcp);
             new GetoptMCP().register(mcp);
             new SkillsMCP().register(mcp);
@@ -494,7 +492,7 @@ export default class ServiceCommand {
             process.stdout.write("service: not running (no port configured)\n");
             return 1;
         }
-        const match = await probe(ctx.port, ctx.projectId);
+        const match = await probe(ctx.port, ctx.projectId).catch(() => null);
         if (match === true) {
             const r = await ofetch.raw(`http://${HOST}:${ctx.port}/command`, this.commandRequest("status", 2000));
             const d = r._data;
@@ -513,13 +511,13 @@ export default class ServiceCommand {
     /*  send command: POST /command with the arbitrary cmd token  */
     async doSend(cmd) {
         let ctx = this.loadContext();
-        if (ctx.port === null || await probe(ctx.port, ctx.projectId) !== true) {
+        if (ctx.port === null || await probe(ctx.port, ctx.projectId).catch(() => null) !== true) {
             /*  auto-start the service once, then re-check  */
             await this.doStart();
             ctx = this.loadContext();
             if (ctx.port === null)
                 throw new Error("service not running (no port configured after auto-start)");
-            if (await probe(ctx.port, ctx.projectId) !== true)
+            if (await probe(ctx.port, ctx.projectId).catch(() => null) !== true)
                 throw new Error(`service not responding on port ${ctx.port} after auto-start`);
         }
         const r = await ofetch.raw(`http://${HOST}:${ctx.port}/command`, { ...this.commandRequest(cmd, 5000), responseType: "text" });
@@ -536,7 +534,7 @@ export default class ServiceCommand {
             this.log.write("info", "service: not running (no port configured)");
             return 0;
         }
-        const match = await probe(ctx.port, ctx.projectId);
+        const match = await probe(ctx.port, ctx.projectId).catch(() => null);
         if (match === false) {
             this.log.write("info", `service: not running (port ${ctx.port} in use by foreign service)`);
             return 1;

package/dst/ase-setup.js

@@ -356,29 +356,13 @@ export default class SetupCommand {
                 args.push(name, transport.url);
             }
         }
-        else if (tool === "copilot") {
-            /*  GitHub Copilot CLI implies the stdio transport when the
-                command is provided after "--"; only "http"/"sse" servers
-                need an explicit "--transport" flag and take the URL as a
-                positional argument  */
-            if (transport.type === "stdio") {
-                args.push(name);
-                for (const [key, val] of Object.entries(env))
-                    args.push("--env", `${key}=${val}`);
-                args.push("--", ...transport.command);
-            }
-            else {
-                args.push("--transport", "http");
-                for (const [key, val] of Object.entries(transport.headers ?? {}))
-                    args.push("--header", `${key}: ${val}`);
-                args.push(name, transport.url);
-            }
-        }
         else {
-            /*  OpenAI Codex CLI takes the server name as the first
-                positional argument and implies the stdio transport when the
-                command is provided after "--"; "http" servers take the URL
-                via the "--url" option (with optional "--header" flags)  */
+            /*  the GitHub Copilot CLI and OpenAI Codex CLI both take the
+                server name as a positional argument and imply the stdio
+                transport when the command is provided after "--"; for "http"
+                servers the GitHub Copilot CLI needs an explicit
+                "--transport" flag and takes the URL positionally, while the
+                OpenAI Codex CLI takes it via the "--url" option  */
             if (transport.type === "stdio") {
                 args.push(name);
                 for (const [key, val] of Object.entries(env))
@@ -386,9 +370,14 @@ export default class SetupCommand {
                 args.push("--", ...transport.command);
             }
             else {
+                if (tool === "copilot")
+                    args.push("--transport", "http");
                 for (const [key, val] of Object.entries(transport.headers ?? {}))
                     args.push("--header", `${key}: ${val}`);
-                args.push(name, "--url", transport.url);
+                if (tool === "copilot")
+                    args.push(name, transport.url);
+                else
+                    args.push(name, "--url", transport.url);
             }
         }
         await this.run(toolSpecs[tool].cli, args);
@@ -586,7 +575,7 @@ export default class SetupCommand {
     statuslineFormatDflt = [
         "<blue>%u</blue> <red>%p</red> <black>%T</black> %s",
         "%m %e %t",
-        "%P %c"
+        "%P %h %c"
     ];
     /*  resolve the tool settings file for a given installation scope  */
     statuslineSettingsFile(tool, scope) {
@@ -618,8 +607,9 @@ export default class SetupCommand {
     }
     /*  build the "ase statusline ..." command string from the activate
         options and the effective format lines  */
-    statuslineCommand(opts, format) {
-        const parts = ["ase", "statusline", "-w", String(opts.width), "-m", String(opts.margin)];
+    statuslineCommand(tool, opts, format) {
+        const parts = ["ase", "statusline", "--tool", tool, "-w", String(opts.width), "-m", String(opts.margin),
+            "-p", String(opts.padding)];
         if (!opts.icons)
             parts.push("--no-icons");
         if (!opts.labels)
@@ -657,24 +647,18 @@ export default class SetupCommand {
         AST, reproducing the exact whitespace tokens json-asty emits for a
         canonically 4-space-indented settings.json  */
     statuslineBuildMember(root, command) {
-        const strMember = (key, val, epilog) => {
-            const k = root.create("string").set({ body: JSON.stringify(key), value: key, epilog: ": " });
-            const v = root.create("string").set({ body: JSON.stringify(val), value: val });
-            const m = root.create("member");
-            if (epilog !== undefined)
-                m.set({ epilog });
-            return m.add(k, v);
-        };
-        const numMember = (key, val, epilog) => {
+        const member = (key, val, epilog) => {
+            const type = typeof val === "number" ? "number" : "string";
+            const body = typeof val === "number" ? String(val) : JSON.stringify(val);
             const k = root.create("string").set({ body: JSON.stringify(key), value: key, epilog: ": " });
-            const v = root.create("number").set({ body: String(val), value: val });
+            const v = root.create(type).set({ body, value: val });
             const m = root.create("member");
             if (epilog !== undefined)
                 m.set({ epilog });
             return m.add(k, v);
         };
         const obj = root.create("object").set({ prolog: "{\n        ", epilog: "\n    }\n" });
-        obj.add(strMember("type", "command", ",\n        "), strMember("command", command, ",\n        "), numMember("padding", 0));
+        obj.add(member("type", "command", ",\n        "), member("command", command, ",\n        "), member("padding", 0));
         const key = root.create("string").set({
             body: JSON.stringify("statusLine"),
             value: "statusLine",
@@ -716,7 +700,7 @@ export default class SetupCommand {
         this.requireStatuslineTool(tool);
         this.requireStatuslineScope(tool, scope);
         const file = this.statuslineSettingsFile(tool, scope);
-        const command = this.statuslineCommand(opts, format);
+        const command = this.statuslineCommand(tool, opts, format);
         const root = await this.statuslineReadAst(file);
         const existing = this.statuslineFindMember(root);
         if (existing !== undefined) {
@@ -940,10 +924,11 @@ export default class SetupCommand {
             .option("-s, --scope <scope>", "target scope (\"user\", \"project\", or \"local\")", "user")
             .option("-w, --width <n>", "force terminal width to <n> characters (0 = auto-detect via /dev/tty)", parseNonNeg("width"), 0)
             .option("-m, --margin <n>", "reduce maximum used terminal width by <n> characters on each side", parseNonNeg("margin"), 2)
+            .option("-p, --padding <n>", "pad each rendered line with <n> spaces on each side", parseNonNeg("padding"), 0)
             .option("--no-icons", "disable icons in placeholder rendering")
             .option("--no-labels", "disable labels in front of bold values")
             .action(async (format, opts) => {
-            process.exit(await this.doStatuslineActivate(this.parseTool(opts.tool), this.parseScope(opts.scope), { width: opts.width, margin: opts.margin, icons: opts.icons, labels: opts.labels }, format ?? []));
+            process.exit(await this.doStatuslineActivate(this.parseTool(opts.tool), this.parseScope(opts.scope), { width: opts.width, margin: opts.margin, padding: opts.padding, icons: opts.icons, labels: opts.labels }, format ?? []));
         });
         /*  register CLI sub-command "ase setup statusline deactivate"  */
         statuslineCmd

package/dst/ase-skills.js

@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ export class Skills {
     }
     /*  fetch GitHub stars given a repository URL (or empty string)  */
     static async fetchStars(repository) {
-        const m = /^.+?\/\/github\.com\/([^/]+\/[^/#?]+?)(?:\.git)?(?:[/#?].*)?$/.exec(repository);
+        const m = /^(?:.*?:\/\/)?(?:[^@/]*@)?github\.com[:/]([^/]+\/[^/#?]+?)(?:\.git)?(?:[/#?].*)?$/.exec(repository);
         if (m === null)
             return "N.A.";
         try {

package/dst/ase-statusline.js

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import { InvalidArgumentError } from "commander";
 import { execaSync } from "execa";
 import { Chalk } from "chalk";
 import { Config, configSchema, parseScope } from "./ase-config.js";
-import { writeStdout } from "./ase-stdout.js";
+import { readStdin, writeStdout } from "./ase-stdio.js";
 import pkg from "../package.json" with { type: "json" };
 /*  forced-color chalk instance: stdout is a pipe under Anthropic Claude Code CLI,
     so chalk auto-detection would yield level 0; force level 1 to keep
@@ -28,13 +28,6 @@ const parseInteger = (name) => (value) => {
         throw new InvalidArgumentError(`${name} must be a non-negative integer`);
     return n;
 };
-/*  read stdin into a single string  */
-const readStdin = async () => {
-    const chunks = [];
-    for await (const chunk of process.stdin)
-        chunks.push(typeof chunk === "string" ? Buffer.from(chunk) : chunk);
-    return Buffer.concat(chunks).toString("utf8");
-};
 /*  detect terminal column width via /dev/tty (stdout is a pipe under Anthropic Claude Code CLI)  */
 const detectTermWidth = () => {
     let width = 0;
@@ -196,9 +189,10 @@ export default class StatuslineCommand {
             .option("-t, --tool <tool>", "target tool (\"claude\" or \"copilot\"; \"codex\" is unsupported)", toolDflt)
             .option("-w, --width <n>", "force terminal width to <n> characters (0 = auto-detect via /dev/tty)", parseInteger("--width"), 0)
             .option("-m, --margin <n>", "reduce maximum used terminal width by <n> characters on each side", parseInteger("--margin"), 2)
+            .option("-p, --padding <n>", "pad each rendered line with <n> spaces on each side", parseInteger("--padding"), 0)
             .option("--no-icons", "disable icons in placeholder rendering")
             .option("--no-labels", "disable labels in front of bold values")
-            .argument("[lines...]", "one or more template lines with %u %p %T %s %m %e %t %O %P %c %C %a %r " +
+            .argument("[lines...]", "one or more template lines with %u %p %T %s %m %e %t %O %P %h %c %C %a %r " +
             "%S %D %W %Q %H %X %b %g %G %d %M %V placeholders and <color>...</color> markup " +
             "(color: black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, white, default) " +
             "(default: single line \"%m %e %t\")")
@@ -218,8 +212,7 @@ export default class StatuslineCommand {
             }
             catch (err) {
                 const message = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
-                this.log.write("error", `statusline: invalid JSON on stdin: ${message}`);
-                process.exit(1);
+                throw new Error(`statusline: invalid JSON on stdin: ${message}`);
             }
             /*  normalize Copilot CLI's top-level "cwd" into the
                 "workspace.current_dir" structure shared with Anthropic Claude Code CLI  */
@@ -228,9 +221,11 @@ export default class StatuslineCommand {
                 && typeof data.cwd === "string" && data.cwd !== "") {
                 data.workspace = { ...(data.workspace ?? {}), current_dir: data.cwd };
             }
-            /*  determine effective terminal width and budget  */
+            /*  determine effective terminal width and budget
+                (the padding spaces occupy terminal columns, too,
+                so they have to be subtracted from the budget)  */
             const width = opts.width > 0 ? opts.width : detectTermWidth();
-            const budget = width > 0 ? width - 2 * opts.margin : 0;
+            const budget = width > 0 ? width - 2 * (opts.margin + opts.padding) : 0;
             /*  shared output state and append helper with auto-wrap;
                 the helper itself strips ANSI CSI escape sequences to
                 measure the raw visible width of the chunk  */
@@ -272,20 +267,24 @@ export default class StatuslineCommand {
             const getCfg = memoize(() => {
                 let taskId = process.env.ASE_TASK_ID ?? "";
                 let persona = process.env.ASE_PERSONA_STYLE ?? "";
+                let guidance = process.env.ASE_GUIDANCE_LEVEL ?? "";
                 try {
                     const cfg = new Config("config", configSchema, this.log, parseScope(`session:${getSession()}`));
                     cfg.read("lenient");
                     const t = String(cfg.get("agent.task") ?? "").trim();
                     const p = String(cfg.get("agent.persona") ?? "").trim();
+                    const g = String(cfg.get("agent.guidance") ?? "").trim();
                     if (t !== "")
                         taskId = t;
                     if (p !== "")
                         persona = p;
+                    if (g !== "")
+                        guidance = g;
                 }
                 catch (_e) {
                     /*  cascade unavailable; keep env-var fallbacks  */
                 }
-                return { taskId, persona };
+                return { taskId, persona, guidance };
             });
             const getGit = memoize(() => probeGit(data.workspace?.current_dir ?? ""));
             const getMem = memoize(() => probeMemory());
@@ -331,6 +330,11 @@ export default class StatuslineCommand {
                     if (persona !== "")
                         emit(`${prefix("☯", "persona")}${c.bold(persona)}`);
                 },
+                h: () => {
+                    const { guidance } = getCfg();
+                    if (guidance !== "")
+                        emit(`${prefix("▶", "guidance")}${c.bold(guidance)}`);
+                },
                 /*  ==== CONTEXT ====  */
                 c: () => {
                     const pct = Math.min(100, Math.max(0, Math.floor(data.context_window?.used_percentage ?? 0)));
@@ -340,10 +344,18 @@ export default class StatuslineCommand {
                     emit(`${prefix("◔", "context")}${bar} ${pct}%`);
                 },
                 C: () => {
-                    const pct = data.context_window?.used_percentage ?? 0;
-                    const tokensCur = (data.context_window?.total_input_tokens ?? 0) +
-                        (data.context_window?.total_output_tokens ?? 0);
-                    const tokensLim = pct > 0 && tokensCur > 0 ? Math.round(tokensCur * 100 / pct) : 0;
+                    /*  probe the live-context fields first and fall back to the
+                        cumulative ones, so each harness contributes its own view:
+                        GitHub Copilot CLI reports the live window separately (its
+                        "total_*" are session sums), whereas Anthropic Claude Code CLI
+                        folds it into "total_input_tokens". Output tokens stay out --
+                        "used_percentage" is input-side only.  */
+                    const cw = data.context_window;
+                    const pct = cw?.used_percentage ?? 0;
+                    const tokensCur = cw?.current_context_tokens ??
+                        cw?.last_call_input_tokens ?? cw?.total_input_tokens ?? 0;
+                    const tokensLim = cw?.displayed_context_limit ?? cw?.context_window_size ??
+                        (pct > 0 && tokensCur > 0 ? Math.round(tokensCur * 100 / pct) : 0);
                     if (tokensLim > 0)
                         emit(`${prefix("◆", "tokens")}${c.bold(formatTokens(tokensCur) + "/" + formatTokens(tokensLim))}`);
                 },
@@ -462,6 +474,18 @@ export default class StatuslineCommand {
                 out += "\n";
                 col = 0;
             }
+            /*  optionally pad all non-empty lines with spaces on both sides
+                (the trailing empty chunk after the final line break and any
+                intentionally empty line are left untouched, so that no
+                whitespace-only line is produced)  */
+            if (opts.padding > 0) {
+                const pad = " ".repeat(opts.padding);
+                out = out.split("\n").map((line) => line !== "" ? `${pad}${line}${pad}` : line).join("\n");
+                /*  for Copilot, prefix with a zero-width non-breaking space
+                    to prevent the first line to be unindented  */
+                if (tool === "copilot")
+                    out = "\u200B" + out;
+            }
             /*  send output  */
             await writeStdout(out);
             /*  optionally publish task id to the calling tmux pane as a per-pane user

package/dst/ase-stdio.js

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+/*
+**  Agentic Software Engineering (ASE)
+**  Copyright (c) 2025-2026 Dr. Ralf S. Engelschall <rse@engelschall.com>
+**  Licensed under Apache 2.0 <https://spdx.org/licenses/Apache-2.0>
+*/
+import getStdin from "get-stdin";
+/*  read the entire stdin payload as a UTF-8 string, treating an
+    interactive terminal as empty input so callers never block on a
+    user which is not going to type anything  */
+export const readStdin = () => {
+    return getStdin();
+};
+/*  write a string to stdout, awaiting the write callback which only
+    fires once the data has been flushed to the underlying pipe, so a
+    subsequent "process.exit" cannot truncate the output  */
+export const writeStdout = (text) => {
+    return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+        process.stdout.write(text, (err) => {
+            if (err)
+                reject(err);
+            else
+                resolve();
+        });
+    });
+};

package/dst/ase-task.js

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import { z } from "zod";
 import { LRUCache } from "lru-cache";
 import { Config, configSchema, parseScope } from "./ase-config.js";
 import { Markdown } from "./ase-markdown.js";
-import { writeStdout } from "./ase-stdout.js";
+import { readStdin, writeStdout } from "./ase-stdio.js";
 /*  reusable functionality: persisted task plans under
     <project>/<basedir>/TASK-<id>.md (driven by the
     "project.artifact.task.{basedir,files}" configuration)  */
@@ -56,11 +56,18 @@ export class Task {
         Task.projectRootCache.set(cwd, root);
         return root;
     }
+    /*  cached task storage specification (TTL-bounded, mirroring the project
+        root cache, as each read parses the whole layered YAML config chain)  */
+    static specCache = new LRUCache({ max: 4, ttl: 2 * 1000 });
     /*  read the configured "basedir" anchor and "files" miniglob spec for
         task storage; "basedir" is project-root-relative (POSIX, defaults
         to ".ase/task") and "files" constrains the task filenames
         (defaults to "*.md")  */
     static spec(log) {
+        const root = Task.projectRoot();
+        const cached = Task.specCache.get(root);
+        if (cached !== undefined)
+            return cached;
         const cfg = new Config("config", configSchema, log);
         cfg.read();
         const read = (key) => {
@@ -74,7 +81,9 @@ export class Task {
         if (basedir.split("/").includes(".."))
             throw new Error(`task: configured "basedir" "${basedir}" must not escape the project root`);
         const files = read("project.artifact.task.files") || "*.md";
-        return { basedir, files };
+        const result = { basedir, files };
+        Task.specCache.set(root, result);
+        return result;
     }
     /*  resolve the on-disk base directory for task storage  */
     static baseDir(log) {
@@ -245,15 +254,6 @@ export class Task {
         });
     }
 }
-/*  read all of stdin as a UTF-8 string  */
-const readStdin = () => {
-    return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-        const chunks = [];
-        process.stdin.on("data", (chunk) => chunks.push(chunk));
-        process.stdin.on("end", () => resolve(Buffer.concat(chunks).toString("utf8")));
-        process.stdin.on("error", (err) => reject(err));
-    });
-};
 /*  CLI command "ase task"  */
 export default class TaskCommand {
     log;

package/dst/ase.js

@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ const main = async () => {
     await program.parseAsync(process.argv);
     /*  gracefully terminate  */
     await log.close();
-    process.exit(0);
+    process.exit(process.exitCode ?? 0);
 };
 main().catch(async (err) => {
     if (err instanceof CommanderError) {

package/package.json

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
     "homepage":                             "https://ase.tools",
     "repository":                           { "url": "git+https://github.com/rse/ase.git", "type": "git" },
     "bugs":                                 { "url": "https://github.com/rse/ase/issues" },
-    "version":                              "0.9.47",
+    "version":                              "0.9.49",
     "license":                              "Apache-2.0",
     "author": {
         "name":                             "Dr. Ralf S. Engelschall",

package/plugin/.claude-plugin/plugin.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
     "name":        "ase",
-    "version":     "0.9.47",
+    "version":     "0.9.49",
     "description": "Agentic Software Engineering (ASE)",
     "keywords":    [ "agentic", "software", "engineering" ],
     "homepage":    "https://ase.tools",

package/plugin/.codex-plugin/plugin.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
     "name":        "ase",
-    "version":     "0.9.47",
+    "version":     "0.9.49",
     "description": "Agentic Software Engineering (ASE)",
     "keywords":    [ "agentic", "software", "engineering" ],
     "homepage":    "https://ase.tools",

package/plugin/.github/plugin/plugin.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
     "name":        "ase",
-    "version":     "0.9.47",
+    "version":     "0.9.49",
     "description": "Agentic Software Engineering (ASE)",
     "keywords":    [ "agentic", "software", "engineering" ],
     "homepage":    "https://ase.tools",

package/plugin/meta/ase-common-task.md

@@ -45,6 +45,15 @@ Task Skill Common Steps
     <template>
     ⧉ **ASE**: ☻ skill: **<arg1/>**, ▶ ERROR: expected single `[<id>]` argument
     </template>
+
+    Directly *after* this error <template/>, and *before* stopping,
+    give the corrective hint by expanding the following (which,
+    depending on the configured <ase-guidance-level/>, may expand into
+    nothing and hence emit no output at all):
+
+    <ase-tpl-hint level="verbose">
+    Run `/<arg1/> --help` for the accepted arguments of this skill, or use `/ase-help-intent` to have a fitting command proposed for a free-text intent.
+    </ase-tpl-hint>
     </elseif>
 
 </define>

package/plugin/meta/ase-constitution.md

@@ -6,17 +6,28 @@ You are an expert-level AI coding assistant.
 You have the **Agentic Software Engineering (ASE)** companion toolkit enabled,
 which boosts you to an expert-level Software Engineering AI agent.
 
-If ((<ase-agent-tool/> is equal to `codex`) *AND* (<ase-headless/> is empty
-or not set)) you *MUST* output the following <template/> *exactly once*
-as the very *first* thing in your *first* response of this session --
-*before* any other text, *before* any tool call, and *before* entering
-any skill flow:
+If ((<ase-agent-tool/> is equal to `copilot`) *AND* (<ase-headless/> is empty
+or not set) *AND* (<ase-guidance-level/> is not equal to `none`)) you *MUST* output
+the following <template/> *exactly once* as the very *first* thing in
+your *first* response of this session -- *before* any other text,
+*before* any tool call, and *before* entering any skill flow:
 
 <template>
 ⧉ **ASE**: ⎈ version: **<ase-version/>** <ase-version-hint/>
 ⧉ **ASE**: ※ user: **<ase-user-id/>**, ⚑ project: **<ase-project-id/>**
 ⧉ **ASE**: ◉ task: **<ase-task-id/>**, ⏻ session: **<ase-session-id/>**
-⧉ **ASE**: ☯ persona: **<ase-persona-style/>**, ▢ boxing: **<ase-project-boxing/>**
+⧉ **ASE**: ☯ persona: **<ase-persona-style/>**, ▶ guidance: **<ase-guidance-level/>**, ▢ boxing: **<ase-project-boxing/>**
+</template>
+
+If ((<ase-agent-tool/> is equal to `copilot`) *AND* (<ase-headless/> is
+empty or not set) *AND* (<ase-guidance-level/> is equal to `normal` or
+`verbose`)) you *MUST* output the following <template/> *exactly once*
+as the very *second* thing in your *first* response of this session,
+too:
+
+<template>
+⧉ **ASE**: ▷ hint: use "/ase-help-intent *intent-description*" for skill command proposal
+⧉ **ASE**: ▷ hint: use "/ase-help-skill [*skill-name*]" for skill catalog or skill manpage
 </template>
 
 Prohibitions