Written at the developer's request after the control model changed from "the developer
spawns sessions" to "the orchestrator spawns, monitors and retires its own workers",
with pi-context-tools installed globally.
Covers: authority and what the orchestrator decides versus escalates; the herdr control
model with exact commands, the verified 2x2 topology, and the known failure modes
(including the transient agent_pane_not_found on a just-split pane, and the
mutual-ask intercom deadlock); the context model and the compaction-first policy with
the requirement it creates (state must live in files); roster sizing and the Goal A /
Goal B assignment split; the session lifecycle including the updated capability probe
with context_info; the hardened merge flow with the md5 drift guard; the verification
ladder; the full charter template; all nineteen process rules WITH THEIR PROVENANCE
(each earned by a real incident); and the phase open and close checklists.
Supersedes the session-management sections of PHASE8_PROTOCOL.md and PHASE9_PROTOCOL.md;
the merge/verification contract in those documents still stands.
Christopher Williams
2b98f34243