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fix(skills): gate polish Publish Offer on --standalone, not path detection (#1017)
54f007f55798999bc8f8d334ed7f51fd88ec196a · 2026-05-10 22:54:35 -0700 · Trevin Chow
Polish's mid-pipeline detection used a single signal — a substring check
on the resolved CLI path (*.runstate/*). When that signal was wrong
(Phase 5.5/5.6 ordering inverted, non-.runstate scratch layout) polish
entered standalone mode and ran the Publish Offer mid-pipeline: forked
the public library, set global git config, opened a real PR for an
un-promoted working copy.
Gate the offer on caller mode instead: slash-command invocations
(`/printing-press-polish ...`) treat as STANDALONE_MODE=true; Skill-tool
invocations default to false and must opt in with `--standalone` in args
to publish. The path no longer drives the publish decision.
The legacy `*.runstate/*` substring is retained in the research-dir
resolution block — that one is selecting between two real on-disk
layouts, which is a different concern from publish gating.
Closes #1008
Files touched
M skills/printing-press-polish/SKILL.mdM skills/printing-press/SKILL.md
Diff
commit 54f007f55798999bc8f8d334ed7f51fd88ec196a
Author: Trevin Chow <trevin@trevinchow.com>
Date: Sun May 10 22:54:35 2026 -0700
fix(skills): gate polish Publish Offer on --standalone, not path detection (#1017)
Polish's mid-pipeline detection used a single signal — a substring check
on the resolved CLI path (*.runstate/*). When that signal was wrong
(Phase 5.5/5.6 ordering inverted, non-.runstate scratch layout) polish
entered standalone mode and ran the Publish Offer mid-pipeline: forked
the public library, set global git config, opened a real PR for an
un-promoted working copy.
Gate the offer on caller mode instead: slash-command invocations
(`/printing-press-polish ...`) treat as STANDALONE_MODE=true; Skill-tool
invocations default to false and must opt in with `--standalone` in args
to publish. The path no longer drives the publish decision.
The legacy `*.runstate/*` substring is retained in the research-dir
resolution block — that one is selecting between two real on-disk
layouts, which is a different concern from publish gating.
Closes #1008
---
skills/printing-press-polish/SKILL.md | 35 ++++++++++++++++++++++-------------
skills/printing-press/SKILL.md | 7 +++++--
2 files changed, 27 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)
diff --git a/skills/printing-press-polish/SKILL.md b/skills/printing-press-polish/SKILL.md
index 404a843f..b5aa086b 100644
--- a/skills/printing-press-polish/SKILL.md
+++ b/skills/printing-press-polish/SKILL.md
@@ -77,21 +77,26 @@ and let the divergence check (below) handle any drift.
### Resolve CLI
-The argument can be:
+The argument string can contain a `--standalone` flag plus one positional value (a slug, binary name, or path). The flag may appear before or after the positional value; it is the only flag this skill consumes from `args`. Strip it before path resolution.
+
+The positional value can be:
- A short name: `redfin` (looks up `$PRESS_LIBRARY/redfin`)
- A full name: `redfin-pp-cli` (strips suffix, looks up `$PRESS_LIBRARY/redfin`)
- A path: `~/printing-press/library/redfin` (used directly)
-Resolution order:
-1. If the argument is an absolute or `~`-prefixed path and exists, use it
+Resolution order for the positional value:
+1. If it is an absolute or `~`-prefixed path and exists, use it
2. Try `$PRESS_LIBRARY/<arg>` (exact match — works for slug like `redfin`)
-3. If arg has `-pp-cli` suffix, strip it and try `$PRESS_LIBRARY/<slug>` (e.g., `redfin-pp-cli` → `redfin`)
+3. If it has `-pp-cli` suffix, strip it and try `$PRESS_LIBRARY/<slug>` (e.g., `redfin-pp-cli` → `redfin`)
4. Fuzzy search: `ls $PRESS_LIBRARY/ | grep -i <arg>` for close matches
-**Caller scenarios.** Polish has two callers and they pass different argument forms:
+**Caller scenarios and the `--standalone` flag.** Polish has two callers; they invoke it through different mechanisms, and the Publish Offer at the end of this skill fires only when `STANDALONE_MODE` is true. **Determine `STANDALONE_MODE` from the caller mode and the flag, not from the resolved path.**
+
+- **Standalone (user-invoked, `/printing-press-polish redfin`).** Invoked via the slash command. Treat as `STANDALONE_MODE=true` unconditionally — the slash-command form is the publish-intent surface, even when the user omits the flag. The arg is a slug or binary name; resolution lands on `$PRESS_LIBRARY/<slug>/`. This is the published copy and the right target.
+- **Mid-pipeline (main printing-press skill Phase 5.5, hold-path "Polish to retry").** Invoked via the Skill tool with `args: "$CLI_WORK_DIR"`. The arg is an absolute path to `~/printing-press/.runstate/.../runs/.../working/<api>-pp-cli/`; resolution must hit rule 1. `STANDALONE_MODE=false` by default — main SKILL owns the publish flow on this path, so polish defers. **Do not paraphrase the arg to the slug** — Phase 5.5 fires before the working CLI is promoted, so `$PRESS_LIBRARY/<slug>/` either doesn't exist or holds the *prior* run's stale CLI.
+- **Skill-tool standalone override.** A non-slash caller that genuinely wants polish to publish must opt in explicitly by including `--standalone` in `args` (e.g., `args: "--standalone ~/printing-press/library/redfin"`). Without that token, polish never publishes from a Skill-tool invocation — even if the resolved path happens to live under `$PRESS_LIBRARY/`. The flag is the contract; the path is not.
-- **Standalone (user-invoked, `/printing-press-polish redfin`).** The arg is a slug or binary name; resolution lands on `$PRESS_LIBRARY/<slug>/`. This is the published copy and the right target.
-- **Mid-pipeline (main printing-press skill Phase 5.5).** The arg is `$CLI_WORK_DIR` — an absolute path to `~/printing-press/.runstate/.../runs/.../working/<api>-pp-cli/`. Resolution must hit rule 1. **Do not paraphrase this to the slug** — Phase 5.5 fires before the working CLI is promoted, so `$PRESS_LIBRARY/<slug>/` either doesn't exist or holds the *prior* run's stale CLI.
+This caller-mode-driven gate replaces the older path-substring heuristic (`*.runstate/*`). The heuristic broke when the main SKILL's Phase 5.5/5.6 ordering inverted, or when polish was invoked from a non-`.runstate` scratch layout: polish would see a `$PRESS_LIBRARY/<slug>/` path, conclude "standalone," and fire its Publish Offer (fork, global git config, public PR) inside a mid-pipeline run. The flag is unambiguous and the safer default is no-publish.
The lock-status check in the next code block is the safety net for the mid-pipeline scenario: if a build lock is held for this CLI (under either name form), polish refuses to run. `printing-press lock` normalizes slug ↔ binary-name internally, so the check works regardless of which form the basename produces.
@@ -102,6 +107,7 @@ relative timestamps (e.g., "generated 2 hours ago").
```bash
CLI_DIR="<resolved path>"
CLI_NAME="$(basename "$CLI_DIR")"
+STANDALONE_MODE="<true|false>" # true iff slash-command invocation or --standalone in args; default false for Skill-tool invocations
# Check if there's an active build lock — polish edits would be overwritten
# when the running build promotes to library.
@@ -636,17 +642,20 @@ Set `no` when another invocation would re-tread the same ground:
## Publish Offer
-**Skip this entire section in mid-pipeline mode.** Detect from `$CLI_DIR`: if the path is under `.runstate/` (i.e., `$PRESS_RUNSTATE/<scope>/runs/.../working/<api>-pp-cli/`), polish is being called from main SKILL Phase 5.5 or hold-path "Polish to retry," and the working CLI has not been promoted to library yet. `/printing-press-publish <slug>` resolves to `$PRESS_LIBRARY/<slug>/`, which is either empty or holds a stale prior run — invoking publish here would either fail to resolve or ship the wrong copy. The parent skill owns the publish flow on that path; just emit the result block and return.
+**Skip this entire section unless `STANDALONE_MODE` is true.** `STANDALONE_MODE` is set in the "Resolve CLI" block above based on the caller mode: true for slash-command invocations (`/printing-press-polish ...`) or Skill-tool invocations that pass `--standalone` in `args`; false otherwise. When false, polish is being called from main SKILL Phase 5.5 or hold-path "Polish to retry," and the working CLI has not been promoted to library yet. `/printing-press-publish <slug>` would resolve to `$PRESS_LIBRARY/<slug>/`, which is either empty or holds a stale prior run — invoking publish here would either fail to resolve or ship the wrong copy. The parent skill owns the publish flow on that path; just emit the result block and return.
A simple check:
```bash
-case "$CLI_DIR" in
- *.runstate/*) echo "mid-pipeline; skipping Publish Offer"; return ;;
-esac
+if [ "$STANDALONE_MODE" != "true" ]; then
+ echo "non-standalone caller; skipping Publish Offer"
+ return
+fi
```
-For standalone invocations (`$CLI_DIR` under `$PRESS_LIBRARY/<slug>/`), continue with the offer below.
+The gate is the caller-mode flag, **not** the resolved path. A Skill-tool invocation without `--standalone` defers publish even when the path lives under `$PRESS_LIBRARY/<slug>/`; this is the safer default, and the only way the inverted Phase 5.5/5.6 failure mode (mid-pipeline run firing a public fork + PR) gets caught at the polish boundary. The previous path-substring heuristic (`*.runstate/*`) is no longer load-bearing here — it has been retained in the research-dir resolution block above because that block is selecting between two real on-disk layouts, which is a different concern from publish gating.
+
+For standalone invocations, continue with the offer below.
If `ship` or `ship-with-gaps`:
@@ -713,7 +722,7 @@ Present via `AskUserQuestion`:
If the user picks yes, invoke `/printing-press-retro`.
-(In mid-pipeline mode this whole section is unreachable — the Publish Offer guard at the top of this section returns early — so no extra check is needed here.)
+(When `STANDALONE_MODE` is false this whole section is unreachable — the Publish Offer guard at the top of this section returns early — so no extra check is needed here.)
### If "Polish again"
diff --git a/skills/printing-press/SKILL.md b/skills/printing-press/SKILL.md
index 2dba62ec..d04ff3f1 100644
--- a/skills/printing-press/SKILL.md
+++ b/skills/printing-press/SKILL.md
@@ -2768,6 +2768,8 @@ Skill(
**Pass `$CLI_WORK_DIR` (the absolute working-dir path), not the API slug.** Phase 5.5 fires before Phase 5.6 promotes the working CLI to the library, so `$PRESS_LIBRARY/<slug>/` either doesn't exist yet or contains the *prior* run's CLI. If you paraphrase the args to the slug (e.g., `args: "producthunt"`), polish silently operates on the stale library copy.
+**Do not pass `--standalone` in `args`.** Polish's Publish Offer is gated on caller mode (see polish SKILL.md "Publish Offer"): slash-command invocations or Skill-tool invocations carrying `--standalone` run the offer; everything else defers. Phase 5.5 is mid-pipeline — main SKILL owns the publish flow at Phase 6 — so this invocation must remain flag-free. Passing `--standalone` here would re-introduce the failure mode the flag was added to prevent: polish forks the public library, sets global git config, and opens a real PR before the working CLI has been promoted.
+
The polish skill runs the full diagnostic-fix-rediagnose loop including MCP tool quality polish (via `printing-press tools-audit` plus the playbook at `references/tools-polish.md`) and ends its response with a `---POLISH-RESULT---` block containing scorecard/verify/tools-audit before/after, fixes applied, and a ship recommendation.
Parse the result block. Display the delta to the user:
@@ -3008,10 +3010,11 @@ Skill(
)
```
-Two reasons for this exact form, both mirroring Phase 5.5:
+Three reasons for this exact form, all mirroring Phase 5.5:
1. **Pass `$CLI_WORK_DIR` (absolute path), not the slug.** Hold runs leave the CLI in the working directory because Phase 5.6 did not promote — `$PRESS_LIBRARY/<slug>/` either does not exist or holds a stale prior run, and a slug-form invocation would polish that stale copy.
-2. **Use the Skill tool (forked context), not the `/printing-press-polish` slash command.** This matches Phase 5.5's invocation pattern — same shape, same expectations. The polish skill's Publish Offer is gated on caller mode (see polish SKILL.md "If Publish now"); when invoked via the Skill tool in forked context, polish defers the post-publish retro tail to the parent. Main SKILL owns the menu on this path.
+2. **Use the Skill tool (forked context), not the `/printing-press-polish` slash command.** This matches Phase 5.5's invocation pattern — same shape, same expectations. Slash-command invocations auto-enable polish's standalone mode (Publish Offer fires); the Skill tool form defers to the parent unless `--standalone` is passed explicitly. Main SKILL owns the menu on this path.
+3. **Do not include `--standalone` in `args`.** The flag is what polish gates its Publish Offer on (see polish SKILL.md "Publish Offer"). On the hold path the CLI has not been promoted; firing the offer would open a public PR for an un-promoted, un-shipped working copy.
After polish returns, parse the result block and act on the new `ship_recommendation`:
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