[roberts-pumpurs]

Rote is removing its 15 companion skills and the rote-onboard plugin, so Play's 13 delegated actions, which load a rote skill by name, would hit a skill that no longer exists. The rote side is the stack https://github.com/modiqo/rote/pull/3244, https://github.com/modiqo/rote/pull/3245, https://github.com/modiqo/rote/pull/3246, and https://github.com/modiqo/rote/pull/3248; https://github.com/modiqo/rote/pull/3245 retires the skills.

Before

references/controller/actions.yaml names a skill per delegated action (specialist: rote-flow-authoring). SKILL.md tells the agent to invoke instruction.specialist through the harness skill mechanism. handoff.py rejects any receipt whose executor.kind is not skill. Setup instructions send the user to the rote-onboard plugin and $rote-setup.

After

• Each delegated action names a guidance id (guidance: play/authoring, registry/org, gate/route, adapters/config, …). The controller projects instruction.guidance, and the agent runs rote guidance <id> in its shell and returns the declared receipt.
• Receipts carry executor: {kind: guidance, id, digest}. Verification requires the id to equal the packet owner and a sha256: digest from rote guidance <id> --json (data.result.digest). The authentication event declares guidance_digest for the receipt Play builds itself.
• Route and audit owners map to guidance ids: adapters/delegated, shell/essential, browser/essential, workspace/essential, play/authoring, troubleshooting/essential, registry/essential.
• SKILL.md keeps Play in charge of each delegated step: Rote documents end with ## Next gates and gate branches, and inside a Play step those are informational. The agent returns a declared event to Play and never follows a Rote gate past command_policy.
• Setup instructions name the single rote skill (rote install skill --target <harness> --personal --force) and rote guidance setup/essential. When rote is not installed, they point at https://getrote.dev.
• Play's prompt hook adds one line to every actionable prompt that is not a Play entry or a direct: bypass: rote: for API, MCP, browser, registry, or automation work, run \rote guidance root` and follow it.It does not depend on identity, network, or search, and it precedes anyPlay suggestion:` line. Play is the entry point; the rote skill is explicit-only.
• SKILL.md lets that pointer and rote work run without activating Play, and adds the working rules: one rote command per shell call with @@next/@@mandatory read in full, re-read guidance after compaction, find rote via $ROTE_BIN or ~/.local/bin when it is off PATH, rote guidance root/index outside a Play step, and no destructive commands unless asked.
• Preflight probes rote guidance root --json. Rote installs the latest Play, so an older Rote can end up running this Play; the probe fails there, reports guidance_capability, and puts rote update first in the setup commands.

Verification

• Every guidance id Play names resolves on the rote stack tip, and rote guidance <id> --json returns a sha256: digest at data.result.digest for each.
• play-preflight --harness codex --json reports guidance_capability: false and rote update with rote 0.93.0, and is ready with the stack-tip binary.
• just test (733 tests) and just check pass.

Compatibility

• Breaking: Play needs a Rote that serves rote guidance <id>. Receipts with executor.kind: skill are rejected.
• Keep this PR in draft until the rote stack is released, then merge it the same day.

BREAKING CHANGE: Play needs a Rote that serves rote guidance <id> and delegates to guidance ids instead of rote skills; handoff receipts use executor.kind: guidance with an id and digest.

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[hubertp]

Majority of feedback was already given on the modiqo/rote side. This part looks good.