show & tell

The demons
You Know

What I hand off, what can run alone, and what stays with me.

@viekoAugust 24, 2026

01 / the scene

One machine. Several kinds of work.

PHYREXIA is the tmux plane. Project windows group panes; construct windows get isolated worktrees.

01 / the problem

Starting another session is easy. Keeping the work straight is not.

01Which work is running?
02What may the session touch?
03Which session holds the judgment?

I needed names that carried those answers with them.

02 / taxonomy

Four roles. I call them constructs.

02 / taxonomy

One axis matters: steerability.

A Familiar can be corrected mid-run. A Golem cannot.
That is why the Golem needs all of its context before launch.

03 / context

Each construct role gets a different shape of context.

Under-specify a Familiar and I lose a sentence. Under-specify a Golem and I lose the run.

03 / model binding

The construct role and model are separate choices.

SummonerFable / highSol / max · GLM 5.3 / mediumjudgment seat gets the default frontier model
FamiliarSonnet / mediumLuna / max · GLM 5.3 / mediumsteerability matters more than model family
GolemLuna / high → Opus / high → Opus / xhighGLM 5.3 / medium → Opus / higheach verify failure moves to the next configuration
LegionSonnet membersLuna members · GLM 5.3 membersreview capacity, not model cost, sets the batch size

If the Summoner uses one model family, Golems start in another.

04 / trust

The rule that does not bend.

Checks stop the run. The Summoner decides whether the diff ships.

05 / pi config

One base policy. Generated configs on each machine.

Sessions, credentials, and the model cache remain local state.

06 / bonfire

Memory is a file convention, not a product.

The cheapest cross-agent interface is a file with a stable location and a stable shape.

06 / anvil

A command cannot be talked around.

npm test does not care how persuasive the agent is. It runs the tests and returns a number.

06 / pi-post

The message arrives when the session can use it.

Messages land mid-turn, wake idle sessions, or queue until the conversation resumes.

06 / pi-prose

Make Pi sound the way I want.

Styles switch live. The same preference follows every model.

07 / what held up

The failures became rules.

shared checkoutreset --hard erased sibling work. Now every file-touching construct gets a worktree.
reused sessionthe window name no longer matched the task. Now new work gets a fresh construct.
directory targetreport-back had seven possible recipients. Now dispatch injects one concrete address.
bare dispatchthe run finished silently. Now the wrapper installs a completion ping.

09 / what transfers

Know where the boundaries are.

01Handoff boundary

Steerability decides the construct. A Familiar can inherit context; a Golem needs the complete spec and gate.

02Judgment boundary

The Summoner scopes and specifies. Familiars and Golems handle the mechanics.

03Shipping boundary

Checks stop the run. The Summoner decides whether the diff ships.

Know your demons.