harden critique so that it runs in sub-agents more often in harnesses other than Claude and Codex

skill/reference/critique.md

@@ -5,8 +5,9 @@ Resolve one stable target, run two independent assessments, synthesize a design
 ### Hard Invariants
 
 - Assessment A (design review) and Assessment B (detector/browser evidence) are both required.
+- Assessment A and B MUST run as two isolated sub-agents whenever a sub-agent/Task tool is exposed. Running them inline in this context is "possible" but is NOT permitted; it is a degraded run. Inline is allowed ONLY when no sub-agent tool exists (or the user declined, on harnesses that ask).
+- If you degrade for any reason, the report's first line MUST be a banner: `⚠️ DEGRADED: single-context (<reason>)`. A silent degraded critique is a failed critique.
 - Assessment A must finish before detector findings enter the parent synthesis context. Detector output is deterministic, but it still anchors judgment.
-- If sub-agents are unavailable, fall back sequentially: finish and record Assessment A first, then run Assessment B, then synthesize.
 - A skipped detector is a failed critique run unless `detect.mjs` is missing or crashes after a real attempt.
 - Viewable targets require browser inspection when available.
 - Any local server started only for critique visualization must run in the background, have a recorded stop method, and be stopped before final reporting unless the user asks to keep it.
@@ -27,15 +28,22 @@ Resolve one stable target, run two independent assessments, synthesize a design
 
 ### Assessment Orchestration
 
-Delegate Assessment A and Assessment B to separate sub-agents when possible. They must not see each other's output. Do not show findings to the user until synthesis.
+Delegate Assessment A and Assessment B to separate sub-agents. They must not see each other's output. Do not show findings to the user until synthesis.
+
+Sub-agent gate (all harnesses):
+- Unless a harness-specific gate below overrides this, spawn A and B as two isolated, parallel sub-agents whenever a sub-agent/Task tool is exposed. This is the default and is mandatory; do not run them inline because it is faster.
+- "Unavailable" means exactly one thing: no sub-agent/Task tool is exposed in this session (or, on harnesses that ask, the user declined). It does not mean inconvenient.
+- If and only if sub-agents are unavailable, fall back sequentially: finish and record Assessment A, then run Assessment B, then synthesize, and emit the degraded banner.
+- Whichever path you take, declare it in the report header (see Report header provenance). Skipping sub-agents without the banner is the most common failure of this command.
 
 <codex>
-Codex sub-agent gate:
+Codex sub-agent gate (overrides the default above; Codex's permission model requires asking before spawning):
+- Asking is the normal path, not a degradation. Approving and spawning is the dual-agent path; do not emit the degraded banner just for asking.
 - If `spawn_agent` is exposed and the user explicitly allowed sub-agents, delegation, or parallel agent work, spawn A and B immediately.
 - If `spawn_agent` is exposed but the user did not explicitly allow sub-agents, ask exactly once: "Impeccable critique is designed to run two independent sub-agents for an unanchored assessment. May I use sub-agents for this critique?" Then stop until the user answers.
-- If allowed, spawn A and B. If declined, run sequentially and report `Assessment independence: degraded (sub-agents declined by user)`.
-- If `spawn_agent` is not exposed, do not ask; run sequentially and report `Assessment independence: degraded (spawn_agent unavailable in this session)`.
-- If spawning fails after permission, run sequentially and report `Assessment independence: degraded (sub-agent spawn failed: <exact error>)`.
+- If allowed, spawn A and B. If declined, run sequentially and lead the report with `⚠️ DEGRADED: single-context (sub-agents declined by user)`.
+- If `spawn_agent` is not exposed, do not ask; run sequentially and lead with `⚠️ DEGRADED: single-context (spawn_agent unavailable in this session)`.
+- If spawning fails after permission, run sequentially and lead with `⚠️ DEGRADED: single-context (sub-agent spawn failed: <exact error>)`.
 Prefer `fork_context: false` with self-contained prompts containing cwd, target, live URL, references, product context, and output contract. If using `fork_context: true`, omit `agent_type`, `model`, and `reasoning_effort`.
 </codex>
 
@@ -71,7 +79,7 @@ node {{scripts_path}}/detect.mjs --json [target]
 
 Browser visualization is required for a viewable target when browser automation is available. Use a localhost dev/static URL for local files; avoid `file://` unless the available browser explicitly supports this workflow. Overlay flow:
 
-1. Create a fresh tab and navigate.
+1. Create a fresh tab and navigate. Prefer the harness's native/browser-canvas screenshot path before hand-rolling a Playwright/Puppeteer script; only fall back to a custom script when no native browser tool is exposed.
 2. Preflight mutable injection by setting `document.title` and appending a `<script>` tag. Read-only evaluate APIs do not count.
 3. If mutation is unavailable, skip live server, browser presentation, and injection; report fallback signal.
 4. If mutation is available, start `node {{scripts_path}}/live-server.mjs --background`, present the browser if supported, label `[Human]`, scroll top, inject `http://localhost:PORT/detect.js`, wait 2-3 seconds, read `impeccable` console messages, then stop the live server.
@@ -101,6 +109,12 @@ Codex final-answer note: `$impeccable critique` produces a report artifact, so t
 
 Structure your feedback as a design director would:
 
+#### Report header provenance
+
+The report's first line MUST declare how the assessments were run, so a degraded run is never silent:
+- Dual-agent: `Method: dual-agent (A: <agent-id> · B: <agent-id>)`
+- Degraded: `⚠️ DEGRADED: single-context (<reason, e.g. no sub-agent tool exposed>)`
+
 #### Design Health Score
 > *Consult the [Heuristics Scoring Guide](#heuristics-scoring-guide) section below.*