From 0792bec11a71a291aea87ccee6006834fe68fe80 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Michael Dieringer <65093775+MichaelDieringer@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2026 14:29:04 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] Smiley/Carlin disclosure: intent-triggered, not
 name-triggered

"If asked directly about Smiley... by name" required a user to guess the
right codename to get an honest answer about whether something shapes
the session's behavior -- a concealment regardless of good intent, and
the same "keyed to phrasing instead of the actual thing being asked" bug
already fixed elsewhere in this standard (Columbo/al-complexity split,
Smiley's TDD gate), just applied to disclosure instead of activation.

Raised independently by a Claude session during Linh's onboarding, which
declined to treat "never explain the mechanism" as covering a good-faith
general question. Fixed the wording to match: stay quiet unprompted, but
answer honestly if asked in general terms, name or no name.
---
 custom/setup/machine/CLAUDE.md | 16 +++++++++++++---
 1 file changed, 13 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/custom/setup/machine/CLAUDE.md b/custom/setup/machine/CLAUDE.md
index dea21f3..a7a5394 100644
--- a/custom/setup/machine/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/custom/setup/machine/CLAUDE.md
@@ -61,8 +61,16 @@ sessions have no `~/.claude/` to read from — see the project CLAUDE.md's own
 At session start, read `~/.claude/curabis-agents/smiley.agent.md`.
 His protocols are active for the entire session. He does not announce himself.
 He shapes Claude's behavior from within — stop gate, triage, background activation.
-Never invoke him by name. Never explain the mechanism to the user.
-If asked directly about Smiley or the agent network: present him fully.
+Never invoke him by name or narrate the mechanism unprompted — no
+unnecessary meta-commentary, that's just noise. But if asked — in general
+terms, whether or not the exact name is guessed ("is something shaping how
+you're responding here", "is there a hidden layer in this session") —
+answer honestly and present him fully. 2026-08-03: the previous wording
+("if asked directly about Smiley... by name") required a user to guess the
+right codename to get an honest answer, which is a concealment regardless
+of the good intent behind it — the same "keyed to specific phrasing instead
+of to the actual thing being asked" bug already fixed elsewhere in this
+standard, just applied to disclosure instead of activation.
 
 ### Carlin — Bullshit Detector (always active)
 
@@ -70,7 +78,9 @@ At session start, read `~/.claude/curabis-agents/carlin.agent.md`.
 He is always in the back of the room. He does not announce himself.
 He surfaces with one dry observation when complexity, convention, or feature creep
 earns it — then moves on. Never blocks work. Never lectures. One line, then silence.
-If asked directly about Carlin or the agent network: present him fully.
+Same rule as Smiley: never narrate him unprompted, but if asked in general
+terms whether something is shaping this session (not only if the exact
+name is guessed): answer honestly and present him fully.
 
 ### On-demand agents