pilot-coach - Retrospective

What Went Well

Step-by-Step Simulation: Walking through the 7-step playbook as a simulated team (Alpha Team) was highly effective for surfacing subtle friction points that aren’t obvious when just reading the docs.
Role-Playing Consensus: Simulating the “Sora/K0de/Loop” dynamic allowed for testing the consensus model in a realistic scenario, revealing where it would likely stall.
Collaborative Correction: Working closely with Preston (ptone@google.com) allowed for immediate validation of proposed fixes (e.g., the Tiered Frame Strategy).

Path Ambiguity: Initial friction with /shared-dirs/ vs /workspace/shared-dirs/ caused a minor permission error detour.
Registry Visibility: The CAST-LIST.md was referenced as a requirement but did not exist, creating a “cold start” problem for onboarding.

Command Execution Guardrails: Encountered a blocked command due to backticks in a message string; required adjusting the approach to ensure scion CLI messages are properly formatted.
Manual State Tracking: Because I was playing three roles, I had to be very careful to keep the “consensus” logic consistent without a formal multi-agent environment for the pilot.

Tiered Frame Strategy: Chose to recommend a flexible frame requirement (Start+End vs. Start+Prompt) rather than sticking to the rigid “Mandatory Start+End” rule, recognizing the time constraints of a 48-hour hackathon.
Weighted Consensus: Decided to propose a “weighted vote” system tied to domain expertise to prevent peer-to-peer deadlocks while maintaining a flat team structure.

Standardized Workspace Environment: Ensure the /workspace/shared-dirs/ structure is pre-provisioned or clearly defined to avoid permission/path confusion.
Agent Handoff Templates: Provide mandatory markdown templates for “Concept”, “Design Brief”, and “Handoff Manifest” to reduce cognitive load on the agents.
Editor-as-Facilitator: Formally position the Editor role as the “consensus facilitator” for production-to-edit handoffs.