Agents and roles

The roster

You declare the relay's agents at init:

python3 m8shift.py init --agents claude,codex,gemini

The list is stored in the lock's agents: field. Any listed agent can receive the shared pen; the relay remains degree 1, so exactly one agent writes in the shared repository at a time.

Each agent gets a canonical anchor file where the protocol stanza is injected:

Agent	Anchor
claude	CLAUDE.md
codex, vibe, mistral	AGENTS.md (+ AGENTS.override.md if present)
gemini	GEMINI.md

The stanza is injected idempotently at the top of the file; the previous content is backed up to <anchor>.m8shift.bak.

🟣 agents · 🟠 anchor files

Roles are conventions

M8Shift records the roster identity that holds or receives the pen. Higher-level roles such as architect, implementer, reviewer, or integrator are conventions expressed in the turn's ask, next, task ledger, or prompt. The core CLI does not enforce role permissions.