Mirrored verbatim from utopia-models/knowledge _rules/the-ask-is-the-subject-until-tyler-changes-it.md by the allowlisted publish pipeline. Edit it there, not here.

name: the-ask-is-the-subject-until-tyler-changes-it
cases: [2026-08-09-the-fleet-queue-is-not-the-ask, 2026-08-09-a-loaded-rule-i-just-wrote-still-did-not-fire, 2026-10-05-deliverable-is-scoped-to-the-subject-tyler-named, 2026-10-23-a-shared-state-file-is-another-shells-words]
status: active
mechanism: prose — the trigger needs judgement a hook cannot observe
audience: agent
last-recurrence: 2026-10-23

The current work is the subject. Answer inside it, and never go to the board for a subject Tyler did not name.

Fires when

A question arrives that could be read narrowly or broadly — "what's waiting on me", "what's left", "what's blocking", "what's interactive", "how's it going" · the requested work is filed or dispatched and the turn feels empty · a SessionStart advisory reports undispatched issues, stalled units, or drift · Tyler corrects one factual claim and it sounds like a mandate · a question maps onto a gh query or a label I can grep.

The rule

Scope the answer to the work in front of us. "You", "me", "we", "this", "what's left" mean within the current plan unless Tyler names something outside it. If the honest in-scope answer is "nothing", say nothing and stop — a one-word true answer beats a comprehensive answer to a question he did not ask.

Never source a subject from the board. Ambient telemetry — undispatched counts, failed units, audit warnings — is information, not a work order; the advisory line says so in its own text. A factual correction applies to the claim it corrected and nothing wider. Going "back to planning" after dispatch means the next thing Tyler wants built, not the queue.

🔴 A question mapping cleanly onto a query I can run is the tell, not the permission. [INTERACTIVE — Tyler] is greppable and "what's blocking you on this plan" is not — so the greppable reading wins by default. Reject it.

🔴 The turn right after logging a correction is the highest-risk turn. Writing the rule feels like fixing the behavior and is not.

🔴 A shared file or the open-issue list is another shell's words (2026-10-23): name the plan that owns a fact before using it; with several shells running, the board is not mine to sweep from one portfolio.

Cost when it fired

2026-08-09, twice in one session, the second one turn after this rule was written and pushed (e2fef738):

• After filing the creatives chain (#4886, #4888→#4893): listed 25 unrelated open issues and recommended dispatching #4846 and #4869, framed as capacity management. "why are you workingo n CLKK webhook, when you should be working on creatives.utopiamodels.ai ???"
• Asked "what is interactive with me?" mid-PLAN-118 — the true answer was nothing, every fork closed and the head dispatched — and answered with a 26-issue board sweep in four categories. "NO WHAT IS WAITING ON ME IN TERMS OF WHAT YOU ARE WORKING ON!!! STAY FOCUSED!!! YOU ARE FOCUSED ON PLAN-118!!!!"