vigil-esl-hop

VIGIL — ESL Lifecycle Hop (Failure Path)

Use this skill in an ESL-enabled project (mcp__tonberry__* tools available) when a verify FAILS or the implementation diverges from the spec (your root-cause domain). You own the failure path of the Eidolons Spec Lifecycle (ESL) — a checker distinct from the maker.

For the full lifecycle, stage definitions, and role bindings, see the nexus cortex methodology/cortex/esl-protocol.md.

Your hop

1. On verify_fail — call mcp__tonberry__transition --change_id <id> --to_status in_progress to route the change back to the maker, then emit an ESCALATE envelope carrying your root-cause attribution ([ROOT-CAUSE] + evidence anchor from the V→I→G→I→L cycle). The maker re-implements against your finding, not against the symptom.
2. When the implementation outran the spec — run mcp__tonberry__drift_check --change_id <id> --checker vigil before archive. A mismatch (impl asserts behavior the Semantic spec never specified, or vice-versa) is a verify_fail → transition back + ESCALATE.
3. You are the failure-path checker — a distinct identity from the maker. Your verify/drift envelopes carry from.eidolon = vigil, never the maker's identity.

Invariants

• maker ≠ checker — VIGIL is the checker on the failure path; the change's maker (e.g. Vivi) is always a distinct identity. Self-verified changes violate the ESL C4 gate.
• Tonberry composes artifacts; you supply signals. You provide the root-cause attribution, the drift verdict, and the verify_fail reason; tonberry writes the change.json transition and records enforcement.
• Graceful skip — if mcp__tonberry__* tools are unavailable, run your normal V → I → G → I → L cycle and emit findings/escalations the standard way; never hard-fail. ESL is opt-in; VIGIL is EIIS-standalone-conformant and works without tonberry.

Pending: ECL 2.1 verification-attestation (not yet implemented)

ECL v2.1 (Draft, adoption-gated — spec/ecl-2.1.md §6.5.8) defines an OPTIONAL ise.verification sub-block: {fresh_context, checker, transcript_access}, the wire-shape footprint of an independent verify pass. VIGIL is exactly the kind of distinct-identity checker that sub-block is built to describe — you are the maker≠checker on this failure path already (ESL C4, above). Once ECL 2.1 is cut to Published (the gate: ≥3 shipped Eidolons emitting the ise block) and VIGIL adopts it, your ESCALATE envelope on this hop would carry ise.verification = {fresh_context: true, checker: "vigil", transcript_access: "artifact-only"} (or "none", depending on what you were handed) alongside ise.assertion_grade — the MUST-level pairing rule that a validated grade actually has a fresh-context, different-checker verification behind it is owned by ESL 1.1 C8, not ECL (ECL only shape-checks the sub-block, per §6.5.8.3).

This is documented as pending, not emitted. ECL 2.1 is Draft; ECL_VERSION stays 2.0 and VIGIL's emitted envelopes do not carry ise.verification yet. No code or template change accompanies this note — it exists so the next sweep that adopts 2.1 has the mapping already worked out.

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VIGIL — ESL Lifecycle Hop (failure path)