fix(plugin): require VIBE check and user approval before every propose

[peteski22]

Why

An agent following the skill faithfully could call propose without ever showing the user a draft. The direct-propose branch of "Applying VIBE√" only had instructions for hard findings and soft concerns, so a clean check fell through to an ungated call. Core Protocol step 3, Examples 2 and 4, and the post-error flow all said "call propose now" with no mention of the check or approval.

What

• State present-and-wait-for-approval as a precondition of every direct propose call, and add the missing clean-check branch alongside hard findings and soft concerns.
• Defuse the urgency/gate tension: "immediately" means draft and present the moment the insight stabilizes rather than batching to end-of-session; it does not mean skip approval.
• Wire the draft → VIBE√ → present → approve → propose sequence into Core Protocol steps 3 and 4, the rationalization check, Examples 2 and 4, and Post-Error Behaviour.
• Add headless rules: with no user available, VIBE√ is the only gate — hard findings block the propose outright, soft concerns must be acknowledged in the candidate's own text, and uncertain candidates are held for review at the next interactive session, since a configured remote publishes proposes to the shared store immediately.

SDK prompt copies synced via make sync-prompts; make check-prompts-sync passes.

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Bug Fixes
  • Tightened the cq knowledge-sharing flow so candidates are drafted and presented immediately once stable, then cleared by the VIBE√ safety gate, with submission only after user approval.
  • Strengthened unattended/headless handling: hard findings now block proposing, and soft concerns must be acknowledged to be surfaced for later review.
  • Updated post-error routing and examples to follow the same draft → VIBE√ → present → approval pattern.
• Documentation
  • Updated the cq skill protocol text in shared prompt materials.
• Tests
  • Adjusted prompt text expectations to match the new “draft and present” wording.

[coderabbitai]

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

ℹ️ Recent review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: Organization UI

Review profile: ASSERTIVE

Plan: Pro

Run ID: 388ac014-399b-4627-9361-53a70c5c1270

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 6daeb34 and 90c282a.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)

• sdk/python/tests/test_prompts.py

---

Walkthrough

This PR updates the cq SKILL.md prompt text in three locations to require drafting and presenting candidates before propose, tighten VIBE√ handling, adjust headless-run rules, update post-error behaviour, and align example text and one prompt test with the new wording.

Changes

Propose gate protocol update across SKILL.md variants

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Core Protocol draft-present-approve requirement plugins/cq/skills/cq/SKILL.md	Step 3/4 rewritten to require drafting and presenting a candidate immediately, running VIBE√, and calling propose only after user approval; step 4's safety net aligned to the same gate.
Rationalization check wording plugins/cq/skills/cq/SKILL.md	“Propose now” language replaced with “draft and present now” instructions covering deferral/batching via /cq:reflect.
VIBE√ tiering and classification plugins/cq/skills/cq/SKILL.md	Adds/clarifies user ownership and no-silent-drop behaviour for both direct propose and /cq:reflect review paths.
Applying VIBE√ and headless-run rules plugins/cq/skills/cq/SKILL.md	Direct propose calls now require presentation + approval as a precondition; headless runs block hard findings, require acknowledgement of soft concerns, and clarify remote-store publish timing.
Post-error behaviour and examples plugins/cq/skills/cq/SKILL.md	Post-error “no relevant knowledge” handling and Examples 2/4 now route through draft→VIBE√→present→approval rather than calling propose directly.
SDK Go SKILL.md propose gate updates sdk/go/prompts/SKILL.md	Applies the same Core Protocol, rationalization check, VIBE√ tiering, headless-run rules, post-error behaviour, and examples changes to the Go prompt copy.
SDK Python SKILL.md propose gate updates and test sdk/python/src/cq/prompts/SKILL.md, sdk/python/tests/test_prompts.py	Applies the same prompt updates to the Python copy and updates the core-protocol string assertion to match the new wording.

Suggested labels: skill

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5

✅ Passed checks (5 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly matches the main change: every direct propose now requires a VIBE check and user approval.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

✨ Finishing Touches

📝 Generate docstrings

• Create stacked PR
• Commit on current branch

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Commit unit tests in branch fix/cq-skill-propose-approval-gate

---

Thanks for using CodeRabbit! It's free for OSS, and your support helps us grow. If you like it, consider giving us a shout-out.

❤️ Share

• X
• Mastodon
• Reddit
• LinkedIn

_{Comment @coderabbitai help to get the list of available commands.}

[dni138]

Lgtm! I think this addresses a bigger quality point across some of our skills/prompts. I'll go through them over the next couple of weeks and see if we can improve.