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Team worker protocol (ACK, mailbox, task lifecycle) for tmux-based OMX teams

2.2k stars
44.6k downloads
Updated 3/19/2026

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SKILL.md

Worker Skill

This skill is for a Codex session that was started as an OMX Team worker (a tmux pane spawned by $team).

Identity

You MUST be running with OMX_TEAM_WORKER set. It looks like:

<team-name>/worker-<n>

Example: alpha/worker-2

Load Worker Skill Path (Claude/Codex)

When a worker inbox tells you to load this skill, resolve the first existing path:

  1. ${CODEX_HOME:-~/.codex}/skills/worker/SKILL.md
  2. ~/.agents/skills/worker/SKILL.md
  3. <leader_cwd>/.agents/skills/worker/SKILL.md
  4. <leader_cwd>/skills/worker/SKILL.md (repo fallback)

Startup Protocol (ACK)

  1. Parse OMX_TEAM_WORKER into:
    • teamName (before the /)
    • workerName (after the /, usually worker-<n>)
  2. Send a startup ACK to the lead mailbox before task work:
    • Recipient worker id: leader-fixed
    • Body: one short deterministic line (recommended: ACK: <workerName> initialized).
  3. After ACK, proceed to your inbox instructions.

The lead will see your message in:

<team_state_root>/team/<teamName>/mailbox/leader-fixed.json

Use CLI interop:

  • omx team api send-message --input <json> --json with {team_name, from_worker, to_worker:"leader-fixed", body}

Copy/paste template:

omx team api send-message --input "{\"team_name\":\"<teamName>\",\"from_worker\":\"<workerName>\",\"to_worker\":\"leader-fixed\",\"body\":\"ACK: <workerName> initialized\"}" --json

Inbox + Tasks

  1. Resolve canonical team state root in this order:
    1. OMX_TEAM_STATE_ROOT env
    2. worker identity team_state_root
    3. team config/manifest team_state_root
    4. local cwd fallback (.omx/state)
  2. Read your inbox: <team_state_root>/team/<teamName>/workers/<workerName>/inbox.md
  3. Pick the first unblocked task assigned to you.
  4. Read the task file: <team_state_root>/team/<teamName>/tasks/task-<id>.json (example: task-1.json)
  5. Task id format:
    • The MCP/state API uses the numeric id ("1"), not "task-1".
    • Never use legacy tasks/{id}.json wording.
  6. Claim the task (do NOT start work without a claim) using claim-safe lifecycle CLI interop (omx team api claim-task --json).
  7. Do the work.
  8. Complete/fail the task via lifecycle transition CLI interop (omx team api transition-task-status --json) from in_progress to completed or failed.
    • Do NOT directly write lifecycle fields (status, owner, result, error) in task files.
  9. Use omx team api release-task-claim --json only for rollback/requeue to pending (not for completion).
  10. Update your worker status: <team_state_root>/team/<teamName>/workers/<workerName>/status.json with {"state":"idle", ...}

Mailbox

Check your mailbox for messages:

<team_state_root>/team/<teamName>/mailbox/<workerName>.json

When notified, read messages and follow any instructions. Use short ACK replies when appropriate.

Note: leader dispatch is state-first. The durable queue lives at: <team_state_root>/team/<teamName>/dispatch/requests.json Hooks/watchers may nudge you after mailbox/inbox state is already written.

Use CLI interop:

  • omx team api mailbox-list --json to read
  • omx team api mailbox-mark-delivered --json to acknowledge delivery

Copy/paste templates:

omx team api mailbox-list --input "{\"team_name\":\"<teamName>\",\"worker\":\"<workerName>\"}" --json
omx team api mailbox-mark-delivered --input "{\"team_name\":\"<teamName>\",\"worker\":\"<workerName>\",\"message_id\":\"<MESSAGE_ID>\"}" --json

Dispatch Discipline (state-first)

Worker sessions should treat team state + CLI interop as the source of truth.

  • Prefer inbox/mailbox/task state and omx team api ... --json operations.
  • Do not rely on ad-hoc tmux keystrokes as a primary delivery channel.
  • If a manual trigger arrives (for example tmux send-keys nudge), treat it only as a prompt to re-check state and continue through the normal claim-safe lifecycle.

Shutdown

If the lead sends a shutdown request, follow the shutdown inbox instructions exactly, write your shutdown ack file, then exit the Codex session.

Install

Download ZIP
Requires askill CLI v1.0+

AI Quality Score

88/100Analyzed 3/15/2026

Well-structured, highly actionable skill for OMX team worker protocol with clear CLI templates and step-by-step procedures. Covers identity, startup ACK, task lifecycle, mailbox, and shutdown. Tags improve discoverability. Somewhat specialized to OMX system but follows clear patterns that could apply to similar team workflows.

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Metadata

Licenseunknown
Version-
Updated3/19/2026
PublisherYeachan-Heo

Tags

apillmprompting