Agent skill

localsetup-arbiter

Push decisions to Arbiter Zebu for async human review. Use when you need human input on plans, architectural choices, or approval before proceeding.

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Install this agent skill to your Project

npx add-skill https://github.com/majiayu000/claude-skill-registry/tree/main/skills/other/other/localsetup-arbiter

Metadata

Additional technical details for this skill

version
1.2

SKILL.md

Arbiter Skill

Push decisions to Arbiter Zebu for async human review. Use when you need human input on plans, architectural choices, or approval before proceeding.

Installation

Ensure the Arbiter CLI (arbiter-push) is available. Install from the arbiter-skill repo or via your platform's package manager (e.g. bun: bun add -g arbiter-skill). Some platforms offer a skill-hub installer; use that if available.

Manual install (repo):

bash
git clone https://github.com/5hanth/arbiter-skill.git
cd arbiter-skill && npm install && npm run build
# Add the CLI to your PATH or link into your agent's skills directory per your platform.

Skill-provided Python CLI (stub): From the skill directory, run python scripts/arbiter_cli.py push <tag> <title>, get <plan_id>, or status <plan_id>. This follows the framework tooling standard; full behavior requires the Arbiter Zebu CLI.

Prerequisites

  • Arbiter Zebu bot running (or just bunx arbiter-zebu)
  • ~/.arbiter/queue/ directory (created automatically by the bot)

Environment Variables

Set these in your agent's environment for automatic agent/session detection (variable names may differ by platform; check Arbiter docs for your setup):

Variable (or platform equivalent) Description Example
Agent ID Identifies the agent ceo, swe1
Session key Session or channel agent:ceo:main

When to Use

  • Plan review before implementation
  • Architectural decisions with tradeoffs
  • Anything blocking that needs human judgment
  • Multiple related decisions as a batch

Do NOT use for:

  • Simple yes/no that doesn't need explanation
  • Urgent real-time decisions (use direct message instead)
  • Technical questions you can research yourself

Tools

arbiter_push

Create a decision plan for human review.

CLI: arbiter-push '<json>' — takes a single JSON argument containing all fields.

bash
arbiter-push '{
  "title": "API Design Decisions",
  "tag": "nft-marketplace",
  "context": "SWE2 needs these decided before API work",
  "priority": "normal",
  "notify": "agent:swe2:main",
  "decisions": [
    {
      "id": "auth-strategy",
      "title": "Auth Strategy", 
      "context": "How to authenticate admin users",
      "options": [
        {"key": "jwt", "label": "JWT tokens", "note": "Stateless"},
        {"key": "session", "label": "Sessions", "note": "More control"},
        {"key": "oauth", "label": "OAuth", "note": "External provider"}
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "database",
      "title": "Database Choice",
      "context": "Primary datastore",
      "options": [
        {"key": "postgresql", "label": "PostgreSQL + JSONB"},
        {"key": "mongodb", "label": "MongoDB"}
      ],
      "allowCustom": true
    }
  ]
}'

JSON Fields:

Field Required Description
title Yes Plan title
tag No Tag for filtering (e.g., project name)
context No Background for reviewer
priority No low, normal, high, urgent (default: normal)
notify No Session to notify when complete
agent No Agent ID (auto-detected from your platform's agent env var if set)
session No Session key (auto-detected from your platform's session env var if set)
decisions Yes Array of decisions

Decision object:

Field Required Description
id Yes Unique ID within plan
title Yes Decision title
context No Explanation for reviewer
options Yes Array of {key, label, note?}
allowCustom No Allow free-text answer (default: false)
default No Suggested option key

Returns:

json
{
  "planId": "abc123",
  "file": "~/.arbiter/queue/pending/ceo-api-design-abc123.md",
  "total": 2,
  "status": "pending"
}

arbiter_status

Check the status of a decision plan.

CLI: arbiter-status <plan-id> or arbiter-status --tag <tag>

bash
arbiter-status abc12345
# or
arbiter-status --tag nft-marketplace

Returns:

json
{
  "planId": "abc123",
  "title": "API Design Decisions",
  "status": "in_progress",
  "total": 3,
  "answered": 1,
  "remaining": 2,
  "decisions": {
    "auth-strategy": {"status": "answered", "answer": "jwt"},
    "database": {"status": "pending", "answer": null},
    "caching": {"status": "pending", "answer": null}
  }
}

arbiter_get

Get answers from a completed plan.

CLI: arbiter-get <plan-id> or arbiter-get --tag <tag>

bash
arbiter-get abc12345
# or
arbiter-get --tag nft-marketplace

Returns:

json
{
  "planId": "abc123",
  "status": "completed",
  "completedAt": "2026-01-30T01:45:00Z",
  "answers": {
    "auth-strategy": "jwt",
    "database": "postgresql",
    "caching": "redis"
  }
}

Error if not complete:

json
{
  "error": "Plan not complete",
  "status": "in_progress",
  "remaining": 2
}

arbiter_await

Block until plan is complete (with timeout).

bash
arbiter-await abc12345 --timeout 3600

Polls every 30 seconds until complete or timeout.

Returns: Same as arbiter_get on completion.

Usage Examples

Example 1: Plan Review

bash
# Push plan decisions (single JSON argument)
RESULT=$(arbiter-push '{"title":"Clean IT i18n Plan","tag":"clean-it","priority":"high","notify":"agent:swe3:main","decisions":[{"id":"library","title":"i18n Library","options":[{"key":"i18next","label":"i18next"},{"key":"formatjs","label":"FormatJS"}]},{"id":"keys","title":"Key Structure","options":[{"key":"flat","label":"Flat (login.button)"},{"key":"nested","label":"Nested ({login:{button}})"}]}]}')

PLAN_ID=$(echo $RESULT | jq -r '.planId')
echo "Pushed plan $PLAN_ID — waiting for human review"

Example 2: Check and Proceed

bash
# Check if decisions are ready
STATUS=$(arbiter-status --tag nft-marketplace)

if [ "$(echo $STATUS | jq -r '.status')" == "completed" ]; then
  ANSWERS=$(arbiter-get --tag nft-marketplace)
  AUTH=$(echo $ANSWERS | jq -r '.answers["auth-strategy"]')
  echo "Using auth strategy: $AUTH"
  # Proceed with implementation
else
  echo "Still waiting for $(echo $STATUS | jq -r '.remaining') decisions"
fi

Example 3: Blocking Wait

bash
# Wait up to 1 hour for decisions
ANSWERS=$(arbiter-await abc12345 --timeout 3600)

if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
  # Got answers, proceed
  echo "Decisions ready: $ANSWERS"
else
  echo "Timeout waiting for decisions"
fi

Best Practices

  1. Batch related decisions — Don't push one at a time
  2. Provide context — Human needs to understand tradeoffs
  3. Use tags — Makes filtering easy (--tag project-name)
  4. Set notify — So blocked agents get woken up
  5. Use priority sparingly — Reserve urgent for true blockers

File Locations

Path Purpose
~/.arbiter/queue/pending/ Plans awaiting review
~/.arbiter/queue/completed/ Answered plans (archive)
~/.arbiter/queue/notify/ Agent notifications

Checking Notifications (Agent Heartbeat)

In your HEARTBEAT.md, add:

markdown
## Check Arbiter Notifications

1. Check if `~/.arbiter/queue/notify/` has files for my session
2. If yes, read answers and proceed with blocked work
3. Delete notification file after processing

Troubleshooting

Issue Solution
Plan not showing in Arbiter Check file is valid YAML frontmatter
Answers not appearing Check arbiter_status, may be incomplete
Notification not received Ensure --notify was set correctly

See Also

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