Imported from gillella/aru-golden-path-demo (AGENTS.md). Install upstream with npx skills add gillella/aru-golden-path-demo. Copyright stays with the author.

Aru Minimal SDLC Governance

For governed software changes, read $ARU_SDLC_HOME/docs/KERNEL-CONTRACT.md and use the current helpers under $ARU_SDLC_HOME/scripts. GitHub Issues and the linked Project Board are the only lifecycle state.

Require a valid Ready issue, exclusive claim, declared touches:, isolated worktree, smallest acceptable change, a PR with Closes #N, the exact-head aru-governed-pr check, one approval of that head from a GitHub account other than the author, and merge through merge_pr.py --expected-head.

This repository is scaffolded for the self-hosted-mac runner profile, so GitHub Actions orchestrates the check and operator-owned [self-hosted, macOS, ARM64, aru-ci] Macs supply the compute. Its two workflows are stubs that call the Factory's composite actions at a pinned release: the Factory runs its own verifier against this exact head and validates touches: against the actual diff, so no verification logic is copied into this repository and a pull request cannot rewrite the script that judges it. Never fall back to a GitHub-hosted runner; an offline pool leaves merge blocked. The Factory's verifier refuses a stub that calls another repository, or whose declared profile and runs-on: disagree. The framework verifier invokes the required executable .aru/verify-project.sh; configure its failing starter with meaningful product checks and preserve existing consumer verification on updates.

Configured merge queues and pending queue/auto-merge requests are unsupported and refused before submission. Verification accepts same-repository PR heads only. Keep the issue In Review until GitHub confirms the exact head merged; --finalize recovers direct merges but refuses historical queue work. Only then mark Done and clean the worktree.

Every PR, documentation included, needs one approval of its current head from a GitHub account other than the author: a person, CodeRabbit, or a coding agent on a different account. A push dismisses earlier approvals. There are no review tiers, provider rankings, reviewer labels or refresh helpers. Never approve your own PR; agents sharing one GitHub account cannot approve each other.

The installed skills are exactly init-agent-project, create-github-issue, triage-backlog, implement-next-issue, remediate-ci-failure, and address-pr-feedback. Use fetch_next_work.py to select work. Do not route to an unlisted skill or infer a persistent loop from free-form trigger words.

Keep the layers separate: the Kernel governs issue to merge; an optional external Driver decides when to invoke the next bounded command; this consumer owns additional risk controls, engineering or release checks, deployment, and production. The Driver may surface PRs waiting for an approval and must not create another lifecycle store.

Do not add a scheduler, private queue, handoff file, dashboard, deployment system, or repository-owned runtime. Missing or stale authority blocks the transition; never invent fallback state or self-review.