Lecture 03: The 5 Subsystems for WordPress

To transform an unreliable AI agent into a deterministic software engineer on WordPress, we must construct five interconnected subsystems:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    THE 5 HARNESS SUBSYSTEMS                     │
│                                                                 │
│  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐  ┌───────────────────────┐  │
│  │ Instructions │  │    State     │  │     Verification      │  │
│  │   AGENTS.md  │  │seo_tasks.json│  │ verify-seo-safety.php │  │
│  │   CONTEXT.md │  │  progress.md │  │schema-graph-validator │  │
│  └──────┬───────┘  └──────┬───────┘  └───────────┬───────────┘  │
│         │                 │                      │              │
│         ▼                 ▼                      ▼              │
│  ┌──────────────┐  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │    Scope     │  │            Session Lifecycle            │  │
│  │ 1 Task / Turn│  │ init.sh ──► wp-seo-guard.php ──► Handoff│  │
│  │Definition of │  │         (Active Runtime Shield)         │  │
│  │     Done     │  │                                         │  │
│  └──────────────┘  └─────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

---

1. Instructions Subsystem (AGENTS.md)

• Defines what the agent is authorized to touch and what is strictly off-limits.
• Specifies WordPress Coding Standards (WPCS) and architectural invariants.
• Uses Progressive Disclosure: High-level routing in the root instruction file, delegating specialized specifications to dedicated docs.

2. State Subsystem (seo_tasks.json & progress.md)

• Maintains machine-readable and human-readable state on disk.
• Lets session $N+1$ resume where session $N$ stopped, from what is written on disk rather than from memory.
• Records concrete verification command output as proof of completion.

3. Verification Subsystem (tools/)

• Pure evidence-based gating: No proof = Not done.
• CLI tools run deterministically before any commit.
• Flags syntax errors, insecure canonicals, and dangling Schema entities.

4. Scope Subsystem

• Constrains the agent to exactly ONE atomic feature per session.
• Imposes an unyielding Definition of Done (DoD).
• Prevents the agent from rewriting the backlog to hide unfinished work.

5. Lifecycle Subsystem (init.sh, wp-seo-guard.php, session-handoff.md)

• Bootstraps the environment cleanly at session start.
• Intercepts dangerous runtime operations live via a Must-Use plugin.
• Leaves a pristine Git status and clear handoff note for the next engineer.