Docs/realign worker docs with protocol 9

AGENTS.md

@@ -13,8 +13,9 @@ loop around `kraken.py next-action` — **no deltas either**.
 ## Your operating contract — read these, then follow them
 
 1. [`PROTOCOL.md`](PROTOCOL.md) — the normative wire contract (`kraken-protocol/9`): the
-   label state machine, the hidden `<!-- kraken {...} -->` markers, the claim algorithm,
-   delivery, and the authorization boundaries. Agent-agnostic already.
+   state record and the label state machine it projects, the hidden
+   `<!-- kraken {...} -->` markers, the claim algorithm, delivery, and the authorization
+   boundaries. Agent-agnostic already.
 2. [`skills/unleash/SKILL.md`](skills/unleash/SKILL.md) — how a worker *executes* that
    contract. **Read it in full and follow it.** Every transition runs through the bundled
    [`skills/unleash/kraken.py`](skills/unleash/kraken.py) — the **same** program the

PROTOCOL.md

@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ issue timeline is the log.
 
 | Label | State | Suggested color |
 | --- | --- | --- |
-| `kraken-task` | queued (when no other state label is present) | `1D76DB` blue |
+| `kraken-task` | queue membership (§1), not a state — a task wearing no other state label *shows* as queued | `1D76DB` blue |
 | `in-progress` | claimed by a worker and being executed | `FBCA04` yellow |
 | `needs-decision` | blocked on the operator's decision | `D93F0B` red |
 | `awaiting-merge` | delivered, waiting for review + merge | `0E8A16` green |
@@ -610,7 +610,12 @@ therefore no version handshake between the two sides.
 The verdict of a transition is an exit status, never text (§5.3). Matching the
 reference implementation's codes — `0` success, `10` lost CAS or lost lease, `11`
 not clear, `20` transport failure (state unknown) — is RECOMMENDED, so a driver
-written against one conforming worker can drive another.
+written against one conforming worker can drive another. Those four cover every
+transition this contract defines; a code outside them can only come from an
+ergonomic above it (below), and a driver MUST NOT read one as a transition
+verdict. The reference implementation's are `3` (nothing startable) and `13` (the
+repo has no such `project:<name>` label), both reported by the claim loop and the
+envelope rather than by any transition.
 
 An implementation MAY offer ergonomics above the wire contract, which are **not** part
 of it and which a conforming worker may ignore entirely: the reference implementation

README.md

@@ -362,6 +362,18 @@ delivered, the result with the acceptance check executed, and the close:
 
 <img src="images/pilot-task.png" width="720" alt="A kraken task issue timeline: claim comment, assumptions, draft PR link, result comment, and close">
 
+
+
+## FAQ
+
+<details>
+<summary><b>Doesn't this already exist — Copilot, Claude cloud agents, CI?</b></summary>
+
+Partly, and for a single GitHub repo with no local services those are simpler —
+say so and use them. Kraken's edge is the prepared environment, GitLab/private
+work repos, and a fan-out of named, audited workers. The honest side-by-side can
+be found below.
+
 ## Why not just use X?
 
 | Alternative | Coordination primitive | Infra required | Agent-agnostic | Prefer it when |
@@ -412,16 +424,6 @@ when** your automation is CI-shaped and a disposable runner is the correct
 environment; prefer Kraken when the environment is the point and you want no
 lock to a single runner or vendor.
 
-## FAQ
-
-<details>
-<summary><b>Doesn't this already exist — Copilot, Claude cloud agents, CI?</b></summary>
-
-Partly, and for a single GitHub repo with no local services those are simpler —
-say so and use them. Kraken's edge is the prepared environment, GitLab/private
-work repos, and a fan-out of named, audited workers. The honest side-by-side is
-[Why not just use X?](#why-not-just-use-x) above.
-
 </details>
 
 <details>

skills/unleash/DELIVERY.md

@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ task's **notes** say otherwise, every task ends as a pushed branch and a draft P
 ## The branch
 
 **First, check whether this task already has one.** A task can come back to the queue
-after it was delivered — I bounce a review by commenting the feedback and removing
-`awaiting-merge`, and the task requeues with its whole thread. The `brief.body` and the
+after it was delivered — I bounce a review by commenting the feedback, and that comment
+alone requeues the task with its whole thread. The `brief.body` and the
 issue thread will show the earlier delivery and its PR. When they do, **continue on that
 branch and update that PR**: opening a second branch and a second draft PR for one task
 splits the review and leaves an orphan PR behind.

skills/unleash/SKILL.md

@@ -204,8 +204,10 @@ instead.
 - Invoking this skill is my durable authorization to:
   (a) manage issues **in the coordination repo** — labels and comments, never closing or
   reopening a task ("done" is *delivered for review*; closing is mine or the merge's) —
-  and your own claim ref under `refs/kraken/claims/`: create, renew and delete your own
-  lease, and take over one that has expired;
+  and the refs under `refs/kraken/`: your own claim ref under `refs/kraken/claims/`
+  (create, renew and delete your own lease, and take over one that has expired), and the
+  state record under `refs/kraken/state/` for the task you hold, which every transition
+  that ends your turn writes;
   (b) in the task's work repo, **deliver as [`DELIVERY.md`](DELIVERY.md) describes**:
   create work branches, commit to them with the attribution trailers, push them, and
   open draft PRs.