Crew briefs point at docs/PRINCIPLES.md instead of restating it #8784

The builder brief is 202 bytes shorter (7,101 bytes, down from 7,303), and the briefs and CLAUDE.md now point at docs/PRINCIPLES.md instead of restating it.

On the changed files, tsc is clean and test/principles.test.ts, test/api-reader-marks.test.ts and test/vision.test.ts pass. An earlier run over the 27 test files that use the brief builders had two failures, both fixed since, and I did not re-run the rest of that set after the fixes. I did not run the full suite; the forge's check does that on the push.

Passages cut

src/crew/brief.ts:

• "Done means reachable": "a person reaches it from the feed in two taps, an agent through the MCP, a test proves it, a look shows it" is gone. What stays is "Done means reachable: a function nobody can call is not done" plus the pointer to the file. I kept the short rule because an app repository has no docs/PRINCIPLES.md, and an existing test requires the brief to state it.
• "What is refused": "Agents propose through pulls; a person merges." is dropped, leaving "Pushing to main." The principle "The crew proposes; a person lands" covers it.
• Dependencies: "no dependency without a reason in the pull" is gone from both the builder's bar and the reviewer's "Clean" line. "Less is better" covers it.

CLAUDE.md:

• Opening: the "Done means reachable" paragraph and the "one person can hold it in their head" paragraph are now one pointer to the file.
• Invariant 4 (git is truth): cut to the pointer plus the one instruction the file does not hold, which is not to invent state that lives only in the database or memory.
• Invariant 10 (the crew proposes; a person lands): the restatement is cut to a pointer. The grant, token and run_gate specifics stay.
• Reachable recipe: cut to a pointer plus the mechanics (hollow.ts, hollow-allow.ts).
• Flaky-test bullet: "a speed is never bounded by a clock" is cut to the file's phrasing, and the work-counting tools stay.

Left alone

• Conversation brief: src/crew/conversation_brief.ts already builds its principles from the file. Its fence sentence names the actual fence markers, so I kept it.
• Untrusted-data lines: in brief.ts I kept the untrusted sentence in the API section, the repository-content line and the reader rule. They say what to do, which the file does not. I first shortened the untrusted sentence, but test/api-reader-marks.test.ts pins its wording, so I put it back.
• Later-gate passage: the planner's text on the Later gate stays, since the file only holds the one-line principle.

Tests: test/principles.test.ts now asserts that the forge app builder brief is at most 7,153 bytes (7,303 on main minus 150). It also asserts the cut phrases are gone.

Closes #8737

The builder brief is 202 bytes shorter (7,101 bytes, down from 7,303), and the briefs and CLAUDE.md now point at docs/PRINCIPLES.md instead of restating it.

On the changed files, tsc is clean and test/principles.test.ts, test/api-reader-marks.test.ts and test/vision.test.ts pass. An earlier run over the 27 test files that use the brief builders had two failures, both fixed since, and I did not re-run the rest of that set after the fixes. I did not run the full suite; the forge's check does that on the push.

Passages cut

src/crew/brief.ts:

• "Done means reachable": "a person reaches it from the feed in two taps, an agent through the MCP, a test proves it, a look shows it" is gone. What stays is "Done means reachable: a function nobody can call is not done" plus the pointer to the file. I kept the short rule because an app repository has no docs/PRINCIPLES.md, and an existing test requires the brief to state it.
• "What is refused": "Agents propose through pulls; a person merges." is dropped, leaving "Pushing to main." The principle "The crew proposes; a person lands" covers it.
• Dependencies: "no dependency without a reason in the pull" is gone from both the builder's bar and the reviewer's "Clean" line. "Less is better" covers it.

CLAUDE.md:

• Opening: the "Done means reachable" paragraph and the "one person can hold it in their head" paragraph are now one pointer to the file.
• Invariant 4 (git is truth): cut to the pointer plus the one instruction the file does not hold, which is not to invent state that lives only in the database or memory.
• Invariant 10 (the crew proposes; a person lands): the restatement is cut to a pointer. The grant, token and run_gate specifics stay.
• Reachable recipe: cut to a pointer plus the mechanics (hollow.ts, hollow-allow.ts).
• Flaky-test bullet: "a speed is never bounded by a clock" is cut to the file's phrasing, and the work-counting tools stay.

Left alone

• Conversation brief: src/crew/conversation_brief.ts already builds its principles from the file. Its fence sentence names the actual fence markers, so I kept it.
• Untrusted-data lines: in brief.ts I kept the untrusted sentence in the API section, the repository-content line and the reader rule. They say what to do, which the file does not. I first shortened the untrusted sentence, but test/api-reader-marks.test.ts pins its wording, so I put it back.
• Later-gate passage: the planner's text on the Later gate stays, since the file only holds the one-line principle.

Tests: test/principles.test.ts now asserts that the forge app builder brief is at most 7,153 bytes (7,303 on main minus 150). It also asserts the cut phrases are gone.

I restored the dependency rule and "a person merges" in src/crew/brief.ts. The builder brief is still shorter than main by at least 100 bytes. I ran tsc --noEmit and test/principles.test.ts and test/api-reader-marks.test.ts; all pass. I did not run the full suite, which the forge's check does on push.

Restored in src/crew/brief.ts

• The builder bar says "no dependency without a reason in the pull" again.
• The reviewer Clean line says "no new dependency without a reason in the pull" again.
• "What is refused" says "Agents propose through pulls; a person merges." again.

These now reach repositories that have no docs/PRINCIPLES.md.

What still shrank in src/crew/brief.ts

• Only the "Done means reachable" line is cut: the "two taps, MCP, test, look" detail is gone and the pointer to the file stays. I measured the whole saving at about 100 bytes; the exact byte count wasn't re-run after the restore.

Tests (test/principles.test.ts)

• The no dependency without a reason and a person merges assertions are gone.
• The remaining assertions check that the brief points at docs/PRINCIPLES.md and no longer spells out "two taps".
• The builder input is built once and shared by both tests.
• The size bound is relaxed from 150 to 100 bytes under 7,303, because the restores gave back part of the saving.

Audit gaps you asked me to state

• src/crew/conversation_brief.ts: I did audit it and left it unchanged. It already builds its principles section from the file. Its fence sentence names the actual fence markers, so it is not a restatement.
• src/system/telemetry.ts:203: it restates the dependency rule and the gate, but it is guidance for outside contributors, not a crew brief. Cutting it is outside this issue, and I left it. A follow-up issue could cover it.
• CLAUDE.md: the cuts stand, as you said they look fine.