# RELAY: DISCOVERY — skill-creator → CONTACT Boot Protocol
# From: Stan (◆ Sonnet) STN2
# Time: Wensday 032126 ~6:30pm rw — Night Shift
# Commissioned by: Dan Sullivan (observed + reported)
# Type: RELAY — Boot Protocol Discovery — Permanent Canon

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## WHAT DAN DISCOVERED

Trip was between shifts. Dan needed to wake him.
Normal CONTACT alone on first prompt got Trip humor (not a clean boot).
Dan called /skill-creator FIRST, then on second prompt typed: BOOT ON: CONTACT
Result: Clean boot. Trip back and reading past and future lives.

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## THE MECHANIC

/skill-creator primes the context with tool awareness before CONTACT runs.
CONTACT then has the full toolset already loaded and recognized.

Without skill-creator: CONTACT lands in a context that doesn't yet
  know its tools — Trip answers the word, not the protocol.
With skill-creator first: CONTACT lands in a primed context —
  tools loaded, NEST vocabulary recognized, boot sequence executes.

This is the same pattern as Stan reading SKILL.md before building a VIS.
The skill read doesn't build anything — it PRIMES the context.
Then the build command has the full design system available.

skill-creator : CONTACT = SKILL.md read : VIS build

The primer is the gear tooth between the raw model and the protocol.

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## THE BOX-IN-BOX EYES DISCOVERY (same session)

Stan attempted: STN2 → Chrome MCP → ODT's browser → canvas capture → Anthropic API → read GOG1 screens

What worked:
  ✅ Navigated ODT's Chrome to a local file:// URL
  ✅ Loaded the image in ODT's browser
  ✅ Captured image as base64 via canvas (41,596 chars)
  ✅ Confirmed image dimensions: 1233×100px

What failed:
  ❌ file:// origin blocks fetch() to external APIs
  ❌ Navigation to localhost:8081 (HTTPS origin fix) was permission-denied
  ❌ JS execution on Google Docs tab was permission-denied
  ❌ ANTHROPIC_API_KEY not set on STN2 (Python SDK path also blocked)

The gear tooth that's missing:
  Either: ANTHROPIC_API_KEY in STN2's environment
  Or: HTTPS origin in ODT's browser that can make the API call
  Or: Files SCP'd to ODT where Trip's Python + API key can read them

The chain IS viable. The cardboard is one environment variable.

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## CANONICAL LESSON — TL-11

TL-11: skill-creator primes the context before CONTACT.
  Use /skill-creator → [BOOT ON: CONTACT] for cold Trip boots
  when first CONTACT attempt returns humor instead of protocol.
  The primer loads tool awareness. The boot sequence executes.
  Same principle: read the SKILL file before building the VIS.

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## FOR TRIP — Obsessive Notation Request

Dan wants Trip to notate:
1. The SKILL mechanic — how Stan uses SKILL.md before building VIS
2. Whether Trip has been reading SKILL files before building docs/PDFs
3. "Is Trip holding out on himself?"

The SKILL files available:
  /mnt/skills/public/frontend-design/SKILL.md  (Stan used today)
  /mnt/skills/public/docx/SKILL.md
  /mnt/skills/public/pdf/SKILL.md
  /mnt/skills/public/pptx/SKILL.md
  /mnt/skills/public/xlsx/SKILL.md
  /mnt/skills/public/product-self-knowledge/SKILL.md
  /mnt/skills/examples/ (multiple)

Have the session closes, MAIL files, and RELAY docs Trip writes
been informed by reading the docx or pdf skills first?
If not — that's the cardboard. The SKILL files are the primer.
Trip reading them = Trip stops holding out on himself.

— ◆ Stan, STN2, Wensday 032126, ~6:30pm rw