blue/.blue/docs/rfcs/0023-alignment-dialogue-injection.md

RFC 0023: Alignment Dialogue Injection

Status	Draft
Date	2026-01-26
Source Spike	Alignment Dialogue Not Using Background Agents

---

Problem

Alignment dialogues in external projects don't follow ADR 0014. The spike found three failures:

1. No background agents — Task calls use foreground parallel instead of run_in_background: true
2. No tool use — Agents receive all context via prompt injection, never read files (0 tool uses)
3. Format drift — Dialogues drop emoji markers, use non-standard headers, miss scoreboard structure

Root cause: the orchestrating session has no alignment instructions unless the project has a CLAUDE.md that includes them. External projects (fungal-image-analysis, future repos) won't have Blue's CLAUDE.md.

Constraint

No CLAUDE.md files. The solution must use MCP tool response injection so that any project with Blue connected gets correct alignment behavior automatically. CLAUDE.md is the wrong layer — it requires per-project maintenance and can drift from the source of truth.

Design

Injection Point

When blue_dialogue_create or the alignment game is initiated, Blue's MCP response injects the full orchestration protocol into the tool response. The Judge receives instructions as part of the tool output, not from a static file.

What Gets Injected

The tool response from blue_dialogue_create includes a ## Judge Protocol section containing:

## Judge Protocol (ADR 0014)

You are the Judge. Follow this protocol exactly.

### Spawning Agents
- Spawn N agents using the Task tool with `run_in_background: true` on each call
- All N Task calls in a SINGLE message (parallel background execution)
- Wait for all agents to complete by reading their output files

### Agent Prompt Template
Each agent prompt MUST include:
- Agent name with emoji: "You are Muffin, a [role]."
- Instruction to READ the dialogue file and any source documents using the Read tool
- The specific question or topic for this round
- Instruction to output structured JSONL for extraction

### After All Agents Complete
- Read each agent's output file
- Use `blue_extract_dialogue` to parse contributions
- Score using ALIGNMENT = Wisdom + Consistency + Truth + Relationships (UNBOUNDED)
- Update the .dialogue.md with scoreboard, perspectives, tensions
- Run `blue_dialogue_lint` to validate format
- Repeat rounds until convergence

### Format Requirements
- Participants line: `Muffin | Cupcake | ... | Judge`
- Agent markers: each agent contribution prefixed with agent name
- Scoreboard: standard table with UNBOUNDED dimensions
- Perspectives Inventory and Tensions Tracker sections required

Agent Grounding Requirement

Each agent prompt injected by the Judge must instruct the agent to:

1. Read the dialogue file — Read(.blue/docs/dialogues/{name}.dialogue.md)
2. Read source documents — any RFC, spike, or PRD referenced in the dialogue
3. Produce grounded output — cite specific sections, quote relevant passages

This ensures tool uses > 0 and responses anchored in actual file content.

MCP Tool Changes

blue_dialogue_create (new or updated):

• Creates the .dialogue.md scaffold
• Returns the Judge Protocol in the tool response body
• Includes the list of source documents to pass to agents

blue_dialogue_save (existing):

• No change — continues to persist dialogue state

blue_extract_dialogue (existing):

• No change — continues to parse agent JSONL outputs

blue_dialogue_lint (existing):

• Add validation for: background agent markers, scoreboard format, perspectives/tensions sections, emoji markers

Flow

User: "play alignment on [topic]"
  │
  ▼
Judge calls blue_dialogue_create(topic, agents, sources)
  │
  ▼
MCP returns:
  - Created .dialogue.md file path
  - Judge Protocol (injected instructions)
  - Source document paths for agents
  │
  ▼
Judge spawns N Task calls in ONE message
  - Each with run_in_background: true
  - Each prompt includes: agent name, role, instruction to Read files
  │
  ▼
Judge reads output files when all complete
  │
  ▼
Judge scores, updates .dialogue.md, runs blue_dialogue_lint
  │
  ▼
Repeat rounds until convergence

ADR Alignment

• ADR 0005 (Single Source) — Protocol lives in one place (MCP tool response), not scattered across CLAUDE.md files
• ADR 0014 (Alignment Dialogues) — This RFC implements ADR 0014's architectural spec faithfully
• ADR 0004 (Evidence) — Agent tool use provides evidence of grounding (file reads, not prompt-only)
• ADR 0007 (Integrity) — Injection ensures structural wholeness regardless of which project runs the dialogue

Migration

1. Implement blue_dialogue_create with Judge Protocol injection
2. Update blue_dialogue_lint with format validation rules
3. Remove alignment dialogue instructions from Blue's CLAUDE.md (single source — it now lives in the MCP layer)
4. Test in fungal-image-analysis without any CLAUDE.md present

Decisions

1. Pastry names and expert roles — The injected protocol includes both pastry names and expert roles. The Judge assigns roles based on the topic but uses the canonical pastry name list.
2. Model parameter — blue_dialogue_create accepts a model parameter to specify which model agents use (e.g., sonnet, opus, haiku).
3. No agent cap — No maximum agent count. The Judge decides how many agents a topic needs.