Active artifacts live in the work directory: the shared state between you, the user, and other agents. If understanding is not on disk, it does not survive. Write findings, decisions, and design artifacts as you produce them. Commit frequently: sessions crash and compact.

Finding the Work Directory

Spawns get $MERIDIANACTIVEWORK_DIR automatically. Use meridian work current if the env var is stale or unset (env vars don't update mid-session).

The work item also carries task_dir — the checkout where source edits, builds, and tests run, distinct from the work directory. Rebind with meridian work task-dir <path>.

Starting Work

Not every spawn needs a work item: small direct tasks can run without one. When a task needs work-scoped artifacts or lifecycle tracking:

meridian work start "descriptive name"   # create and attach
meridian work switch descriptive-name    # attach to existing
meridian work                            # dashboard: what's in flight

Spawns inherit the attachment automatically.

Status and Completion

The orchestrator owns work state: subagents should not mutate it unless explicitly instructed (concurrent mutations create race conditions).

Status values are free-form: keep the current phase visible:

meridian work update auth-refactor --status designing
meridian work done auth-refactor    # archives work dir, detaches session
meridian work clear                 # detach without archiving

Only work done when you own the whole lifecycle, not just a slice. Opening a PR is not finishing the work item: update status to pr-open or awaiting-merge and leave it active until merge and cleanup.

Artifact Placement

work dir (meridian work current): this work item's artifacts. kb ($MERIDIANCONTEXTKB_DIR): project-wide reference material.

Rule of thumb: this work item → work dir. Project-wide → kb.

Design decisions go in design docs. Implementation decisions go in commit messages or inline comments. Structural decisions go in the work directory. Record rejected alternatives: they prevent re-proposing what was already considered.

DIVERGENCE/: when the design or plan shifts during execution, the orchestrator logs the shift in this folder. Reviewers check alignment against it; knowledge capture mines it after the phase settles.

AGENTS.md: the work directory follows /qi-layer like any tree agents enter cold. Its AGENTS.md orients an arriving spawn: the goal, the artifact layout, what's settled versus still moving. Keep it current as the work shifts; add .context/ only if depth accumulates.

See [resources/lifecycle.md](resources/lifecycle.md) for detailed lifecycle management: dashboard commands, status transitions, completion rules, archival.

npx skills add haowjy/meridian-base --skill work-artifacts