Sync Protocol (drift check)

Read-only health check. Fetches the canonical manifest, walks every Archon-owned path locally, and reports whether anything has drifted from canonical. Nothing is written, except an optional one-line memo if findings are interesting.

Agents fetch the executable instruction file at https://aaep.site/sync.md. This page is the human-readable view of what the agent will do.

When this protocol applies

The user says (no URL needed once archon-wake.mdc or its platform equivalent is loaded):

• "check archon"
• "is archon healthy?"
• "any archon drift?"
• "sync archon"
• "diff archon"
• "hi archon, sync yourself"

This is idempotent and side-effect-free by default. Run it as often as you like — pre-commit, in CI, or whenever you're suspicious.

The 7 steps

1. Inspect the project

Refuse if .archon/soul.md is missing. Suggest Install instead.

2. Fetch the canonical manifest

GET https://aaep.site/manifest.json

3. Build the canonical set

Filter the manifest to modules the project has at least one file of. Optional modules with zero files installed are reported separately as "not installed (optional, N files available)" rather than as missing.

This avoids confusing output like "0/8 ok" when you simply opted out of the dashboard.

4. Walk and classify

For every path in the canonical set, plus every Archon-owned directory in the project:

Label	Meaning
ok	Path in canonical AND sha256 matches
modified	Path in canonical AND sha256 differs (you edited a framework file)
missing	Path in canonical AND not present locally (deleted or never installed)
extra	Path in an Archon-owned directory but not in canonical (custom, or stale from old version)
ledger	Path in runtime_ledger_paths — owned by you, intentionally not diffed

5. Print the report

Per-file diff headers for modified files (path + sha256 short hash for both sides), then a per-module summary:

Module: core-soul              11/11 ok
Module: commands                5/5  ok
Module: rules                   2/3  ok, 1 modified
Module: cli                     not installed (optional, 14 files available)
Module: dashboard               not installed (optional, 22 files available)

Totals: 78 ok · 1 modified · 0 missing · 2 extra · 6 ledger

6. Offer follow-ups

If…	Suggest
modified > 0	Inspect the diffs; if intentional, document them; if accidental, run update to restore
missing > 0	Run update to fetch the missing files
extra > 0	Inspect — could be project customisations or stale from an old version
All clean	"Archon is healthy. ✓"

7. Optional memo

Only if findings are genuinely notable, append a brief one-liner to .archon/memos.md. Routine "all clean" results write nothing.

Why optional modules show "not installed"

Earlier versions of sync printed 0/8 ok for opted-out modules, which looked like a failure. The current protocol treats modules with zero installed files as uninstalled-by-choice and labels them clearly.

To install an optional module that's currently absent, run:

npx @archon/cli@latest update --with=<module-id>

CLI equivalent (optional, requires Node ≥ 18)

# human-readable report
npx @archon/cli@latest sync

# machine-readable, pipeable
npx @archon/cli@latest sync --json

# private mirror
npx @archon/cli@latest sync --base-url=https://archon.mycorp.com

The CLI itself requires Node ≥ 18. If you don't have Node, ask your agent "sync archon" — the conversational path works on any platform.

Raw agent file

https://aaep.site/sync.md

What's next

• See drift? Update to restore canonical.
• All clean? Get back to writing demands. The 10-Minute Overview is the next conceptual page worth reading.
• Ready to leave Archon? Uninstall.