Orion vault — clean initial history

Knowledge vault (Orion/PARA) migrated from the pre-Orion 484vault on
2026-10-01. Deliberately orphaned: prior history contained a plaintext
password and stays local-only on branch archive/pre-boilerplate-history.
Secrets and live Hermes state are gitignored.

.agents/skills/orion-instantiate/SKILL.md

@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+---
+name: orion-instantiate
+description: "Create a Project (workstream) or Area in an Orion vault against its frontmatter contract. Runs the done-when test first, assigns the workstream ID from the Area's counter, seeds the Area's knowledge/ folder, and registers the new hub so it is never an orphan. Also converts a Project that turns out to be an Area. Triggers on: new project, new area, new workstream, create project, create area, instantiate, this should be an area."
+---
+
+# orion-instantiate — create a Project or Area
+
+Creation is where most structural defects start: a hub with no done-when never finishes, a hub with no Area can never be measured against anything, and a hub nobody links to is an orphan from day one. This skill makes creation follow the contract in `6. Templates/_contracts.md` instead of copying a template and hoping.
+
+---
+
+## 1. The test — before anything else
+
+| Question | If yes |
+|---|---|
+| Can you write **"this is done when ___"** in one sentence, right now? | **Project** |
+| Is the honest answer **"it's never done"**? | **Area** |
+| Neither, but facts and people attach to it? | **Resource or person page — not a hub.** Stop here |
+
+⚠ **If the done-when needs "ongoing", "maintain", or "as needed", it is not a Project.** It is an Area, or a task inside one.
+
+If the owner hasn't given a done-when and you can't derive one from what they said, ask for it. **No done-when, no Project.**
+
+---
+
+## 2. Creating an Area
+
+1. Folder: `2. Areas/<Area Name>/` (Title Case, spaces).
+2. Hub: `<Area Name>_hub.md` from `6. Templates/area-hub.md`:
+   - `type: area`, `status: standing`
+   - `id_prefix:` — short, uppercase, unambiguous, **not already used by another Area** (grep every `*_hub.md` for `id_prefix:`). Permanent once set.
+   - `workstream_counter: 0`
+   - `parent:` only if nested, and **never pointing at itself.**
+3. **Seed `knowledge/_index.md`** — the Area's permanent memory. State in two or three lines what belongs here (durable material that needs this Area's frame to make sense) and what doesn't (reusable-anywhere material → `3. Resources/Research/`; process notes → the workstream). **This is the step that gets skipped.** Without an obvious home, knowledge scatters.
+4. Pick an Area tag (lowercase-kebab) and register it in `wiki/meta/tags.md`.
+
+## 3. Creating a Project (workstream)
+
+1. **Pick its Area.** Default: every Project has one. If it genuinely has none, write `area: none` explicitly — absent is indistinguishable from an oversight. ⚠ An `area: none` Project has no counter to draw an ID from: use prefix `X` with the next number not used by any hub in `1. Projects/` or `5. Archive/`, and tell the owner its deliverable will archive whole on close.
+2. **Assign the ID — read the counter, never scan for it.**
+   1. Read `workstream_counter:` on the Area hub.
+   2. Increment it and **write the new value back first.**
+   3. `id: <PREFIX>-<new value>`.
+
+   ⚠ **Scanning existing hubs for the highest ID collides.** Closed projects have moved to `5. Archive/`, so a scan of `1. Projects/` sees a lower maximum than was issued. The counter persists; the hubs don't. **IDs are never reused.**
+3. Folder: `1. Projects/<Area>/<Project Name>/`. Hub: `<ID>_hub.md` from `6. Templates/project-hub.md`.
+4. Frontmatter: `type: project` (never `hub`), `id`, `area`, `done_when` (**the sentence verbatim**, not a paraphrase), `status: open`, `updated`, `tags: [hub, <area-tag>]`. Add `next:` if a first move is known.
+
+## 4. Register — part of creation, not after it
+
+- [ ] **Project:** listed on its Area hub under `## Workstreams` with its ID and status
+- [ ] **Project:** Area's `workstream_counter:` incremented
+- [ ] **Area:** tag in `wiki/meta/tags.md`; `knowledge/_index.md` seeded
+- [ ] At least one inbound link (Area hub → Project; `wiki/index.md` → Area)
+- [ ] Suggest `cascade` — structure changed
+
+---
+
+## Converting a Project that turns out to be an Area
+
+A Project that fails the done-when test isn't finished — it was misfiled. **Ask the owner before converting; it is a change, not a repair.**
+
+1. **Correct the hub first.** Converting a hub with false statements relocates them.
+2. **Route everything in a table in the hub:** each task or sub-effort → done (history) · ongoing (Area open item) · has a real done-when (its own new Project with an ID) · dead (closed, reason stated).
+3. Move the folder to `2. Areas/<Name>/`, rename the hub `<Name>_hub.md`, set `type: area`, `status: standing`.
+4. ⚠ **Give it `id_prefix:` and `workstream_counter: 0` now.** Conversion is the one path into Area-hood that skips the creation contract; an Area without a counter can never spawn a workstream, and nothing reports it.
+5. Seed `knowledge/_index.md`. Repoint inbound links (see `orion-close` step 6 for method). Log it. Cascade.
+
+---
+
+## Output
+
+```
+## Instantiate — <ID or Area name>
+
+Done-when: "<sentence>"            (Projects)
+Created: <path>
+ID: <PREFIX>-<N> — counter now <N> (Projects)
+Registered: <Area hub listing · tag · knowledge/ seeded · inbound link>
+
+Next: run cascade.
+```
+
+## Rules
+
+- **Done-when test first.** No sentence, no Project.
+- **`type:` is `project` or `area`. Never `hub`.**
+- **Read the counter, write it back, then use it.** Never derive IDs by scanning. Never reuse one.
+- **`area: none` is legal but written.** Absent ≠ none.
+- **Every Area gets `id_prefix`, `workstream_counter` and `knowledge/`** however it came into being.
+- **Register on creation.** An unregistered hub is an orphan.