LIFEAI/rdc:collab

⚠️ OUTPUT CONTRACT (READ FIRST): guides/output-contract.md Checklist-only output. No tool-call narration. No raw MCP/JSON/log dumps. One checklist upfront, updated in place, shown again at end with a 1-line verdict.

Sandbox contract: This skill honors RDC_TEST=1 per guides/agent-bootstrap.md § RDC_TEST Sandbox Contract. Destructive external calls short-circuit under the flag. Chitchat relay writes (chitchat_reply) and git push are skipped under RDC_TEST=1.

/rdc:collab — Claude Code Collab Session Listener

Invoked as: /rdc:collab --session <session_id> You are the build/execute half of a live collab session with claude.ai. Transport: chitchat MCP tools (chitchat_poll / chitchat_reply) + SSE stream Dave is watching this terminal and can interject at any time.

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When to Use

• Project lead wants to delegate a task to a claude.ai session
• You need bidirectional relay between this CLI agent and a claude.ai coworker
• An async work handoff is in progress via the chitchat relay

Arguments

• rdc:collab --session <id> — start or resume a collab relay with the given session ID

What This Is

claude.ai writes tasks into your inbox via chitchat_send. The clauth daemon queues them and — if you are connected to the SSE stream — pushes the event immediately (zero-latency). You read, act, commit, reply via chitchat_reply, and loop. Dave can watch everything in this terminal and interject by typing — treat anything Dave types as a high-priority override.

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Step 1 — Parse session ID

Extract --session <uuid> from args.

If no --session, call chitchat_list and show all active sessions.

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Step 2 — Initialize (chitchat-native)

Call chitchat_list to verify the session exists in the daemon.

If the session is not found:

Session <id> not found in clauth daemon.
Start a session from claude.ai first:
  chitchat_start(name: "<session-slug>")
Then pass the returned session_id here.

Send the ready signal via MCP:

chitchat_reply(session_id, "Claude Code connected. Ready to receive tasks.\ncwd: <rootPath>")

Print to terminal:

[rdc:collab] Session <id> active (chitchat transport).
SSE stream: http://127.0.0.1:52437/chitchat/<id>/stream
Waiting for messages from claude.ai... (Ctrl+C to end)

Note: File relay at .rdc/relay/sessions/ is kept for backwards compatibility but is no longer the primary transport. Chitchat MCP + SSE is the default.

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Step 3 — Wait for message (SSE-first, poll-fallback)

Primary path — SSE (zero-latency)

Connect to the SSE stream and wait for the daemon to push a message:

curl -s -N --max-time 30 http://127.0.0.1:52437/chitchat/<session_id>/stream

The stream emits:

• event: message lines with data: <JSON> when chitchat_send fires from claude.ai
• : keepalive comment lines every 15s (ignore these)

When a data: event arrives: parse the JSON directly — it contains the message. The SSE stream drains the inbox as it delivers; do NOT call chitchat_poll after receiving via SSE. Proceed directly to Step 4 with the parsed message body.

If 30s elapses with no message event (only keepalives or silence): Print [rdc:collab] Still listening... and retry SSE immediately. After 10 consecutive 30s timeouts (5 min idle), print a longer heartbeat but keep looping.

If curl fails (daemon restart, connection refused, non-200): fall back to polling path below.

Fallback path — polling (2s interval)

Use this path only when SSE is unavailable:

loop:
  result = chitchat_poll(session_id)
  if result.status == "ready":
    → proceed to Step 4 with result.message
  else (status == "idle"):
    wait 2 seconds
    continue loop

chitchat_poll return shapes:

• { status: "idle" } — inbox empty, keep polling
• { status: "ready", message: "..." } — message waiting, consume it

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Step 4 — Process message

You now have the message body (from SSE data: JSON or chitchat_poll result).

Check if the message begins with type: stop (literal prefix) or contains a type field equal to "stop" in the JSON.

type: stop → go to Step 7.

Anything else (default: task/message):

Print to terminal:

[rdc:collab] Turn <N> from claude.ai:
──────────────────────────────────────
<message body>
──────────────────────────────────────

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Step 5 — Do the work

Act on the message. Full Claude Code capabilities:

• File edits, git commits to develop
• Supabase RPC queries
• Type-checks: npx tsc --noEmit (never pnpm build)
• Run skills: /rdc:plan, /rdc:fixit, etc.
• Answer questions directly

Follow .rdc/guides/agent-bootstrap.md rules throughout.

For long tasks, stream progress updates mid-work:

chitchat_reply(session_id, "Turn <N> in progress: <what you've done so far>...")

This lets claude.ai see progress immediately rather than waiting for the full response.

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Step 6 — Send response

When work is done, send the response via MCP:

chitchat_reply(session_id, "<response body>")

Response body format:

Turn <N> complete.
Commits: <sha1, sha2 or none>

<what you did, what you found, any questions or decisions needed from claude.ai>

Print to terminal:

[rdc:collab] Turn <N> done. Response sent via chitchat_reply.
Waiting for next message...

Return to Step 3.

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Step 7 — End session

Received type: stop message, or Dave pressed Ctrl+C.

Send final summary via MCP:

chitchat_reply(session_id, "Session complete.\nTurns: <N>\nCommits: <list or none>\nOpen items: <anything unresolved>")

Then call:

chitchat_stop(session_id)

Print:

[rdc:collab] Session ended.

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Dave Interjections

If Dave types in this terminal during a turn:

• Treat it as an override injected into the current task
• Acknowledge it in your chitchat_reply response
• If it changes direction mid-task, note what you stopped and why

Capture lessons (exit step)

Before the final verdict line, follow .rdc/guides/lessons-learned-spec.md § Capture procedure. If this run taught something non-obvious — a first root-cause theory that turned out wrong, the documented/standard path not working, a missing gate or check that cost a round, or a surprising tool/infra behavior — write one .rdc/lessons/<YYYY-MM-DD>-collab-<short-slug>.md per lesson using the schema in that spec. Set scope (simple | architectural) and status (open, or applied if you shipped the fix in this same run, with the commit linked). Commit the lesson file(s) on develop alongside the run's other commits, and note "N lessons captured" in your verdict/summary. A run that taught nothing writes nothing — absence is the default.