Sidekick Runtime Boundary

Sidekick is workspace-local memory and task tracking inside the governed kernel. Use it when you or your agents need lightweight coordination — tasks, notes, channels, and repeatable routines — without the overhead of creating full Work Units.

Every Sidekick action still flows through the same scope, policy, and evidence layers as any other kernel tool call. You get the productivity of a simple task tracker with the governance guarantees of the kernel.

Design Rules

.sidekick/ is the pack-owned storage root.
routine:run is plan-only. It resolves and returns the ordered routine steps but does not execute them.
routine:update with enabled: false is the supported stop flow for routines.
task:cancel is the task cancellation primitive; it adds a terminal canceled state instead of hard-deleting the task.
sidekick:export is read-only. It returns stored data as JSON and does not write export artifacts.
Every write-capable and destructive tool supports dry_run so callers can validate the action without persistence.
The manifest is the public contract for tools, scopes, evidence types, and policies.

Scope and Evidence

Like every other pack, Sidekick tools still pass through:

scope intersection
policy evaluation
tool execution
evidence recording

That means task creation, memory writes, channel updates, and routine definitions all receive the same governance treatment as any other kernel tool call.

Sidekick now also uses pack-authored approval rules for destructive lifecycle actions:

task:cancel
memory:forget
channel:delete
routine:delete

When those tools are invoked through the kernel runtime, policy evaluation returns approval_required before execution until the host resolves the approval request.

What Sidekick Does Not Do

It does not execute autonomous workflow DAGs.
It does not bypass kernel policy enforcement.
It does not expand into every possible provider or external integration.
It does not move generic agent-turn execution into Sidekick; that belongs to the Agent Runtime Pack.

Typical Usage

Use Sidekick when you need a compact, governed workspace productivity layer:

track local tasks
update or cancel those tasks without leaving the governed runtime
keep reusable notes, memories, and snippets
exchange small messages through named channels and list local channel state
define repeatable routines, stop them with routine:update, and inspect the resulting plan
export the current workspace-local state for debugging or handoff