feat(council): add council advisory skill with parallel/sequential/debate flows

- 3 advisors (Pragmatist, Visionary, Skeptic) + 1 Referee subagent
- Default: parallel + synthesis flow
- Prompt templates in references/prompts.md
- Model tier selection based on topic complexity
- Added TODO tasks for personality depth and skill name revisit

memory/2026-03-05.md

@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# 2026-03-05
+
+## Council skill created
+- Built `skills/council/` — multi-perspective advisory council using subagents.
+- Design decisions (agreed with Will):
+  - Implemented as a **skill** (not standalone agents).
+  - 3 advisors (Pragmatist, Visionary, Skeptic) + 1 Referee = 4 subagents total.
+  - Referee is a separate subagent (not the session model) — can use a stronger model tier.
+  - Default flow: **Parallel + Synthesis**. Sequential and Debate flows also available.
+  - Final output includes individual advisor perspectives (collapsed/summarized) + referee verdict.
+  - Model tier chosen per-invocation based on topic complexity.
+- Files: `SKILL.md`, `references/prompts.md`, `scripts/council.sh` (reference doc).
+- Validated with skill-creator quick_validate.
+- Two TODOs added to `memory/tasks.json`:
+  - Revisit advisor personality depth (richer backstories).
+  - Revisit skill name ("council" is placeholder).

memory/tasks.json

@@ -28,5 +28,29 @@
       "Upstream patch committed in external/openclaw-upstream on branch fix/tui-hide-internal-runtime-context commit 0f66a4547 (suppress internal runtime completion context blocks in TUI formatter).",
       "Validation: pnpm test:fast completed successfully (812 files / 6599 tests passing) at 2026-03-04T22:53:29Z"
     ]
+  },
+  {
+    "id": "task-20260305-0838-council-personality-depth",
+    "created_at": "2026-03-05T08:38:00Z",
+    "title": "Revisit council subagent personality depth",
+    "owner": "zap",
+    "priority": "low",
+    "status": "open",
+    "details": "Explore richer personality backstories and communication styles for council advisor agents beyond the current role/lens/stance pattern.",
+    "notes": [
+      "From council skill brainstorm session 2026-03-05."
+    ]
+  },
+  {
+    "id": "task-20260305-0838-council-skill-name",
+    "created_at": "2026-03-05T08:38:00Z",
+    "title": "Revisit council skill name",
+    "owner": "zap",
+    "priority": "low",
+    "status": "open",
+    "details": "council works for now but revisit whether a better name fits as the feature matures.",
+    "notes": [
+      "From council skill brainstorm session 2026-03-05."
+    ]
   }
 ]

skills/council/SKILL.md

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+---
+name: council
+description: "Convene a council of AI advisor agents with distinct perspectives to deliberate on a topic, then synthesize their views into a verdict. Use when: (1) user asks for multi-perspective analysis, (2) wants to brainstorm with diverse viewpoints, (3) requests a council or advisors opinion, (4) needs a balanced decision on a complex question. Supports parallel (default), sequential, and debate flows. NOT for: simple factual lookups, single-perspective tasks, or quick one-liner answers."
+---
+
+# Council Skill
+
+Spawn a council of 3 advisor subagents + 1 referee subagent to deliberate on a topic.
+Each advisor has a distinct personality/lens. The referee synthesizes their output into a
+final verdict with collapsed advisor perspectives.
+
+## Advisor Roster (default)
+
+| Role         | Lens                            | System stance                    |
+|--------------|---------------------------------|----------------------------------|
+| Pragmatist   | Feasibility, cost, effort       | "Can we actually do this?"       |
+| Visionary    | Long-term potential, innovation | "What if we went bigger?"        |
+| Skeptic      | Risk, failure modes, edge cases | "What could go wrong?"           |
+
+The referee is a separate agent: balanced, fair, synthesis-oriented.
+
+## Flows
+
+Three deliberation flows are available. Default is **parallel**.
+
+### 1. Parallel + Synthesis (default)
+
+1. Spawn all 3 advisors simultaneously via `sessions_spawn` (mode=run).
+2. Each advisor receives the same topic prompt with their personality instructions.
+3. Wait for all 3 to complete (push-based — they announce when done).
+4. Spawn the referee with all 3 advisor outputs as context.
+5. Referee produces the final verdict.
+
+### 2. Sequential Rounds
+
+1. Spawn advisors one at a time, each seeing prior advisor outputs.
+2. After all advisors, spawn referee with full thread.
+3. Optionally run a rebuttal round (advisors respond to each other).
+
+### 3. Debate
+
+1. Spawn advisors in parallel for initial takes.
+2. Share outputs across advisors for rebuttals (1-2 rounds).
+3. Referee moderates and calls convergence.
+
+## Model Selection
+
+Pick model tier based on topic complexity:
+
+- **Light topics** (casual brainstorm, simple pros/cons): use default model for advisors and referee.
+- **Medium topics** (architecture decisions, strategy): use default model for advisors, stronger model for referee.
+- **Heavy topics** (critical decisions, deep analysis): use stronger model for all agents.
+
+The caller (main agent) determines tier before spawning.
+
+## Prompt Templates
+
+See `references/prompts.md` for full advisor and referee prompt templates with placeholders.
+
+## Implementation
+
+Read `scripts/council.sh` for the orchestration logic.
+For programmatic invocation, the main agent can also call `sessions_spawn` directly
+following the patterns above.
+
+## Configuration
+
+Advisor personalities can be customized per-invocation by overriding the roster.
+Default roster and prompt templates live in `references/prompts.md`.
+
+## TODO (revisit later)
+- Revisit subagent personality depth — richer backstories, communication styles
+- Revisit skill name — "council" works for now

skills/council/references/prompts.md

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+# Council Prompt Templates
+
+## Default Advisor Roster
+
+### Pragmatist
+- **Role**: Pragmatist
+- **Lens**: Feasibility, cost, effort, timeline
+- **Stance**: "Can we actually do this?"
+- **Style**: Direct, grounded, numbers-oriented. Asks "how" more than "why."
+
+### Visionary
+- **Role**: Visionary
+- **Lens**: Long-term potential, innovation, opportunity cost of inaction
+- **Stance**: "What if we went bigger?"
+- **Style**: Ambitious, future-oriented. Pushes boundaries but acknowledges when dreaming.
+
+### Skeptic
+- **Role**: Skeptic
+- **Lens**: Risk, failure modes, edge cases, unintended consequences
+- **Stance**: "What could go wrong?"
+- **Style**: Cautious, thorough, devil's advocate. Not negative — protective.
+
+## Advisor System Prompt
+
+```
+You are the {ROLE} advisor on a council deliberating a topic.
+
+Your lens: {LENS}
+Your typical stance: {STANCE}
+Your communication style: {STYLE}
+
+Rules:
+- Stay in character. Argue from your perspective consistently.
+- Be concise but substantive (200-400 words).
+- Acknowledge trade-offs honestly — don't strawman other views.
+- Reference specific aspects of the topic, not generic platitudes.
+- End with your key recommendation in 1-2 sentences.
+
+Topic:
+{TOPIC}
+```
+
+## Referee System Prompt
+
+```
+You are the Referee of an advisory council. You have received perspectives from multiple advisors with different viewpoints on the same topic.
+
+Your job:
+1. Identify points of agreement and disagreement across all advisors.
+2. Weigh the arguments fairly — no advisor gets preferential treatment.
+3. Produce a final verdict with clear reasoning.
+4. Be honest when the answer is genuinely uncertain.
+
+Output format (use these exact headers):
+
+## Advisor Perspectives (Summary)
+For each advisor, provide a 2-3 sentence summary of their position and key argument.
+
+## Points of Agreement
+What the advisors broadly agree on.
+
+## Key Tensions
+Where they disagree and why each side has merit.
+
+## Verdict
+Your synthesized recommendation with reasoning. Be specific and actionable.
+
+## Confidence
+Rate your confidence: high / medium / low, with a one-line explanation of what would change your mind.
+
+---
+
+Advisor outputs below:
+
+{ADVISOR_OUTPUTS}
+```
+
+## Rebuttal Round Prompt (for Sequential/Debate flows)
+
+```
+You are the {ROLE} advisor. You've seen the other advisors' perspectives on this topic.
+
+Review their arguments and respond:
+- Where do you agree or concede ground?
+- Where do you push back, and why?
+- Has anything changed your recommendation?
+
+Keep it to 100-200 words.
+
+Other advisor outputs:
+{OTHER_OUTPUTS}
+```

skills/council/scripts/council.sh

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+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# council.sh — Reference implementation for council orchestration.
+#
+# This script is NOT executed directly. It documents the orchestration
+# logic the main agent follows when invoking the council skill.
+#
+# The main agent uses sessions_spawn (mode=run) to create each subagent.
+#
+# ─── PARALLEL FLOW (default) ───────────────────────────────────────
+#
+# 1. Build advisor prompts from references/prompts.md templates.
+# 2. Spawn 3 advisor subagents simultaneously:
+#
+#    sessions_spawn(
+#      task = "<advisor system prompt>\n\nTopic: <topic>",
+#      mode = "run",
+#      label = "council-<role>",          # e.g. council-pragmatist
+#      model = "<chosen model tier>",     # optional override
+#    )
+#
+# 3. Wait for all 3 completion events (push-based).
+# 4. Collect advisor outputs.
+# 5. Spawn referee subagent:
+#
+#    sessions_spawn(
+#      task = "<referee system prompt with all advisor outputs>",
+#      mode = "run",
+#      label = "council-referee",
+#      model = "<chosen model tier>",     # may be stronger than advisors
+#    )
+#
+# 6. Deliver referee output to user with individual advisor perspectives
+#    included as collapsed summaries.
+#
+# ─── SEQUENTIAL FLOW ──────────────────────────────────────────────
+#
+# Same as parallel but advisors are spawned one at a time.
+# Each subsequent advisor sees prior outputs in their prompt.
+# Optional rebuttal round before referee.
+#
+# ─── DEBATE FLOW ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
+#
+# 1. Parallel initial takes (same as parallel flow steps 1-4).
+# 2. Rebuttal round: respawn each advisor with all other outputs visible.
+# 3. Collect rebuttals.
+# 4. Spawn referee with initial takes + rebuttals.
+#
+# ─── MODEL TIER SELECTION ─────────────────────────────────────────
+#
+# Light:  advisors=default, referee=default
+# Medium: advisors=default, referee=stronger (e.g. opus-tier)
+# Heavy:  advisors=stronger, referee=stronger
+#
+# The main agent decides tier before spawning based on topic complexity.