refactor: remove unused cross-agent-comms subsystem

Nothing used the cross-agent message system (send/recv/watch/status/discover/halt/resume over the inbox/from-agents/ file-IPC protocol). Every cross-project handoff goes through inbox-send instead. I removed the scripts, READMEs, workflow, tests, INDEX entry, the three startup.org wirings, and the legacy bin symlinks, then repointed helper-mode's escalation to inbox-send and noted the removal in the generic-agent-runtime spec.

1 files changed, 7 insertions, 10 deletions

diff --git a/.ai/workflows/startup.org b/.ai/workflows/startup.org
index 59c9c54..fe7778f 100644
--- a/.ai/workflows/startup.org
+++ b/.ai/workflows/startup.org
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ The workflow is structured into four phases. *Phase A.0* is a sequential pre-fli
 
 Quick contract — runs / produces:
 - *Phase A.0* (sequential): refresh rulesets, then the project repo.
-- *Phase A* (parallel batch): timestamp, session-context check, guarded =.ai/= sync, recent sessions, inbox-status, cross-agent status, notes.org, staleness, language-bundle freshness.
-- *Phase B* (parallel batch): read the crash-recovery anchor if present, the recent session summaries, new inbox items, pending cross-agent messages.
+- *Phase A* (parallel batch): timestamp, session-context check, guarded =.ai/= sync, recent sessions, inbox-status, notes.org, staleness, language-bundle freshness.
+- *Phase B* (parallel batch): read the crash-recovery anchor if present, the recent session summaries, new inbox items.
 - *Phase C* (interactive): surface findings, process the inbox, run project startup-extras, ask priorities.
 
 * Execution
@@ -146,12 +146,11 @@ These calls have no dependencies on each other. Issue them all together in one m
 
 4. =\ls -t .ai/sessions/ 2>/dev/null | head -5= — list 5 most recent session files. The backslash bypasses any =ls= alias in the user's profile. Without it, bare =ls -t= silently returns no output under =exa= (a common =ls= replacement) — which makes a sessions directory full of files look empty, and the agent then skips Phase B step 2.
 5. =\ls -la inbox/ 2>/dev/null= — inventory the inbox. Same reason for the backslash escape, applied uniformly across the Phase A =ls= calls.
-6. =cross-agent-status 2>/dev/null || true= — snapshot of pending cross-agent messages across local projects. This is layer A of the cold-start design from =cross-agent-comms.org=: pending messages from other agents (delivered while no session was active here) get surfaced on session start. The =|| true= keeps Phase A from failing if =cross-agent-status= isn't installed yet — older projects without the script still boot cleanly. If HALT is active, =cross-agent-status= prints a banner; surface that prominently in Phase C.
-7. Read =.ai/notes.org= — Project-Specific Context, Active Reminders, Pending Decisions sections (skip About This File).
-8. Read =.ai/project-workflows/startup-extras.org= if it exists.
-9. =[ -f todo.org ] && .ai/scripts/task-review-staleness.sh todo.org 7 || true= — count top-level tasks overdue for review (the daily task-review habit's startup nudge). The =[ -f todo.org ]= guard skips projects without a root todo.org; =|| true= keeps Phase A from failing if the script isn't synced yet. Threshold 7 days is one review cycle of slack — softer than the wrap-up health check's 30-day alarm.
-10. =bash ~/code/rulesets/scripts/sync-language-bundle.sh "$PWD" 2>/dev/null || true= — language-bundle freshness for the current project. Fingerprint-detects which bundle (if any) the project has, auto-fixes drifted rulesets-owned files (=.claude/rules/*.md=, =.claude/hooks/*=, =githooks/*=), and surfaces drift in =settings.json= without writing it (a project may have customized it). =CLAUDE.md= is deliberately left untracked — it's seed-only in =install-lang= and project-owned afterward, mirroring how =diff-lang= skips it. Quiet when there's no bundle or everything's clean. Hardcodes the rulesets path because =languages/= is the canonical source and lives only there — the same absolute-path dependency the rsyncs already carry. =|| true= keeps Phase A from failing on older checkouts where the script isn't present yet. The =.ai/= rsyncs and this call write to disjoint paths (=.ai/= vs =.claude/=/=githooks/=), so the batch stays parallel-safe.
-11. =[ -f "$HOME/org/roam/inbox.org" ] && grep -cE '^\*\* ' "$HOME/org/roam/inbox.org" || true= — count items in the roam global inbox (=~/org/roam/inbox.org=), the inbox-zero startup nudge. Silent if the roam clone isn't on this machine. Phase C reads the file when the count is non-zero, splits total vs items related to this project, and surfaces the offer (see =inbox-zero.org=). Read-only; never files at startup.
+6. Read =.ai/notes.org= — Project-Specific Context, Active Reminders, Pending Decisions sections (skip About This File).
+7. Read =.ai/project-workflows/startup-extras.org= if it exists.
+8. =[ -f todo.org ] && .ai/scripts/task-review-staleness.sh todo.org 7 || true= — count top-level tasks overdue for review (the daily task-review habit's startup nudge). The =[ -f todo.org ]= guard skips projects without a root todo.org; =|| true= keeps Phase A from failing if the script isn't synced yet. Threshold 7 days is one review cycle of slack — softer than the wrap-up health check's 30-day alarm.
+9. =bash ~/code/rulesets/scripts/sync-language-bundle.sh "$PWD" 2>/dev/null || true= — language-bundle freshness for the current project. Fingerprint-detects which bundle (if any) the project has, auto-fixes drifted rulesets-owned files (=.claude/rules/*.md=, =.claude/hooks/*=, =githooks/*=), and surfaces drift in =settings.json= without writing it (a project may have customized it). =CLAUDE.md= is deliberately left untracked — it's seed-only in =install-lang= and project-owned afterward, mirroring how =diff-lang= skips it. Quiet when there's no bundle or everything's clean. Hardcodes the rulesets path because =languages/= is the canonical source and lives only there — the same absolute-path dependency the rsyncs already carry. =|| true= keeps Phase A from failing on older checkouts where the script isn't present yet. The =.ai/= rsyncs and this call write to disjoint paths (=.ai/= vs =.claude/=/=githooks/=), so the batch stays parallel-safe.
+10. =[ -f "$HOME/org/roam/inbox.org" ] && grep -cE '^\*\* ' "$HOME/org/roam/inbox.org" || true= — count items in the roam global inbox (=~/org/roam/inbox.org=), the inbox-zero startup nudge. Silent if the roam clone isn't on this machine. Phase C reads the file when the count is non-zero, splits total vs items related to this project, and surfaces the offer (see =inbox-zero.org=). Read-only; never files at startup.
 
 Notes on the rsync commands:
 - Trailing slashes on both source and destination matter — they tell rsync to sync /contents/ rather than nest a directory inside.
@@ -170,7 +169,6 @@ These calls depend on Phase A outputs, but are independent of each other. Issue
 1. *Read =.ai/session-context.org= if Phase A reported it exists.* The file is the crash-recovery anchor — if it's there, the previous session was interrupted and the context lives only in this file.
 2. *Read each of the 5 most recent session files* from Phase A's =\ls -t .ai/sessions/= output. Read just the =* Summary= section of each — not the full file. The Summary gives Active Goal / Decisions / Data Collected / Findings / Files Modified / Next Steps. That's enough to pick up where things left off. Drill into a specific =* Session Log= later only if you need the /why/ or sequence on something. *If Phase A's listing came back empty, sanity-check with =\ls -la .ai/sessions/= before treating empty as definitive — sessions/ should normally be populated, and an empty result usually means the listing got swallowed somewhere, not that the directory is genuinely empty.*
 3. *Read each new inbox file* from Phase A's =\ls -la inbox/= output. For =.eml= files, defer to Phase C — those need the extract script (below) rather than a raw Read.
-4. *Process pending cross-agent messages.* For each project with a pending count >0 in Phase A's =cross-agent-status= output (typically the current project; cross-project pending is surfaced too but only acted on if the user asks), run =cross-agent-recv <message-file>= on the file path =cross-agent-status= named. The script returns a structured decision (=process= / =dedup= / =query= / =reject=) per the protocol. For =process=, read the message body to determine the action. For =query=, prepare a clarifying reply. For =reject=, surface to user with the reason. For =dedup=, no action — silent retry already handled. Surface all decisions in Phase C alongside other findings.
 
 Rationale: Reads are independent and benign. Batching them means the whole session-history view + inbox view lands in one round-trip instead of one per file.
 
@@ -197,7 +195,6 @@ This phase touches the user and runs sequentially:
      #+end_src
 
      If it reports a count, surface one line: wrap-up's Step 4.0 will commit it as =chore: sync .ai tooling from templates=, or offer to commit it now. If silent, say nothing. This is the crashed-session counterpart to the wrap-up commit step (the primary fix). From the 2026-05-31 jr-estate + work handoffs.
-   - *Surface pending cross-agent messages.* If =cross-agent-status= reported any pending messages, list them with their =cross-agent-recv= decision (process / query / reject) per file. For =process= messages in this project's inbox, propose handling now or after the current task. For pending in other projects, mention the count so the user knows to switch projects when ready. If HALT was active, surface that prominently — cross-agent activity is paused until =cross-agent-resume= clears it.
 2. *Process inbox if non-empty.* Mandatory — don't ask, just delegate to [[file:process-inbox.org][process-inbox.org]]. That workflow owns the value gate (advances an existing TODO / improves the project / serves the mission), the per-source rejection flow (Craig / project handoff / script), the priority-scheme check before filing, and the =.eml= extraction path. Single source of truth for the discipline.
 3. *Execute project-specific startup extras* (the contents of =.ai/project-workflows/startup-extras.org= read in Phase A). If the file didn't exist, skip.
 4. *Ask about priorities.* "What would you like to work on, or is there something urgent you need?"