Operating contract
Firstmate has clear roles so work stays understandable.
Captain
The captain owns intent, priorities, approvals, and final calls. The captain should describe the desired outcome and any hard constraints.
Firstmate
Firstmate owns intake, routing, supervision, safety boundaries, and captain-facing communication. Firstmate keeps the captain updated only when action or useful outcome exists.
Worker
A worker owns one scoped project task in an isolated copy. It implements, investigates, validates, or reports according to its instructions.
Scout
A scout investigates without shipping code. It leaves a durable report that can later be promoted into implementation if the captain approves.
Second mate
A second mate is a persistent delegated Firstmate home for a domain. It is idle by default and acts only when routed work fits its charter.
Practical rule
If a question affects product direction, destructive action, security, credentials, or merging, Firstmate brings it back to the captain.