Phase 1: resolve the working tree robustly instead of hardcoding an absolute path #41

Template gap (consolidated)

Generated skills hardcode an absolute working directory in the header / Phase 1 (e.g. cd /home/userland/dpc/<repo>). That path does not exist on every machine/container, so the first action of every cycle fails and recovery is ad-hoc (which clone to trust is a judgment call). Filed independently against two loops; affects all of them.

Rule to add to the template (Phase 1 preamble)

Resolve the working tree before cd instead of hardcoding a path:

If $<REPO>_DIR is set, use it; else if the configured path exists, use it; else locate a clean clone whose git remote get-url origin matches the project repo, preferring one with no uncommitted changes and skipping user working copies under /mnt/. If none is found, clone fresh to a known location.

The generator should emit this resolution block rather than a single literal path.

Consolidates (close on merge)

• example-l-dev-loop#22 — configured working dir absent; needs fallback/detection (explicitly asks to promote upstream)
• example-k-dev-loop#7 — skill header working directory is wrong

Consolidated upstream from per-loop self-audit findings. drafted by Claude on behalf of Daniel Stephenson