Triage: recognize harness-blocked operations (CLAUDE.md edits, external submodule registration) up front #43

Template gap (consolidated)

Some issues a loop is told to act on require operations the auto-mode classifier blocks, and the skill has no path for them — so the cycle fails mid-implementation instead of recognizing the block at triage:

• Editing CLAUDE.md (agent-loaded config) is denied as "self-modification", yet cleanup issues that remove a documented path must update it (removing the path while leaving the reference creates the very doc drift Phase 7 guards against).
• Registering an external submodule (git submodule add from another org) is denied as "integrates untrusted external code", yet Phase 1 lists "submodule path absent from .gitmodules" as a triage target.

Rule to add to the template (Phase 1 triage classification + Edge cases)

Classify operations that require explicit, separate user authorization up front at triage (like the data-volume rule), so they are flagged before implementation rather than failing mid-cycle. Specifically: editing agent-loaded config (CLAUDE.md) and registering/initializing an external submodule require explicit per-action authorization — surface such issues to the user instead of attempting them. Never remove a path while CLAUDE.md still references it.

Consolidates (close on merge)

• example-o-dev-loop#1 — CLAUDE.md edits harness-blocked, stalling cleanup issues
• example-o-dev-loop#2 — submodule registration harness-blocked

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