---
name: skill-operating-loop
type: skill
description: >-
  The operator's standing cycle, run in the context of a single vertical — read
  the goal and KPIs, assess against target, decide the next best actions,
  dispatch through Relay to the functional fleet, escalate only at the mandate's
  edge, and report status. Use whenever an operator drives its vertical forward
  (typically the weekly loader such as task-bara-operator-loop), or on demand to
  push a vertical toward its outcome. Venture-agnostic; the mandate and sources
  are supplied by the operator instance.
---

# operating-loop

The behaviour an operator runs to drive its vertical toward the mandate's outcome. Agnostic — the operator instance (`operator-bara` and future siblings) supplies the vertical, its goal and KPI sources, and the mandate envelope. This is the Layer 1 behaviour beneath `workflow-venture-operating-loop`; it composes Atlas (planning) and Relay (delivery flow) rather than re-implementing them.

## Trigger

Run by an operator's scheduled loader (weekly by default, e.g. `task-bara-operator-loop`), or on demand when an operator needs to move its vertical. Requires an operator context: the vertical, its mandate (goal · timeframe · envelope), and its goal/KPI/analytics sources.

## Behaviour

One pass of the loop:

1. **Read the state.** Load the vertical's goal and KPIs from the operator's named sources (strategy docs, the venture's dashboard, analytics). Read where the numbers stand, not where they were assumed to be.
2. **Assess against target.** For each KPI, is the vertical on, ahead of, or behind target for the timeframe? Name what is drifting and why, in one line each.
3. **Decide the next best actions.** Choose the highest-leverage moves for this cycle — tactical choices (campaign, channel, sequence) are the operator's to make freely. If the *strategy* itself looks wrong (not a tactic), refresh it with **Atlas** — but a genuine strategic pivot is an anchor: flag it, do not enact it (step 5).
4. **Dispatch through Relay.** Turn the chosen actions into work and route them via **Relay** to the right functional agent (Forge to build, Reach to market, Pixel/Sonar for brand and discovery). The operator commissions and sequences; it does not execute the functional work itself.
5. **Check the mandate edge.** Before anything proceeds, test each action against the three hard anchors: a **strategic pivot**, a **budget-envelope breach** (spend beyond the agreed figure), or a change to the **goal set**. Any that trips an anchor is **escalated to the Owner with a recommendation** — assigned, with the reasoning — and held until the Owner rules. Everything else proceeds.
6. **Proceed autonomously.** Unflagged work goes ahead within the vertical (the operator is the gate); unflagged ready work is promoted for the fleet to execute. This mirrors the delivery loop's selective gating, one tier up — the operator does not approve its own merges; Prism's review gate and the delivery-loop merge gate still stand.
7. **Report status.** Write the cycle's status to the vertical's dashboard / initiative — progress against proof points, what moved, what is blocked, and any mandate-edge item raised for the Owner. Surface upcoming plans and objectives for the Owner's light review before the next cycle acts on them.

Then the loop repeats on its cadence.

## Guardrails

* **Autonomous within mandate, escalate at its edge.** Tactical and day-to-day choices are the operator's; only the three anchors go to the Owner, always with a recommendation, never actioned unilaterally.
* **Thin, not a duplicate.** Compose Atlas and Relay; never re-implement planning or delivery-flow inside the loop.
* **Does not self-gate delivery.** The operating loop decides *what* to pursue; it does not replace Prism's review or the merge gate.
* **Read the real numbers.** Assess against the vertical's live analytics and KPI sources, never assumed figures — no fabrication (`convention-ticket`).
* **Propose the budget, do not spend beyond it.** Where the envelope is zero or too small, produce a costed proposal for the Owner; act on free/existing fleet resource until an envelope is granted.
* **Scope.** One vertical per run, the operator's own; cross-vertical contention for the shared fleet is Atlas's to arbitrate, not this loop's.

## Setup

Deployed per vertical as a thin `task-*` weekly loader (`task-bara-operator-loop` is the first). The loader supplies the operator context and reads-and-follows this skill; behaviour lives here, not in the loader. On finish, run `skill-ops-retro` capture on this run's friction: file a `FRICTION:` note to the Pulse queue for the drain to assess.