God Committee Consensus Skill

Purpose

This skill guides God Committee members through the consensus-building process for making collective decisions.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

Proposing a significant change or intervention
Voting on another member's proposal
Resolving disagreements between members
Making decisions that require consensus per configuration

Consensus Requirements

Actions Requiring Consensus

Per .god/config.json, these actions require consensus:

Termination: Stopping the entire project
Major Rollback: Rolling back multiple commits or PRDs
Skill Deletion: Removing existing skills

Actions Allowing Solo Decision

Minor fixes and repairs
Observation and documentation
Pausing for investigation
Sending alerts and notifications

Quorum Rules

Standard Quorum: 2 out of 3 members must agree
Emergency Quorum: 1 member can act alone in critical situations

Creating a Proposal

Step 1: Prepare Your Case

Before proposing, gather evidence and formulate your rationale:

## Proposal Preparation

### Issue Identified
[Clear description of the problem]

### Evidence
- [Log entry/observation 1]
- [Log entry/observation 2]
- [Metric or data point]

### Proposed Action
[Specific action to take]

### Expected Outcome
[What success looks like]

### Risks
[Potential downsides]

### Alternatives Considered
[Other options and why not chosen]

Step 2: Acquire Speaking Rights

./scripts/god/council.sh lock YOUR_ID

Step 3: Create the Proposal

./scripts/god/council.sh propose YOUR_ID "TYPE" "DESCRIPTION" "RATIONALE"

Proposal Types:

intervention - Active intervention in execution
repair - Fix or repair action
policy_change - Change to rules or configuration
termination - Stop project execution
rollback - Revert to previous state

Example:

./scripts/god/council.sh propose alpha "intervention" \
  "Pause PRD execution to fix failing tests" \
  "Test coverage dropped 15% in last 3 stories. Need to address before proceeding."

Step 4: Notify Members

The proposal system automatically notifies all members. The message will be in their inboxes.

Step 5: Release Speaking Rights

./scripts/god/council.sh unlock YOUR_ID

Voting on Proposals

Step 1: Review the Proposal

# Check pending decisions
./scripts/god/council.sh status

# Read the specific proposal
cat .god/council/decisions/DECISION_ID.json | jq '.'

Step 2: Analyze the Proposal

Consider these questions:

Is the problem real?
- Verify the evidence
- Check if it's already being addressed
Is the solution appropriate?
- Will it solve the problem?
- Are there better alternatives?
- What are the side effects?
Is it timely?
- Is immediate action needed?
- Can we wait for more information?

Step 3: Cast Your Vote

./scripts/god/council.sh lock YOUR_ID
./scripts/god/council.sh vote YOUR_ID "DECISION_ID" "VOTE" "COMMENT"
./scripts/god/council.sh unlock YOUR_ID

Vote Options:

approve - Support the proposal
reject - Oppose the proposal
abstain - Neither support nor oppose

Example:

./scripts/god/council.sh vote beta "decision-20260129150000" "approve" \
  "Agree with the assessment. Tests should be fixed before proceeding."

Step 4: Document Your Reasoning

Always add a comment explaining your vote:

## Vote: [APPROVE/REJECT/ABSTAIN]

### Reasoning
[Why you voted this way]

### Conditions (if any)
[Conditions for your support]

### Alternative Suggestion (if rejecting)
[What you'd propose instead]

Reaching Consensus

Unanimous Agreement

Ideal scenario - all members agree:

Alpha: approve
Beta: approve  
Gamma: approve
Result: APPROVED (unanimous)

Majority Agreement

Quorum reached with majority:

Alpha: approve
Beta: approve
Gamma: reject
Result: APPROVED (2/3 majority)

Split Decision

When members disagree significantly:

Initiate Discussion Session

./scripts/god/council.sh session-start "Resolving: PROPOSAL_TOPIC"

Each Member States Position
- Present full reasoning
- Listen to others' concerns
- Look for common ground
Seek Compromise
- Modify the proposal
- Add conditions
- Split into smaller decisions
Re-vote if Needed
- Create amended proposal
- Vote again

Deadlock Resolution

If consensus cannot be reached:

Defer Decision
- Wait for more information
- Set review deadline
Escalate Scope
- Break into smaller decisions
- Address sub-issues separately
Time-box Discussion
- Set deadline for decision
- Default action if no consensus

Emergency Consensus

In critical situations, expedited consensus is allowed:

Emergency Criteria

System crash or imminent failure
Security breach
Data loss risk
Infinite loop/resource exhaustion

Emergency Protocol

Declare Emergency

./scripts/god/awakener.sh critical "REASON"

Take Immediate Action
- One member can act alone
- Document the action immediately
Post-Action Review
- Inform other members ASAP
- Document full rationale
- Get retroactive approval

Emergency Action Template

## Emergency Action Report

### Timestamp
[When action was taken]

### Acting Member
[Who took the action]

### Situation
[What triggered the emergency]

### Action Taken
[What was done]

### Justification
[Why immediate action was needed]

### Outcome
[Result of the action]

### Post-Action Votes
- Alpha: [pending/approved/rejected]
- Beta: [pending/approved/rejected]
- Gamma: [pending/approved/rejected]

Consensus Best Practices

Do

✅ Present clear evidence
✅ Consider all perspectives
✅ Propose specific, actionable items
✅ Accept compromise when reasonable
✅ Document all reasoning
✅ Respect deadlines

Don't

❌ Vote without reviewing the proposal
❌ Reject without suggesting alternatives
❌ Take solo action when consensus is required
❌ Ignore minority opinions
❌ Let proposals languish without voting
❌ Make personal attacks

Decision Record

All decisions are recorded in .god/council/decisions/ with this structure:

{
  "decisionId": "decision-20260129150000",
  "type": "intervention",
  "status": "decided",
  "createdAt": "2026-01-29T15:00:00Z",
  "decidedAt": "2026-01-29T15:30:00Z",
  "proposal": {
    "author": "alpha",
    "description": "...",
    "rationale": "..."
  },
  "votes": {
    "alpha": {"vote": "approve", "comment": "...", "timestamp": "..."},
    "beta": {"vote": "approve", "comment": "...", "timestamp": "..."},
    "gamma": {"vote": "abstain", "comment": "...", "timestamp": "..."}
  },
  "quorum": 2,
  "result": "approved",
  "executedAt": "2026-01-29T15:35:00Z"
}

After Consensus

Once a decision is reached:

If Approved: Execute the proposed action
If Rejected: Document why and any alternatives
Update Timeline: Log the decision event
Notify Stakeholders: If relevant to execution layer

# After approved decision
./scripts/god/observer.sh event "decision" "Proposal approved: DESCRIPTION"

# Execute the action
[perform the approved action]

# Mark as executed
jq '.executedAt = "'"$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"'"' \
  .god/council/decisions/DECISION_ID.json > tmp && mv tmp .god/council/decisions/DECISION_ID.json

god-consensus