---
name: hal-sync-constitution
description: Use after changing a rule in hal-hq's 00-GENESIS/how-we-build.md, to publish the derived constitution page the mesh injects into design sessions. Triggers on "sync the constitution", "publish the rules", "I changed how-we-build", "update the governed page".
---

# hal-sync-constitution

Publishes the derived constitution from its source. **Authoritative playbook:**
[`00-GENESIS/process/05-constitution-sync.md`](../../../00-GENESIS/process/05-constitution-sync.md).

## What this is

[`00-GENESIS/how-we-build.md`](../../../00-GENESIS/how-we-build.md) is the **source**. The
knowledge base carries a **derived** page that the mesh injects into every eligible design
session, and against which a check phase can block work.

Two texts stating the same rules drift, and the enforced copy wins by default — so the reasoned
copy quietly stops being true. This skill is the mechanism that prevents that, and it is how
the claim "HQ is the source" is checked.

## Steps

1. Confirm the source change is recorded as a decision. A rule the mesh enforces is
   architecturally significant; if there is no record, run `hal-graduate` first.
2. Derive the page: the **rules without the reasoning**. Section numbering is stable — the
   orchestrator and the review fragments cite sections by number, so never renumber to tidy.
3. Publish it to the knowledge base under the constitution slug, replacing the body.
4. **Read it back and verify the change is present.** A publish that reported success and did
   nothing is exactly the failure class this repository exists to name — do not skip this.
5. Note the sync in the decision's ledger line.

## Do not

- **Never edit the derived page directly.** An edit there survives until the next sync and then
  vanishes, taking its reasoning with it.
- Do not relax a rule in the derived page. Overrides may only tighten.
- Do not report the sync as done without the read-back. If it could not be performed, say so —
  an unsynced rule is a rule the mesh does not enforce, whatever the source says.