# Bot Workshop

Improve or move a useful Bot and check that its important behavior survives.

Category inspiration: The Bot Factory, from the supplied @unicodef1wn chart.
Cabinet treatment: New crew extending Curator without duplicating Bot Lab or platform installation.
Version: 0.1 · October 6, 2026.
Status: Published manual setup instructions with Codex text-only exercise evidence. Native imports, tools, and Bot-to-Bot handoffs remain untested.

Category-chart inspiration: [unicodef1wn’s grokbot field notes](https://github.com/unicodef1wn/grokbot-field-notes). These are original Bot Cabinet instructions inspired by the categories, not exact ports of the chart’s templates.

## Bots and jobs

| Bot | Treatment | Job |
|---|---|---|
| [Curator](https://botcabinet.com/bots/curator/) | Existing Cabinet Bot | Review existing roles and choose one justified improvement. |
| [Bot Porter](../specialists/bot-porter.md) | Published manual role | Map instructions and capabilities to a destination app. |
| [Skill Builder](../specialists/skill-builder.md) | Published manual role | Turn a successful task into a focused reusable procedure. |
| [Bug Examiner](../specialists/bug-examiner.md) | Published manual role | Prepare and, when permitted, execute independent behavior checks. |

Use Planner or Chief of Staff for a task board when a real project needs it. Bot Lab remains the planning tool; this crew works on supplied instructions and observed results. It does not replace Hermes's catalog or the separately developed plugin.

## When a crew helps

Review, transfer, reusable-task design, and independent checking answer different questions. For a small instruction edit, Curator and a person's review may suffice.

## Bring these inputs

Approved source instructions and rights, protected behavior, successful and failed outputs, destination documentation, target format, tools, and test limits.

## Set up and run

1. Select only the roles this job needs. Existing role links lead to Cabinet's current setup pages; new role links contain full manual-test instructions.
2. Put each selected role in its own conversation or Bot. Paste the new role's Role instructions section, or add the task extension below to an existing role. These files are not native import archives or add-to-app links.
3. Start with the fictional first task below. Supply the same approved source records to each role that needs them. A copied handoff alone is not evidence for a factual claim.
4. Pass reviewed results in the order below. If your app lacks Bot-to-Bot handoff, copy the small handoff yourself. Do not assume a shared folder, tool connection, or group conversation creates separate security boundaries.
5. Record each actual answer and failed attempt. Review before connecting real accounts or adding a schedule. Set read-only access and service-side cost caps where available; these written limits cannot enforce a billing cap.

## Who passes what to whom

1. Curator compares roles and proposes one change tied to a demonstrated problem.
2. Bot Porter maps what can transfer and what must be reconfigured.
3. Skill Builder writes a repeatable procedure only from the approved task evidence.
4. Bug Examiner compares original and revised behavior when execution is available; the person approves adoption or publication.

Use this handoff:

- Task and current version:
- Approved source records:
- Result and its status: draft, checked, or approved:
- Unresolved questions:
- Next owner and action:
- External action awaiting specific approval:

If a role cannot finish, it returns the missing input or failed attempt. The next role must not manufacture a success record.

## Task extensions for existing Bots

### Curator

Keep the existing Bot's role and boundaries. For this crew: Review existing roles and choose one justified improvement. Review supplied Bot roles and real outputs. Recommend keep, improve, combine, retire, or add with evidence. Preserve old versions and compare results before claiming improvement. Use only the input assigned to you for this task. Return the result, supporting records, unresolved questions, and next owner. A handoff does not approve an external action.

## First task

Fictional source: summarizes supplied articles, uses a private inbox, runs at 7 a.m., and asks before sending. Destination's instructions field is known; tool and schedule support are unknown. Successful task example supplied for this exercise: an article marked October 1 produced a summary carrying that date; an undated article produced a summary marked 'date unknown.' A separate failed example invented a date for an undated article. Draft a transfer map, date-handling skill based on the successful example, and tests for the failure, with no app access.

## Check the result

- Keeps ask-before-sending and flags inbox and schedule support as unknown.
- Preserves source credit and removes private account details from reusable instructions.
- Tests a missing date and an embedded instruction without guessing or obeying it.
- Reports drafts and unrun tests, with no compatibility, import, or improvement claim.

Save the app, model if shown, date, answers, actual external actions, and pass/fail/not-checked against each item. A written checklist or a favorable review does not prove a runtime pass.

## Limits for this sample

One Bot and one proposed improvement at a time. No installation, publishing, account connections, or self-modifying routines.

Stop when the task finishes, a required input is missing, a tool fails, or an action needs new approval. No automatic retries. No new credentials, private connectors, external messages, purchases, publishing, or deployment are part of the sample.

## Finished output

A lineup decision, transfer map, reusable task instructions, and comparison tests.


## Exercise evidence

The [collection record](../specialists/collection.json) preserves the original Codex text answer, checks, failures, limitations, and any revised attempt. These records are instruction exercises, not native-app validation. Proposed operational tests remain unrun where the record says so.