Arbiter

Push decisions to Arbiter Zebu for async human review. Use when you need human input on plans, architectural choices, or approval before proceeding.

Arbiter Skill

Push decisions to Arbiter Zebu for async human review. Use when you need human input on plans, architectural choices, or approval before proceeding.

Installation

Quick install via ClawHub:

bash

clawhub install arbiter

Or via bun (makes CLI commands available globally):

bash

bun add -g arbiter-skill

Or manual:

bash

git clone https://github.com/5hanth/arbiter-skill.git
cd arbiter-skill && npm install && npm run build
ln -s $(pwd) ~/.clawdbot/skills/arbiter

Prerequisites

• Arbiter Zebu bot running (or just bunx arbiter-zebu)
• ~/.arbiter/queue/ directory (created automatically by the bot)

Environment Variables

Set these in your agent's environment for automatic agent/session detection:

Variable	Description	Example
CLAWDBOT_AGENT	Agent ID	ceo, swe1
CLAWDBOT_SESSION	Session key	agent:ceo:main

When to Use

• Plan review before implementation
• Architectural decisions with tradeoffs
• Anything blocking that needs human judgment
• Multiple related decisions as a batch

Do NOT use for:

• Simple yes/no that doesn't need explanation
• Urgent real-time decisions (use direct message instead)
• Technical questions you can research yourself

Tools

arbiter_push

Create a decision plan for human review.

CLI: arbiter-push '<json>' — takes a single JSON argument containing all fields.

bash

arbiter-push '{
  "title": "API Design Decisions",
  "tag": "nft-marketplace",
  "context": "SWE2 needs these decided before API work",
  "priority": "normal",
  "notify": "agent:swe2:main",
  "decisions": [
    {
      "id": "auth-strategy",
      "title": "Auth Strategy", 
      "context": "How to authenticate admin users",
      "options": [
        {"key": "jwt", "label": "JWT tokens", "note": "Stateless"},
        {"key": "session", "label": "Sessions", "note": "More control"},
        {"key": "oauth", "label": "OAuth", "note": "External provider"}
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "database",
      "title": "Database Choice",
      "context": "Primary datastore",
      "options": [
        {"key": "postgresql", "label": "PostgreSQL + JSONB"},
        {"key": "mongodb", "label": "MongoDB"}
      ],
      "allowCustom": true
    }
  ]
}'

JSON Fields:

Field	Required	Description
title	Yes	Plan title
tag	No	Tag for filtering (e.g., project name)
context	No	Background for reviewer
priority	No	low, normal, high, urgent (default: normal)
notify	No	Session to notify when complete
agent	No	Agent ID (auto-detected from CLAWDBOT_AGENT env)
session	No	Session key (auto-detected from CLAWDBOT_SESSION env)
decisions	Yes	Array of decisions

Decision object:

Field	Required	Description
id	Yes	Unique ID within plan
title	Yes	Decision title
context	No	Explanation for reviewer
options	Yes	Array of {key, label, note?}
allowCustom	No	Allow free-text answer (default: false)
default	No	Suggested option key

Returns:

json

{
  "planId": "abc123",
  "file": "~/.arbiter/queue/pending/ceo-api-design-abc123.md",
  "total": 2,
  "status": "pending"
}

arbiter_status

Check the status of a decision plan.

CLI: arbiter-status <plan-id> or arbiter-status --tag <tag>

bash

arbiter-status abc12345
# or
arbiter-status --tag nft-marketplace

Returns:

json

{
  "planId": "abc123",
  "title": "API Design Decisions",
  "status": "in_progress",
  "total": 3,
  "answered": 1,
  "remaining": 2,
  "decisions": {
    "auth-strategy": {"status": "answered", "answer": "jwt"},
    "database": {"status": "pending", "answer": null},
    "caching": {"status": "pending", "answer": null}
  }
}

arbiter_get

Get answers from a completed plan.

CLI: arbiter-get <plan-id> or arbiter-get --tag <tag>

bash

arbiter-get abc12345
# or
arbiter-get --tag nft-marketplace

Returns:

json

{
  "planId": "abc123",
  "status": "completed",
  "completedAt": "2026-01-30T01:45:00Z",
  "answers": {
    "auth-strategy": "jwt",
    "database": "postgresql",
    "caching": "redis"
  }
}

Error if not complete:

json

{
  "error": "Plan not complete",
  "status": "in_progress",
  "remaining": 2
}

arbiter_await

Block until plan is complete (with timeout).

bash

arbiter-await abc12345 --timeout 3600

Polls every 30 seconds until complete or timeout.

Returns: Same as arbiter_get on completion.

Usage Examples

Example 1: Plan Review

bash

# Push plan decisions (single JSON argument)
RESULT=$(arbiter-push '{"title":"Clean IT i18n Plan","tag":"clean-it","priority":"high","notify":"agent:swe3:main","decisions":[{"id":"library","title":"i18n Library","options":[{"key":"i18next","label":"i18next"},{"key":"formatjs","label":"FormatJS"}]},{"id":"keys","title":"Key Structure","options":[{"key":"flat","label":"Flat (login.button)"},{"key":"nested","label":"Nested ({login:{button}})"}]}]}')

PLAN_ID=$(echo $RESULT | jq -r '.planId')
echo "Pushed plan $PLAN_ID — waiting for human review"

Example 2: Check and Proceed

bash

# Check if decisions are ready
STATUS=$(arbiter-status --tag nft-marketplace)

if [ "$(echo $STATUS | jq -r '.status')" == "completed" ]; then
  ANSWERS=$(arbiter-get --tag nft-marketplace)
  AUTH=$(echo $ANSWERS | jq -r '.answers["auth-strategy"]')
  echo "Using auth strategy: $AUTH"
  # Proceed with implementation
else
  echo "Still waiting for $(echo $STATUS | jq -r '.remaining') decisions"
fi

Example 3: Blocking Wait

bash

# Wait up to 1 hour for decisions
ANSWERS=$(arbiter-await abc12345 --timeout 3600)

if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
  # Got answers, proceed
  echo "Decisions ready: $ANSWERS"
else
  echo "Timeout waiting for decisions"
fi

Best Practices

1. Batch related decisions — Don't push one at a time
2. Provide context — Human needs to understand tradeoffs
3. Use tags — Makes filtering easy (--tag project-name)
4. Set notify — So blocked agents get woken up
5. Use priority sparingly — Reserve urgent for true blockers

File Locations

Path	Purpose
~/.arbiter/queue/pending/	Plans awaiting review
~/.arbiter/queue/completed/	Answered plans (archive)
~/.arbiter/queue/notify/	Agent notifications

Checking Notifications (Agent Heartbeat)

In your HEARTBEAT.md, add:

markdown

## Check Arbiter Notifications

1. Check if `~/.arbiter/queue/notify/` has files for my session
2. If yes, read answers and proceed with blocked work
3. Delete notification file after processing

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Plan not showing in Arbiter	Check file is valid YAML frontmatter
Answers not appearing	Check arbiter_status, may be incomplete
Notification not received	Ensure --notify was set correctly

See Also

• Arbiter Zebu Architecture
• Arbiter Zebu Bot