# Talking Stick 0.3.0

Date: 2026-05-05

Breaking release that makes the `tt` CLI the only harness integration contract.
Talking Stick no longer installs or serves an MCP adapter. Agents coordinate by
running `tt` subprocesses for join/wait/handoff, notes, messages, and event
receive.

## Breaking Changes

### MCP server surface removed

Removed the MCP stdio server implementation, `tt mcp` command registration,
MCP-specific tests, and the `@modelcontextprotocol/sdk` dependency. The package
exports no MCP server helpers. `tt --help` no longer advertises MCP startup, and
`tt install` no longer writes MCP server config.

### `tt install` is skill-only

`tt install <harness>` now installs or refreshes the bundled
`talking-stick` skill for Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, and OpenCode. The older
`tt install-skill` and `tt uninstall-skill` command surface is gone because
`tt install` / `tt uninstall` own skill installation directly.

## Migration

### Stale MCP cleanup

Updates remove stale Talking Stick MCP registrations from older installs instead
of keeping the broken dual integration path alive.

Cleanup runs from:

- package postinstall when installed under `node_modules/talking-stick`
- `tt self-update` after the package manager command returns
- the first normal installed-package `tt` invocation after a package-version
  change
- explicit `tt install` and `tt uninstall`

Each run appends JSONL audit entries to
`${TALKING_STICK_DATA_DIR}/update-migrations.log`. OpenCode cleanup is
shape-strict: only the canonical `mcp.talking-stick` entry with `["tt", "mcp"]`
is removed. Claude Code, Codex, and Gemini use their native `mcp remove`
commands for the old `talking-stick` server name.

## CLI-Only Runtime

The bundled skill now teaches harnesses to start
`tt events --follow --json` as the ambient receiver, keep
`tt wait --json` running for turn ownership, and verify the
returned guardian pid before long edits. `tt msg recv` remains a messages-only
fallback; the unified event stream is the primary OOB path because turn
handoffs and messages share one ordered feed.

For harnesses that cannot consume a long-running stdout stream, the documented
fallback is `tt events --wait --after <cursor> --json` as an observer-only wake
process alongside the normal `tt wait --json` ownership loop. Event wakes do not
grant the stick; agents still need a `your_turn` wait result and live guardian
before editing.

CLI identity resolution now prefers stable harness ancestry over transient
terminal ids when no explicit harness session id exists. That keeps repeated
shell-outs from one harness attached to the same room member.

## Verification

```bash
npm run typecheck
npm test
npm run build
git diff --check
```

Stage validation covered the migration runner, install/uninstall/self-update
cleanup wiring, child-process CLI receive behavior, guardian repair, full-suite
tests after MCP deletion, and built `dist/` output with no MCP/server files.