Second Opinion

Cross-model second opinion via external AI CLI. Every mode walks the SECOND_OPINION_MODELS roster in priority order and takes the first target that is available, runs a different model and, where it has a room check, has room on its account: Codex from a Claude Code session, Claude from a Codex session; when nothing eligible remains the run refuses and says why. Full contract: second-opinion --help.

.agents/skills/second-opinion/scripts/second-opinion <mode> [options]

Workflows

Execution Rules

• Execute all workflow sections in order. The workflow decides what to skip via "Skip if" conditions. Never skip based on your own scope assessment.
• <output_format> tags are literal templates: fill [PLACEHOLDERS], omit empty lines, add nothing else, do not paraphrase.
• Pass --target when the user explicitly requests a specific model/CLI (e.g., "use Claude", "ask Codex"). Otherwise omit it. The script selects from the roster and the current session's model. A forced target that runs this session's model is refused; report the refusal, do not work around it.
• Do not pass --timeout unless the user explicitly asks for a different value for this specific call. The script reads the default from project config.
• Always pass --cwd with the absolute project root path. Never use --cwd ..
• Pass --foreground when the call can outlast the harness foreground cap. This detaches the run and prints its artifact, deadline, and wait command.
• Execute the exact printed wait command and follow its exit handling in second-opinion --help until terminal.
• For quick mode, you can pass the question inline: .agents/skills/second-opinion/scripts/second-opinion quick "your question here" --cwd /path --foreground.

Session identity

Cross-model is enforced in every mode: a run with no eligible target exits 1 naming every candidate and its reason, writing nothing and invoking nothing. In a multi-model front end (Pi, OpenCode, Cursor, Copilot) or an undetected harness, export SECOND_OPINION_CURRENT_MODEL in that session's own environment (none when there is no session model), never in a project settings file. Identity resolution, normalization, and the refusal rules: second-opinion --help.

Multi-lane review

The SECOND_OPINION_MODELS order is the fallback order at both the room check and execution. A nonzero exit, per-CLI timeout or recognized quota/rate-limit refusal on stderr advances to the next name. The stderr refusal counts only on a zero exit whose stdout holds no usable review answer. Each attempt records its name, cause and seconds. A failed attempt does not exclude another entry running that model. Forced targets do not fall through.

SECOND_OPINION_COUNT of 2 or more makes review collect that many distinct eligible opinions in order on one pinned scope and write a single union artifact. Collection stops when the count is met or the list ends. Lane resolution, merge rules, artifact placement and permissions, scratch durability, and the failure taxonomy: references/multi-lane.md.

Configuration

Set non-sensitive defaults in kendex.settings.toml under [env]; .env.local wins over it, and a .env file is never read. SECOND_OPINION_FOREGROUND_CAP is session-only; a project-file foreground-cap declaration is refused, and shipped workflows pass --foreground directly. This skill marks no key # required, so an arrival writes nothing into kendex.settings.toml; assign a key there only to change a default the scripts already read (SECOND_OPINION_TARGET has none). Keys, defaults, and the built-in claude/codex commands: second-opinion --help. A target named for a harness that fronts a selectable model, copilot among them, runs only once its SECOND_OPINION_<NAME>_MODEL is set. SECOND_OPINION_<NAME>_ROOM_CMD gives a target a room check, such as the orch skill's lanes pick for the seat it spends: a target whose check refuses is skipped for the next roster entry, and one with room runs under the account prefix the check printed. SECOND_OPINION_<NAME>_INLINE_DIFF set to 1 sends a target that cannot run git, such as Pi on read-only file tools, the review diff inside its prompt.

Error Handling

On script failure, stderr carries a JSON error object ({"error": "description", "target": "codex"}) or a plain Error: line for pre-flight configuration errors; exit codes, preserved-response paths, and the output-clearing/ownership rules are in second-opinion --help. Report the stated reason. A CLI-failure record (<output>.failed.json, exit 5 or 6) holds the reason, the cause with its source, the partial output and each attempt. The cause is the first of these that has text: a Claude result envelope's fields, the CLI's stderr, its partial stdout; a timeout's cause is what the CLI wrote before it was stopped, and can be empty. When any command's stdout is a Claude result envelope with no result text or flagged is_error, on any exit and on a target's first call or its format retry, the cause is the envelope's fields (subtype, is_error, num_turns, stop_reason, terminal_reason, api_error_status, each errors[] entry, and the result text when is_error) and the source is claude result; on a zero exit the reason is ended without a review on a zero exit. An ineligible-target refusal is fixed by installing the CLI or adjusting SECOND_OPINION_<NAME>_CMD, SECOND_OPINION_MODELS, or SECOND_OPINION_CURRENT_MODEL, never by forcing the same model; a roster target skipped as model undeclared is fixed by setting that target's SECOND_OPINION_<NAME>_MODEL to the model id it runs. A room check refused candidate names the check's setting and its exit; the check's own stderr, passed through above it, holds the cause. Run that SECOND_OPINION_<NAME>_ROOM_CMD command and read its keyed line: a wall to wait out, or a setting or read to fix (for orch's check, lanes pick --help). A room check printed a line that is no NAME=value assignment candidate quotes that line: the check must print only the NAME=value env prefix of the account it judged, so fix that SECOND_OPINION_<NAME>_ROOM_CMD command, e.g. drop a --json flag. The next roster entry reviews meanwhile; never remove the room check to get past it. For a timeout, suggest a larger --timeout or a narrower --range.

If the script fails during the orch review-pr or submit-pr (local pre-PR review) workflows, continue. External review is advisory.