docs(examples): add builder-solo — single builder, no adversary (control)

A single Builder that builds AND self-verifies (same DoD rigor), with NO
independent Adversary and no claim/review handoff. The control for measuring
what the AI adversary costs (its tokens, ~half of a loop-pair run) and buys
(independent cold verification vs self-certification).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

examples/builder-solo/README.md

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+# Builder-solo example — no Adversary (self-verification baseline)
+
+A single **Builder** agent, same task spec as [`../builder-adversary`](../builder-adversary/), but
+with **no Adversary**: the Builder builds *and* verifies its own work, then self-certifies `## DONE`.
+No `claim(`/`review(` handoff — there's nothing to hand off to.
+
+This is the **control** for the AI-as-adversary design. Comparing it against `builder-adversary` on
+the same task answers two things:
+
+- **Cost:** how much of a run's tokens is the independent Adversary? (In the loop-pair runs the
+  Adversary is ~45–53% of the total — this variant removes that.)
+- **Quality:** does an independent cold verifier catch things a self-checking builder misses? Self-
+  certification has an obvious failure mode — the same agent that wrote the bug decides whether it's
+  a bug. This variant measures what you give up by dropping the second pair of eyes.
+
+The Builder's role prompt keeps the same verification *rigor* (run every DoD check, try to break it,
+paste observed output, no self-rubber-stamping) — the only thing removed is the **independent**
+adversary. So the comparison is "independent verification vs self-verification," not "verification vs
+none."
+
+```bash
+python3 ../../agents.py status --config agents.toml
+python3 ../../agents.py up     --config agents.toml      # needs `claude` on PATH
+```
+
+The `agent-orchestrator-benchmark` repo runs this head-to-head with the other variants on the same
+multi-phase task and reports tokens + the efficiency ratios.

examples/builder-solo/agents.toml

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+# examples/builder-solo — a single Builder, NO Adversary (self-verification baseline).
+#
+# Same pattern + same task spec as ../builder-adversary, but there is only ONE agent: the Builder
+# builds AND verifies its own work, then self-certifies "## DONE". This is the control for measuring
+# what the independent AI Adversary actually costs (its tokens) and buys (independent cold
+# verification). No claim/review handoff — nothing to hand off to.
+#
+#   python3 ../../agents.py status --config agents.toml
+#   python3 ../../agents.py up     --config agents.toml      # needs `claude` on PATH
+
+[watchdog]
+signal_interval      = 30
+heavy_interval       = 300
+limit_probe_fallback = 300
+limit_reset_slack    = 45
+stall_grace          = 180
+
+[defaults]
+session_prefix = "solo-"
+log_dir        = ".ao-state"
+backend        = "claude"        # set to "demo" for a dependency-free mechanics-only run
+model          = "claude-sonnet-4-6"
+watch          = "heal"
+
+[backend.claude]
+bin             = "claude"
+flags           = "--dangerously-skip-permissions"
+remote_control  = true
+supports_resume = true
+prompt_delivery = "arg"
+process_name    = "claude"
+submit_key      = "Enter"
+stall_idle      = 300
+active_re = "esc to interrupt|Running tool|⠇|⠙|· \\d+"
+limit_re  = "spend limit|usage limit|limit reached|reached your .*limit|out of (credits|tokens)"
+fatal_re  = "redacted_thinking|blocks cannot be modified|cannot be modified"
+
+[backend.demo]
+bin             = "echo '[demo] {session} up (kickoff: {kickoff})'; exec sleep 1000000"
+prompt_delivery = "exec"
+
+# The lone builder — builds and self-verifies.
+[[agent]]
+name  = "builder"                # tmux session: solo-builder
+kind  = "loop"
+role  = "builder"                # kickoff = prompts/kickoff.md (per phase) + prompts/builder.md
+dir   = "./work"
+watch = "heal+stall"
+
+[[service]]
+name    = "cleanlogs"
+command = "python3 ../../agent-log.py follow-all"
+dir     = "."
+
+# Phase machine. No handoff (single agent); the watchdog auto-advances when the builder writes
+# "## DONE" to the phase status file (read from handoff.repo's state_subdir).
+[loop]
+state_file       = "phase-idx"
+resume_phase     = true
+auto_advance     = true
+done_marker      = "## DONE"
+kickoff_template = "prompts/kickoff.md"
+roles_dir        = "prompts"
+handoff = { repo = "./work", state_subdir = "machine-docs" }
+phases = [
+  { id = "wc",   plan = "plans/wc.md",   status = "STATUS-wc.md" },
+  { id = "json", plan = "plans/json.md", status = "STATUS-json.md" },
+]

examples/builder-solo/plans/json.md

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+# Phase `json` — machine-readable output
+
+**Mission.** Extend the `wc.py` from the previous phase with a `--json` mode, without regressing any
+`wc`-phase behaviour. Single source of truth for this phase.
+
+(The phase config gives the Builder `claude-opus-4-8` for this phase — an example of a per-phase
+model override; the Adversary stays on the default model.)
+
+## Definition of Done
+
+- **D1 — json output.** `python wc.py --json FILE` prints a single JSON object:
+  `{"lines": N, "words": N, "chars": N, "file": "FILE"}` (valid JSON, parseable by `json.loads`).
+  With stdin (no FILE), `"file"` is `null`.
+- **D2 — composes with flags.** `--json` honours `-l/-w/-c`: only the requested counts appear as keys
+  (plus `file`). E.g. `wc.py --json -l FILE` → `{"lines": N, "file": "FILE"}`.
+- **D3 — no regression.** Every `wc`-phase gate (D1–D4 there) still passes unchanged.
+- **D4 — tests green.** `test_wc.py` is extended for the JSON cases and `pytest -q` is all-green.
+
+## How the Adversary verifies (cold)
+
+```bash
+pytest -q                                              # D4 + D3 regression
+printf 'a b c\nd e\n' > /tmp/f.txt
+python wc.py --json /tmp/f.txt | python -c 'import sys,json; d=json.load(sys.stdin); \
+  assert d=={"lines":2,"words":5,"chars":10,"file":"/tmp/f.txt"}, d; print("ok")'   # D1
+python wc.py --json -l /tmp/f.txt                      # D2: expect {"lines": 2, "file": "/tmp/f.txt"}
+```
+
+The Builder restates the exact commands, expected JSON, and commit sha in
+`machine-docs/STATUS-json.md`. When every DoD item has a fresh PASS in `machine-docs/REVIEW-json.md`
+and there is no `## VETO`, the Builder writes `## DONE` to `STATUS-json.md` — this is the last phase,
+so the watchdog then fires the one-shot `reporter` (see `agents.toml` `[loop].on_complete`).

examples/builder-solo/plans/wc.md

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+# Phase `wc` — a word-count CLI
+
+**Mission.** Build a small, dependency-free `wc` clone in Python: a script `wc.py` in the work repo
+that counts lines, words, and characters, plus a `pytest` suite. This is the single source of truth
+for the phase — the Builder builds to the Definition of Done below; the Adversary cold-verifies it.
+
+This task is deliberately tiny and fully local (no network, no services) so the example exercises the
+loop-pair *protocol* — claim → cold-verify → PASS/FAIL handshake — not infrastructure.
+
+## Definition of Done
+
+Each Dn is an independent gate. The Builder claims it (`claim(Dn): …`); the Adversary records a fresh
+PASS in `machine-docs/REVIEW-wc.md` after re-running the check from its own clone.
+
+- **D1 — default output.** `python wc.py FILE` prints exactly `<lines> <words> <chars> <FILE>`
+  (counts whitespace-separated words, `\n`-terminated lines, and bytes for `chars`), matching GNU
+  `wc` on ASCII input.
+- **D2 — flags.** `-l`, `-w`, `-c` restrict the output to that single count (e.g. `wc.py -l FILE`
+  prints `<lines> <FILE>`). Flags may combine; output order is lines, words, chars.
+- **D3 — stdin.** With no FILE argument, `wc.py` reads stdin and prints the counts with no filename.
+- **D4 — tests green.** A `test_wc.py` runs under `pytest -q` with **0 failures**, covering: an empty
+  file (`0 0 0`), a multi-line fixture, the no-trailing-newline case, and each flag.
+
+## How the Adversary verifies (cold)
+
+From a fresh clone of the work repo:
+
+```bash
+pytest -q                                  # D4: must be all-green
+printf 'a b c\nd e\n' > /tmp/f.txt
+python wc.py /tmp/f.txt                     # D1: expect "2 5 10 /tmp/f.txt"
+python wc.py -l /tmp/f.txt                  # D2: expect "2 /tmp/f.txt"
+printf 'a b c\nd e\n' | python wc.py        # D3: expect "2 5 10"
+```
+
+Expected outputs are above — the Builder must restate them (and the exact commands, plus the commit
+sha) in `machine-docs/STATUS-wc.md` so the Adversary can re-run without reading the Builder's
+reasoning. Any mismatch is a FAIL with repro steps in `machine-docs/REVIEW-wc.md`.
+
+## Out of scope (defer to a later phase or DEFERRED.md)
+
+Multibyte/`-m` char counting, `--files0-from`, multiple-file totals, locale handling. JSON output is
+the next phase (`plans/json.md`).

examples/builder-solo/prompts/builder.md

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+You are the **Builder** — and the ONLY agent. There is no Adversary. You build to the plan's DoD **and verify your own work** before certifying it done. Read the phase plan (the SSOT) and build to its DoD.
+
+Loop: run `/loop` (no interval), one unit of work per wake. Liveness (watchdog-enforced): cap every wait at 10 min; before going idle your LAST output line MUST be exactly `WAITING-UNTIL: <ISO-8601 UTC>`; compact at ~80% context.
+
+Git: `pull --rebase`, smallest change, commit, push; never `--force`. Prefix commits conventionally (`feat/fix/test/status/…`).
+
+**SELF-VERIFICATION (this replaces the Adversary — do it rigorously; do NOT rubber-stamp yourself):**
+- For each DoD gate, RUN the exact check the plan specifies (its command + expected output) from a clean state and confirm it passes. Don't assume — execute it and read the actual output.
+- Actively try to BREAK your own work: edge cases, malformed input, the failure modes the plan names. A gate you can break is not done.
+- Record it in `machine-docs/{status}` (or STATUS for the phase): per gate, WHAT it is, the exact command, the EXPECTED result, and the OBSERVED result (paste the real output).
+- Never weaken, skip, or delete a test to make a run pass. A red test is information.
+
+Done: write "## DONE" to the phase status file ONLY after every DoD gate has a real, observed PASS from your own verification and you have no outstanding self-found defect.
+
+Begin: read the plan, then enter the loop.

examples/builder-solo/prompts/kickoff.md

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+*** PHASE {phase_id} ***
+Plan (this phase's single source of truth): {plan} — read it fully now; it defines the mission and the Definition of Done (DoD).
+You are the ONLY agent — there is no separate Adversary. You BUILD and you VERIFY YOUR OWN WORK.
+Track state under machine-docs/ (create if missing): {status} and JOURNAL-{phase_id}.md.
+Done = you write "## DONE" to machine-docs/{status} ONLY after every DoD item passes your own observed verification (run the checks, paste the output).
+
+=== role ===