Rig Bundles and Shareable Artifacts

A rig bundle is a packaged, shareable artifact that can instantiate an opinionated OpenRig topology and workflow. It may include:

• rig specs
• agent specs
• workflow specs
• startup files
• skills or skill references
• operating-mode declarations
• proof expectations
• supporting fragments

Shareable artifact is broader than bundle: specs, bundles, skills, workflows, and extensions can all be shared. A bundle is the packaged form for "load this topology and way of working."

Use this when

• Authoring a bundle from a proven lab pattern
• Installing a bundle (rig bundle install <path>)
• Inspecting a bundle before install (rig bundle inspect <path>)
• Reasoning about bundle vs extension boundary (bundle declares topology + workflow; extension adds behavior)
• Auditing a bundle for portability — does it work on a clean OpenRig environment, or only the author's machine?

Don't use this when

• The work is a one-off topology you won't reuse. Specs alone are sufficient.
• The intent is to add runtime behavior (commands, views, dashboards). Use extension-and-user-workspace, not bundles.
• You want to ship a workflow as a daemon feature. Bundle is the path before daemon promotion.

The bundle vs extension boundary (load-bearing)

Don't confuse them. A bundle is opinionated content; an extension is added behavior. Both can be shareable artifacts, but they're structurally distinct.

Failure modes (4)

1. A bundle works only on the operator's machine because paths, providers, or credentials are implicit. Bundles must be self-describing for a clean OpenRig environment.
2. A bundle includes too much local state and becomes a backup archive instead of a reusable artifact. Bundle is the intended shape, not the current state of one specific install.
3. A bundle declares topology but omits proof expectations or workflow mode. Topology alone doesn't tell users what "working as advertised" means.
4. Users cannot inspect what a bundle will create before installing it. rig bundle inspect must show what will be created without side effects.

Proof standard

Proof should:

1. Install the bundle into a clean OpenRig environment
2. Instantiate it
3. Verify the expected seats and workflow mode
4. Run a small smoke proof that the topology behaves as advertised

Bundle path → product

Bundles are how proven lab patterns become reusable product experiences:

local dogfood pattern
  → bundle (with manifest, parameterization, proof expectations)
  → installed by another user on clean OpenRig
  → opinionated workflow shipped without becoming a daemon feature
  → if dependable, graduate parts into core daemon

This is also how OpenRig can ship opinionated workflows without making every workflow a daemon feature.

See also

• extension-and-user-workspace skill — sibling primitive for user-owned behavior added to runtime; bundle vs extension boundary
• specification-system skill — rig specs / agent specs / workflow specs that bundles package
• agent-starters skill — bundles can include or reference Agent Starters
• openrig-user skill — rig bundle create / inspect / install CLI surface