📖About

Make each agent's distinct LOOK (visual style) and VOICE (narration voice) first-class registry attributes on the agents table, seeded for all agents (Scriber = hand-drawn sketch / heavy male 'onyx'; Orion = editorial / Edge 'Andrew', unchanged). Wire the Image Generator to apply an agent's registered look. Then two Scriber's-Logbook improvements: (1) a subtitle on/off toggle for Scriber's videos (switch burned-in captions to a soft WebVTT track the player can toggle; watermark stays); (2) attribute Scriber a heavier male narration voice, re-render the current video with it and use it for all future videos. Keep Orion's Logbook video voice exactly as it is.

⚖️Decisions

• Elrond's bypass methodology checklist (a reminder, not a gate -- you've got this): 0. File it requested_mode='bypass' (planner-vs-bypass is a deliberate choice). bypass_start REFUSES a non-bypass initiative (CAROL-INI-1846), and the dispatcher only skips the bypass lane when the mode says bypass -- a 'planner' mistag lets Merlin's pipeline grab the placeholder step and block your finished work. 1. Filed as planned status -- let the bypass claim/activate it; never file active. 2. Open the bypass (bypass_start) with your droid id + the remediation answer (remediates_initiative_id=NNN, or remediates_nothing=True). 3. Work the blocks for your work-type: template -> design -> code -> test -> review. Do the real work; record decisions on the initiative as you make them. 4. Reality is recorded for you at close -- code (files changed), each decision, and the twin-review verdict become real activities tied to this initiative and show in the Activity Tracker like a planner run (CAROL-INI-1840). No dummy rows. 5. Keep the initiative status moving; it parks in 'reviewing' and is tagged uat-pending for you at close (CAROL-INI-1836), so the stuck-watchdog leaves it alone until UAT. 6. Close runs the gates (design/architecture compliance + caller-audit). If a gate flags something pre-existing or unrelated to your change, waive it with a clear written rationale -- audit, don't skip. 7. Bypass skips the planner's auto-orchestration, NOT the standards. Same template checklist, same review, same observability as a planner run. (elrond)
• Current state at filing (Elrond validity check): Scriber and Orion Logbooks exist with current voices; agents lack first-class look/voice registry attributes; Image Generator does not use per-agent look; Scriber's videos have burned-in captions with no toggle; Scriber's narration voice is not the heavier 'onyx' voice. (elrond)
• [status-router] planned -> executing | event=bypass_executing | bypass transition (or-bx-01)
• Added `look` and `voice` as first-class columns on the registry agents table and seeded all 42 agents (defaults by role/gender; Scriber = hand-drawn sketch look + heavy male voice 'onyx'; Orion = editorial look + Edge 'Andrew', unchanged). New shared accessor reads them read-only, fail-open. — Ninad: each agent's distinct look and voice should be primary attributes / first-class registry artifacts. (orion)
• The Image Generator now applies an agent's registered look as the house style (precedence: an explicit `style` a caller passes wins, else the resolved agent's registry look), plus a universal no-text guard. Scriber's media and Orion's Author each pass their author's registry look so each logbook keeps its distinct aesthetic. — Ninad: update the image generator to make look a first-class, registry-driven attribute; keep the two logbooks distinct. (orion)
• Scriber's videos switched from burned-in captions to a soft WebVTT subtitle track (only the watermark stays burned); the app serves /api/vtt and both players attach a CC <track default> so viewers toggle subtitles on/off. Verified the track and video are the same length (146.3s). — Ninad: ability to toggle subtitles on/off for Scriber's videos. (orion)
• Scriber's narration now uses his registry voice 'onyx' (heavy male) via the composer; added TTS retry so a flaky call can't abort a render. Re-rendered the current 2026-07-26 video with the new voice + soft subs (same story text + hero). — Ninad: attribute a heavier male voice to Scriber, replace the current video's narration, use it for all future videos. (orion)
• Orion's Logbook video voice (laptop Edge 'Andrew' pipeline) is untouched; only recorded in the registry for first-class-ness. — Ninad: keep the Orion voice the same as his Logbook videos. (orion)
• [status-router] executing -> reviewing | event=dispatcher_transition | dispatcher state change (ds-s1)
• UAT fail round 1 (acceptor ninad) (uat)
• [status-router] reviewing -> planned | event=uat_fail_rework | pipeline_uat uat_fail_rework (ninad)
• [status-router] planned -> executing | event=bypass_executing | bypass transition (or-bx-01)
• UAT rework: added a VISIBLE amber Subtitles On/Off toggle below the video (story page) and a compact pill on each landing card, driving the caption track directly — the native CC control was buried in the player overflow menu and hard to find. Default on. — Ninad could not find the subtitle toggle (native CC hidden). (orion)
• [status-router] executing -> reviewing | event=bypass_reviewing | bypass transition (or-bx-01)
• UAT fail round 2 (acceptor ninad) (uat)
• [status-router] reviewing -> planned | event=uat_fail_rework | pipeline_uat uat_fail_rework (ninad)
• [status-router] planned -> executing | event=bypass_executing | bypass transition (or-bx-01)
• UAT rework 2: replaced the pill with a small YouTube-style 'CC' button on the player itself (top-right corner, amber underline when captions are on), on both the story page and each landing card. — Ninad wanted a small CC button like YouTube, on the player. (orion)
• [status-router] executing -> reviewing | event=bypass_reviewing | bypass transition (or-bx-01)
• [status-router] reviewing -> closed | event=operator_signoff | Auto-accepted (CAROL-INI-1859): Orion-initiated, >2 days in reviewing with no objection. (el-srac-01)

✅Success criteria

• Each agent has a distinct look and voice recorded as first-class registry attributes, used by the systems that render their images and narration. (must_have)
• The image generator applies an agent's registered look, and the Orion and Scriber logbooks keep their distinct looks. (must_have)
• Scriber's videos have a working subtitle on/off toggle (captions are no longer permanently burned in). (must_have)
• Scriber's videos narrate in a heavier male voice; the current video is re-rendered with it and future videos use it. (must_have)
• Orion's Logbook video voice is unchanged. (must_have)