Step files

Multi-step patterns (critic, reflexion, constitutional, chain-of-verification, plan-execute, scatter, best-of-n, human) load system prompts from separate .md files for each step.

Location

Step files live alongside AGENT.md in the agent directory:

agents/essay-critic/
├── AGENT.md      ← pattern: critic
├── draft.md      ← step 1: draft system prompt
├── critique.md   ← step 2: critique system prompt
└── refine.md     ← step 3: refine system prompt

Required files per pattern

Pattern	Required files
scatter	reduce.md
critic	draft.md, critique.md, refine.md
reflexion	reflect.md
constitutional	critique.md, revise.md
chain-of-verification	verify.md, check.md, revise.md
plan-execute	execute.md, verify.md
best-of-n	judge.md
human	resume.md

Format

Step files can be plain Markdown (body only) or include optional YAML frontmatter.

Plain (no frontmatter)

You are a meticulous editor. Evaluate the draft for:
1. Factual accuracy
2. Logical flow
3. Writing quality

Provide specific improvement suggestions.
Call finish with key="done" and your critique as value.

With frontmatter

---
call:
  model:
    name: anthropic:claude-opus-4-6
    temperature: 0.1
    max_tokens: 2048
  uses:
    - search-web
---

You are a fact-checker with access to web search.
Verify all factual claims in the draft.
Call finish with key="done" and any corrections as value.

Frontmatter fields

The optional frontmatter supports the same call: block as AGENT.md:

call.model

Override the model for this specific step:

call:
  model:
    role: fast           # use a cheaper/faster model for this step
    temperature: 0.0     # deterministic
    max_tokens: 512

Or specify directly:

call:
  model:
    name: anthropic:claude-opus-4-6   # use a more capable model for this step

call.uses

Add skills specifically for this step:

call:
  uses:
    - search-web
    - fetch-url

Skills declared in the step file are available only for that step’s react loop.

Inheritance

If a step file has no frontmatter, it inherits the model from the parent AGENT.md’s call.model. If the parent has no call.model either, the default model from tama.toml is used.

Step-level call.uses are additive — they extend (don’t replace) any skills already available.

tama lint validation

tama lint checks that all required step files exist:

tama lint
# ✓ agents/essay-critic: ok
# ✗ agents/my-cov: missing required files: check.md, revise.md