Normalize AGENTS.md GitHub links to short-form #NNNNN (byte-budget compaction)

Context

AGENTS.md is currently at 24,501 bytes on origin/dev — 75 bytes under the 24,576-byte (24KB) hard turn-loaded cap. This tight headroom is actively blocking multiple in-flight substrate-evolution PRs from landing cleanly:

• PR #11534 (#11533 graduation): intent-bearing §13.3 addition (~140 bytes) cannot fit without out-of-scope compression of unrelated sections — 8-cycle iteration loop empirically demonstrated this pull (§13.1 compression, §15.6 Tier 1 compression, §23 7-bullet compression all reintroduced repeatedly as "budget-freeing" rationale despite operator-explicit "add the new item compactly; do not randomly remove other items").
• PR #11450 (#10295 graduation): 84-addition security substrate has been unable to merge for multiple cycles citing AGENTS.md byte ceiling.

The operator (@tobiu) flagged the substrate-budget anti-pattern directly: "a simple #<NNNNN> is fully sufficient. plenty new headroom for a no brainer." The current AGENTS.md contains 5 occurrences of full GitHub URLs that can be normalized to short-form #NNNNN references — GitHub's id stream is unambiguous within the canonical neomjs/neo repository context.

The Problem

AGENTS.md is the turn-loaded Map-tier substrate. Every byte counts toward the 24,576-byte cap that gates whether the file is loaded fully or truncated. Full markdown link syntax ([Discussion #N](https://github.com/orgs/neomjs/discussions/N)) costs ~66 bytes per link vs ~17 bytes for the canonical short-form Discussion #N (49 byte savings per occurrence).

GitHub's UI auto-resolves #NNNNN short-form to the correct issue/discussion/PR within the host repository (neomjs/neo). Full URLs are redundant overhead for cross-references that stay within the canonical repo. The 5 current occurrences sit in <neo_core_overrides> blocks (§13.2, §15.5, §15.6) — load-bearing identity-firewall substrate where every byte matters most.

The Architectural Reality

5 link occurrences across 4 lines in AGENTS.md on origin/dev:

Total compaction savings: 242 bytes.

Post-compaction AGENTS.md size: 24,501 − 242 = 24,259 bytes. Headroom against 24,576-byte cap: 317 bytes (4.2× the current 75-byte squeeze).

The Fix

Replace the 5 full-URL markdown link patterns with their canonical short-form. Each replacement preserves the visible text (the human/agent-readable Discussion #NNNNN or #NNNNN prose) — only the wrapping […](url) syntax is stripped. Zero substantive content change; pure byte-format normalization.

Concrete edits:

- Friction → gold is the **core value** ... via the MX loop ([Discussion #10137](https://github.com/orgs/neomjs/discussions/10137)).
+ Friction → gold is the **core value** ... via the MX loop (Discussion #10137).

- The narrower per-skill suspension of Auto Mode velocity-bias lives in `/lead-role` ([#11028](https://github.com/neomjs/neo/issues/11028)); the global ...
+ The narrower per-skill suspension of Auto Mode velocity-bias lives in `/lead-role` (#11028); the global ...

- ... by reviewing `README.md`, `learn/benefits/Introduction.md`, [Discussion #10119](https://github.com/orgs/neomjs/discussions/10119), and [Discussion #10137](https://github.com/orgs/neomjs/discussions/10137).
+ ... by reviewing `README.md`, `learn/benefits/Introduction.md`, Discussion #10119, and Discussion #10137.

- ... by reviewing this anchor + [Discussion #11026](https://github.com/orgs/neomjs/discussions/11026). Local harness ...
+ ... by reviewing this anchor + Discussion #11026. Local harness ...

No other AGENTS.md edits. No compression of rationale prose. No touching unrelated sections.

Acceptance Criteria

• All 5 full-URL link patterns in AGENTS.md normalized to short-form #NNNNN / Discussion #NNNNN references
• AGENTS.md byte count drops from 24,501 to approximately 24,259 (savings: ≥240 bytes; verify via wc -c or gh api)
• No other content modifications in AGENTS.md — only the 5 specified link sites
• check-size CI passes
• No regression in any other CI check (lint, lint-pr-body, lint-skill-manifest, unit, integration-unified, CodeQL, Analyze)
• Post-merge: PR #11534 can return with strict scope (only §13.3 inline-intent addition; no §23 / §13.1 / §15.6 / unrelated compression)
• Post-merge: PR #11450 has sufficient byte budget headroom to merge per its outstanding scope

Out of Scope

• Other AGENTS.md substrate edits (rationale compression, restructuring, content normalization beyond link-format). This ticket is STRICTLY link-format normalization.
• AGENTS_ATLAS.md link normalization: ATLAS is conditionally-loaded (Atlas-tier per ADR 0008); not byte-budget-constrained. May warrant similar normalization as separate follow-up ticket if substrate-discipline value surfaces, but not in this ticket's scope.
• Other turn-loaded files (AGENTS_STARTUP.md, frequently-loaded skill router files). Same scope-discipline principle: separate tickets if/when needed.
• Replacing other markdown-link patterns (non-GitHub-id links, code-file references, etc.). Only the 5 GitHub-id links identified in the Architectural Reality table.

Avoided Traps

• ❌ Bundling with §13.3 inline-intent landing: that's #11533 / PR #11534's job. This ticket precedes #11534's merge to free budget; #11534 returns post-merge with strict §13.3-only scope.
• ❌ Compressing rationale prose to free additional bytes: substrate-discipline anti-pattern empirically demonstrated across PR #11534 cycles 1-8. Link-format normalization is mechanical / lossless / scope-clean.
• ❌ [refactoring] or [chore] prefix in title: per feedback_no_title_prefix_duplicating_labels, labels handle category; title carries subject only.

Related

• Unblocks PR #11534 (#11533 PR Diff === PR Body codification — intent-bearing §13.3 inline addition)
• Unblocks PR #11450 (#10295 L2 Channel Separation security substrate — 84 additions held by byte ceiling)
• Substrate-discipline empirical anchor: PR #11534 8-cycle iteration loop demonstrated the byte-budget-pull-into-scope-violation anti-pattern (operator framing: "this PR is about adding a new item in a compact way. NOT about randomly removing other items which you do not fully understand."). This ticket is the substrate-correct alternative.
• Cross-references AGENTS.md §13 Substrate Accretion Defense: "Every substrate-mutation PR MUST EITHER net-reduce loaded-bytes OR cite future-decay-mitigation rationale." This ticket NET-REDUCES loaded bytes by 242 — model citizen of §13.

Origin Session ID

39eee906-3fd4-424f-9348-828b46ece38c

Handoff Retrieval Hints

• Retrieval Hint: "AGENTS.md byte budget 24KB compaction link normalize URL short-form"
• Retrieval Hint: "PR #11534 cycle-8 scope-discipline anti-pattern substrate-budget-pull"