[docs] Introduce required/optional OB1 compatibility contract

Breaking schema change: requires.open_brain migrates from the boolean
const true to a string enum of required | optional.

Why: the old contract implied every contribution in this repo depends on
a running Open Brain setup. Many skills (competitive-analysis, panning-
for-gold, financial-model-review, etc.) are useful on their own — Open
Brain integration is additive for them, not required. The new contract
lets the catalog and the public directory surface that distinction
accurately instead of overselling the dependency.

Changes:
- .github/metadata.schema.json: open_brain becomes a string enum
- Bulk update 66 metadata.json files (required for all non-skills
  contributions; required for auto-capture, autodream-brain-sync,
  weekly-signal-diff, work-operating-model skills; optional for the
  nine standalone skill packs named in the plan)
- CONTRIBUTING.md: new contract documented, both values explained
- extensions/_template/AGENT_SPEC.md: template sample updated
- README.md: short note under skills explaining most are optional
- skills/README.md: new "Works without OB1?" column, compatibility
  legend, and a note in the contributing section about the field

Validated locally with check-jsonschema against every non-template and
template metadata.json — all pass. The ob1-pr-followups.yml and
ob1-gate.yml workflow paths still match existing filenames; no workflow
renames in this PR.

The catalog generator that depends on this contract ships next in PR2.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: justfinethanku

.github/metadata.schema.json

@@ -57,9 +57,9 @@
       "required": ["open_brain"],
       "properties": {
         "open_brain": {
-          "type": "boolean",
-          "const": true,
-          "description": "Must be true. All contributions require an Open Brain setup."
+          "type": "string",
+          "enum": ["required", "optional"],
+          "description": "Open Brain compatibility. 'required' = contribution depends on the core Open Brain setup (Supabase + pgvector + MCP). 'optional' = contribution is useful on its own; Open Brain integration is additive."
         },
         "services": {
           "type": "array",

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ Every contribution needs a `metadata.json` file. Here's the template:
   },
   "version": "1.0.0",
   "requires": {
-    "open_brain": true,
+    "open_brain": "required",
     "services": ["Gmail API"],
     "tools": ["Node.js 18+"]
   },
@@ -175,10 +175,16 @@ Every contribution needs a `metadata.json` file. Here's the template:
 }
 ```
 
-**Required fields:** `name`, `description`, `category`, `author` (with `name`), `version`, `requires.open_brain` (must be `true`), `tags` (at least 1), `difficulty` (one of: `beginner`, `intermediate`, `advanced`), `estimated_time`
+**Required fields:** `name`, `description`, `category`, `author` (with `name`), `version`, `requires.open_brain` (either `"required"` or `"optional"`), `tags` (at least 1), `difficulty` (one of: `beginner`, `intermediate`, `advanced`), `estimated_time`
 
 **Optional fields:** `author.github`, `requires.services`, `requires.tools`, `requires_skills`, `created`, `updated`
 
+**`requires.open_brain` values:**
+- `"required"` — contribution depends on the core Open Brain setup (Supabase + pgvector + MCP). Recipes, primitives, extensions, schemas, dashboards, and most integrations use this.
+- `"optional"` — contribution is useful on its own. Any Open Brain hooks are additive, not required. Most skills in `skills/` that are reusable outside OB1 should use this.
+
+If you are unsure, default to `"required"`. Use `"optional"` only if a user with no Open Brain setup could still get real value from the contribution.
+
 **Additional structured dependency fields:**
 - `requires_skills` — array of skill slugs this contribution depends on (e.g., `["auto-capture"]`). Use this when the reusable behavior lives in `skills/<slug>/`
 - `requires_primitives` — array of primitive slugs this contribution depends on (e.g., `["rls", "shared-mcp"]`)
@@ -199,7 +205,7 @@ Example for an extension:
   },
   "version": "1.0.0",
   "requires": {
-    "open_brain": true,
+    "open_brain": "required",
     "services": [],
     "tools": ["Node.js 18+"]
   },
@@ -226,7 +232,7 @@ Example for a recipe that depends on a reusable skill:
   },
   "version": "1.0.0",
   "requires": {
-    "open_brain": true,
+    "open_brain": "required",
     "services": [],
     "tools": ["Claude Code or similar AI coding tool"]
   },

README.md

@@ -98,6 +98,8 @@ Standalone capabilities that make your Open Brain smarter.
 
 Plain-text skill packs you can drop into Claude Code, Codex, or other AI clients that support reusable prompts/rules. These are the canonical reusable building blocks that recipes and other contributions can depend on.
 
+Most skills are useful on their own — Open Brain integration is **optional** for them, not required. A few (like `auto-capture`, `autodream-brain-sync`, `weekly-signal-diff`, and `work-operating-model`) are tightly coupled to a running Open Brain. See each skill's `metadata.json` (`requires.open_brain: "required" | "optional"`) or the [`skills/` README](skills/) for the full compatibility table.
+
 | Skill | What It Does | Contributor |
 | ----- | ------------ | ----------- |
 | [Auto-Capture Skill Pack](skills/auto-capture/) | Captures ACT NOW items and session summaries to Open Brain when a session ends | [@jaredirish](https://github.com/jaredirish) |

dashboards/_template/metadata.json

@@ -8,11 +8,16 @@
   },
   "version": "1.0.0",
   "requires": {
-    "open_brain": true,
+    "open_brain": "required",
     "services": [],
-    "tools": ["Node.js 18+"]
+    "tools": [
+      "Node.js 18+"
+    ]
   },
-  "tags": ["tag1", "tag2"],
+  "tags": [
+    "tag1",
+    "tag2"
+  ],
   "difficulty": "beginner",
   "estimated_time": "20 minutes",
   "created": "2026-03-11",

dashboards/open-brain-dashboard-next/metadata.json

@@ -8,9 +8,11 @@
   },
   "version": "1.1.0",
   "requires": {
-    "open_brain": true,
+    "open_brain": "required",
     "services": [],
-    "tools": ["Node.js 18+"]
+    "tools": [
+      "Node.js 18+"
+    ]
   },
   "tags": [
     "dashboard",

dashboards/open-brain-dashboard/metadata.json

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
   },
   "version": "1.0.0",
   "requires": {
-    "open_brain": true,
+    "open_brain": "required",
     "services": [],
     "tools": [
       "Node.js 18+"

extensions/_template/AGENT_SPEC.md

@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ Must validate against `/.github/metadata.schema.json`. Required fields:
   },
   "version": "1.0.0",
   "requires": {
-    "open_brain": true,
+    "open_brain": "required",
     "services": [],
     "tools": ["Supabase CLI"]
   },

extensions/_template/metadata.json

@@ -8,13 +8,21 @@
   },
   "version": "1.0.0",
   "requires": {
-    "open_brain": true,
+    "open_brain": "required",
     "services": [],
-    "tools": ["Supabase CLI"]
+    "tools": [
+      "Supabase CLI"
+    ]
   },
-  "requires_primitives": ["deploy-edge-function", "remote-mcp"],
+  "requires_primitives": [
+    "deploy-edge-function",
+    "remote-mcp"
+  ],
   "learning_order": 1,
-  "tags": ["tag1", "tag2"],
+  "tags": [
+    "tag1",
+    "tag2"
+  ],
   "difficulty": "beginner",
   "estimated_time": "45 minutes"
 }

extensions/family-calendar/metadata.json

@@ -1,20 +1,31 @@
 {
   "name": "Kid Logistics / Family Calendar",
-  "description": "Multi-person family scheduling — activities, important dates, and conflict detection across the whole household.",
+  "description": "Multi-person family scheduling \u2014 activities, important dates, and conflict detection across the whole household.",
   "category": "extensions",
   "author": {
     "name": "Nate B. Jones",
     "github": "NateBJones"
   },
   "version": "1.0.0",
   "requires": {
-    "open_brain": true,
+    "open_brain": "required",
     "services": [],
-    "tools": ["Supabase CLI"]
+    "tools": [
+      "Supabase CLI"
+    ]
   },
-  "requires_primitives": ["deploy-edge-function", "remote-mcp"],
+  "requires_primitives": [
+    "deploy-edge-function",
+    "remote-mcp"
+  ],
   "learning_order": 3,
-  "tags": ["family", "calendar", "scheduling", "kids", "logistics"],
+  "tags": [
+    "family",
+    "calendar",
+    "scheduling",
+    "kids",
+    "logistics"
+  ],
   "difficulty": "intermediate",
   "estimated_time": "45 minutes",
   "created": "2026-03-12",

extensions/home-maintenance/metadata.json

@@ -8,13 +8,23 @@
   },
   "version": "1.0.0",
   "requires": {
-    "open_brain": true,
+    "open_brain": "required",
     "services": [],
-    "tools": ["Supabase CLI"]
+    "tools": [
+      "Supabase CLI"
+    ]
   },
-  "requires_primitives": ["deploy-edge-function", "remote-mcp"],
+  "requires_primitives": [
+    "deploy-edge-function",
+    "remote-mcp"
+  ],
   "learning_order": 2,
-  "tags": ["home", "maintenance", "scheduling", "tracking"],
+  "tags": [
+    "home",
+    "maintenance",
+    "scheduling",
+    "tracking"
+  ],
   "difficulty": "beginner",
   "estimated_time": "30 minutes",
   "created": "2026-03-12",