---
name: paste-driven-provenance-archive
description: "A person retrieves items from a source an agent can't reach (paywalled, session-gated, access-controlled) and pastes them in one at a time; the agent files each into a fixed provenance template and a running index — never fetches or scrapes on its own. Use when a person asks to install or apply \"Paste-Driven Provenance Archive\" (FTR-33) in a project, or when working in a project that has it installed."
---

# Paste-Driven Provenance Archive (FTR-33, version 1.0)

> Generated from library record FTR-33 version 1.0, publish 20261102a. Review status: unreviewed. The complete specification is in references/spec.md and is the authority; this file is the operating procedure drawn from it.

## What this does

A person retrieves items from a source an agent can't reach (paywalled, session-gated, access-controlled) and pastes them in one at a time; the agent files each into a fixed provenance template and a running index — never fetches or scrapes on its own

## When to use this skill

- A person asks to install, apply or update "Paste-Driven Provenance Archive" (FTR-33) in a project.
- A project's agent instructions list paste-driven-provenance-archive as installed and the task touches what it covers.
- No other feature is required first.
- Works better with, if installed: FTR-13 (skill document-tracker-system).

## Install procedure

Steps run in order. Assess comes first, every question in the Ask step is answered by the person before anything is written, and every write merges additively into the existing project files (read the file first, update an existing section in place, never overwrite).

### Assess first

- Confirm a destination folder exists (or agree on one) before the first paste arrives.
- Confirm there's at least a rough target list or scope — full completeness isn't required, but an open-ended "paste whatever, whenever" without any organizing scope makes the index much less useful later.
- Check whether an index file already exists for this archive; if so, read and carry it forward rather than starting fresh.
- If a related tracker system (Document Tracker, FTR-13) is already installed in the project, register this archive's index as one of its tracked artifacts rather than running two disconnected systems.
- If the source might actually be reachable through Cowork's own browsing rather than genuinely agent-unreachable, flag that — see Relationship to FTR-32 above — this feature is the right fit specifically when the source can't be reached automatically, not just when it happens to be more convenient to paste.

### Ask, only if needed

- "Where should this get filed?" — if no destination folder has been named yet.
- "Do you have a target list, or are we pulling as you go?" — establishes whether to expect a bounded or open-ended loop.
- When a pasted item doesn't match the expected sequence: "This looks like it's from [X] instead of [Y] — want me to file it as-is and note the mismatch, or go back to the original sequence?"
- Periodically, if the archive has been running a while: "Want a status check on what's pulled versus what's still open?" — surfacing this proactively rather than waiting to be asked keeps a long-running archive from silently stalling.

### Write

The full Write payload is in references/write-payload.md. It is applied exactly as written, with the merge rule above.

### Confirm

Confirm: the destination folder and index file are set up, the item template is understood, and the target scope (even if rough) is agreed. Ready for the first paste whenever the person has it.

---

## Other sections in the specification

- Why this exists
- Relationship to FTR-32 (Cowork Orchestrated Research)
- The core loop
- The item template
- The prerequisite: a directory and a target list
- The running index
- Handling drift, gaps, and misfires
- Appendix: original prompt this was generalized from

These are in references/spec.md.

## Files in this skill

- references/spec.md: the complete specification, unabridged.
- references/write-payload.md: the Write step on its own.