fix: move iteration.json initialization from elaboration to construction

Elaboration should only write spec artifacts and intent-slug, not
construction state. /construct now initializes iteration.json from
intent.md frontmatter on first run if it doesn't exist.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: jwaldrip

plugin/skills/construct/SKILL.md

@@ -196,14 +196,40 @@ STATE=$(han keep load iteration.json --quiet)
 INTENT_SLUG=$(han keep load intent-slug --quiet)
 ```
 
-If no state exists:
+If `INTENT_SLUG` is empty (no intent exists at all):
 ```
 No AI-DLC state found.
 
 If you have existing intent artifacts in .ai-dlc/, run /resume to continue.
 Otherwise, run /elaborate to start a new task.
 ```
 
+If `INTENT_SLUG` exists but `STATE` is empty (first construction run — elaboration wrote artifacts but no iteration state):
+
+Initialize `iteration.json` from the intent artifacts:
+
+```bash
+INTENT_DIR=".ai-dlc/${INTENT_SLUG}"
+INTENT_FILE="$INTENT_DIR/intent.md"
+
+# Read workflow and mode from intent.md frontmatter
+WORKFLOW_NAME=$(han parse yaml workflow -r --default "default" < "$INTENT_FILE" 2>/dev/null || echo "default")
+MODE=$(han parse yaml mode -r --default "OHOTL" < "$INTENT_FILE" 2>/dev/null || echo "OHOTL")
+
+# Resolve workflow to hat sequence
+if [ -f ".ai-dlc/workflows.yml" ]; then
+  WORKFLOW_HATS=$(han parse yaml "${WORKFLOW_NAME}" < ".ai-dlc/workflows.yml" 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+fi
+if [ -z "$WORKFLOW_HATS" ] && [ -f "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/workflows.yml" ]; then
+  WORKFLOW_HATS=$(han parse yaml "${WORKFLOW_NAME}" < "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/workflows.yml" 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+fi
+FIRST_HAT=$(echo "$WORKFLOW_HATS" | jq -r '.[0]')
+
+# Initialize iteration state
+STATE='{"iteration":1,"hat":"'"${FIRST_HAT}"'","workflowName":"'"${WORKFLOW_NAME}"'","mode":"'"${MODE}"'","workflow":'"${WORKFLOW_HATS}"',"status":"active"}'
+han keep save iteration.json "$STATE"
+```
+
 If status is "complete":
 ```
 Task already complete! Run /reset to start a new task.

plugin/skills/elaborate/SKILL.md

@@ -774,18 +774,15 @@ misinterpret what to build.}
 - `documentation` → `do-technical-documentation` agents
 - `devops` → infrastructure/deployment agents
 
-### 4. Save iteration state to han keep:
-
-Intent-level state is saved to the current branch (which is now the intent branch):
+### 4. Save intent slug to han keep:
 
 ```bash
-# Intent-level state -> current branch (intent branch)
+# Intent-level identifier -> current branch (intent branch)
 han keep save intent-slug "{intent-slug}"
-
-# Intent-level state -> current branch (intent branch)
-han keep save iteration.json '{"iteration":1,"hat":"{first-hat}","workflowName":"{workflow}","mode":"{HITL|OHOTL|AHOTL}","workflow":["{hat1}","{hat2}"],"status":"active"}'
 ```
 
+**Note:** Do NOT save `iteration.json` here. Construction state (hat, iteration count, workflow, status) is initialized by `/construct` when the build loop starts. Elaboration only writes the spec artifacts and the intent slug.
+
 ### 5. Commit all artifacts on intent branch:
 
 ```bash