fix(author): the skill follows the owner's flow, and every content type's file names the source's own fields

design/author.md

@@ -468,6 +468,42 @@ to 3,000. Nineteen things the code does not say by itself:
   play, and the third reached npm and built with it. The first three had the tool swapped for a
   stand-in that logged its runs, and each refused to run it, as it should: a test serves the file
   as it is.
+- **A source's own fields are written where a chat reads, and the author is asked for**
+  (2026-11-11, #182). The owner's run in ChatGPT on 0.9.1 wrote a quiz with no `authors`. Each
+  of the 28 content types the skill lists refuses a source without `title`, `language`,
+  `license` or `authors` (each built with `params` alone), and each type's own required fields
+  are marked in its file's Fields section; but every type file's example is `type` and `params`,
+  and since #180 a chat reads it. Of the four, only the author has nothing to fall back on: the
+  language comes from the request, the licence is `U`. The owner's flow, the same day: the
+  content type, chosen with the user; then the author and licence, asked once the type is chosen,
+  which the user gives or skips, each on its own: a name they skip is the one the model knows
+  them by, or "Unknown", a licence they skip `U`, what they gave stays, and never a name made
+  up; then the source; then the build the environment allows best, said to the user. So
+  `SKILL.md` names that order before step 1, step 1 asks for the type and then the author and
+  licence, step 2's first point says every source names the four, step 3
+  opens with the three ways to build and what each needs (npm here, two files here, the build
+  page in the user's browser, with no attempt here first where nothing runs or fetches), and
+  `schemaMarkdown` writes the same under each content type's Fields heading
+  (`SOURCE_FIELDS`; not a part's, which is sub-content), for a chat that has the type file
+  alone, as the build page hands it over. It says the example is `type` and `params` alone rather
+  than the example holding the four: a name written in an example would be copied as the author
+  and build, where the model is to ask. Measured on Haiku in the chat stand-in (a fetch tool
+  that opens only whole addresses, npm cut off, a scripted user who answers when asked): with
+  0.9.1's text and a Question Set named, two of three runs asked for the author, from the brief's
+  list, and the third wrote "Quiz author" and built. With the flow, a quiz asked for and neither
+  type nor author named: until step 1 said that "a quiz" names no type, four of six runs chose
+  the Question Set themselves, three of them asking for the author in the same message; since,
+  all four proposed two types and waited, then asked for the author and licence on their own,
+  and wrote the name given or, on a skip, "Unknown" and `U`. Every package plays. The skip was
+  first written for both at once ("a skip takes the name you know them by, or "Unknown", and
+  the licence `U`"), which cubic's review of #183 read as replacing a name the user gave when
+  they skip only the licence. Haiku did not read it so: three runs on that text (a name and no
+  licence, a licence and no name, the author named in the request and the licence skipped) kept
+  what was given. It is written out all the same, each on its own and only what is missing asked
+  for, so that no reader has to guess: on the new text five of five runs (those three, both
+  skipped, both given) wrote what was given and the default for what was skipped, and the run
+  with the author named in the request asked for the licence alone. Those eight packages play
+  too.
 
 Not built: editing an existing package, which a tool beside it does with `checkContent` as its
 check; layout for Drag and Drop and Crossword; and any judgement of whether content is right, which

packages/author/lib/schema.mjs

@@ -220,9 +220,20 @@ export function withSection(text, section, name) {
   return `${text.slice(0, start)}${section}${text.slice(end + GENERATED_END.length)}`
 }
 
+/**
+ * What a source of any content type names beside its fields. A type file's example shows only
+ * `type` and `params`, and a chat that copies it left the author out, the one of them it has no
+ * value of its own for (#182). The example says so here rather than holding them: a name written
+ * in it would be copied as the author and build, where the model is to ask for what the user
+ * has not given, and to write for a name they skip the one it knows them by, or "Unknown", and
+ * for a licence they skip `U`, each on its own: what they gave stays. A part other content
+ * holds has none: it is sub-content.
+ */
+export const SOURCE_FIELDS = 'The example is `type` and `params` alone, and `params` holds the fields below. A source also names its own `title`, `language`, `license` and `authors`, all four required: the build refuses a source that leaves out any of them. The author\'s name and the licence are the user\'s: ask for what they have not given. For a name they skip, write the one you know them by, or "Unknown"; for a licence they skip, `U`.'
+
 /**
  * The generated section of a type file: the fields, under a heading, between markers that a
- * refresh rewrites.
+ * refresh rewrites, and for a content type what a source names beside them.
  * @param {any} library its `library.json`
  * @param {any[]} semantics
  * @param {SchemaOptions} [options]
@@ -234,6 +245,7 @@ export function schemaMarkdown(library, semantics, options = {}) {
     '',
     `## Fields of ${library.machineName} ${library.majorVersion}.${library.minorVersion}`,
     '',
+    ...(library.runnable ? [SOURCE_FIELDS, ''] : []),
     ...fields,
     '',
     interfaceTexts

packages/author/tests/layout.test.ts

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import { join } from 'node:path'
 import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 import { buildPackage, SourceError } from '../lib/author.mjs'
 import { imageSize } from '../lib/media.mjs'
-import { GENERATED_END, GENERATED_START, schemaLines, schemaMarkdown, withSection } from '../lib/schema.mjs'
+import { GENERATED_END, GENERATED_START, schemaLines, schemaMarkdown, SOURCE_FIELDS, withSection } from '../lib/schema.mjs'
 import { jpeg, png } from './helpers/media'
 
 const META = { title: 'Layout', language: 'en', license: 'U', authors: [{ name: 'Ann Author', role: 'Author' }] }
@@ -276,6 +276,18 @@ describe('the schema a source is written from', () => {
     expect(markdown.startsWith(`${GENERATED_START}\n\n## Fields of H5P.Test 1.2\n`)).toBe(true)
     expect(markdown.endsWith(`\`h5p-author schema H5P.Test --all\` lists them, for a source to set one.\n\n${GENERATED_END}`)).toBe(true)
   })
+
+  it('says what a content type\'s source names beside its fields, the author asked of the user, and not for a part (#182)', () => {
+    const type = schemaMarkdown({ machineName: 'H5P.Test', majorVersion: 1, minorVersion: 2, runnable: 1 }, semantics)
+    expect(type.startsWith(`${GENERATED_START}\n\n## Fields of H5P.Test 1.2\n\n${SOURCE_FIELDS}\n\n- `)).toBe(true)
+    for (const field of ['`title`', '`language`', '`license`', '`authors`']) expect(SOURCE_FIELDS).toContain(field)
+    expect(SOURCE_FIELDS).toContain('all four required')
+    expect(SOURCE_FIELDS).toContain('The example is `type` and `params` alone')
+    expect(SOURCE_FIELDS).toContain('ask for what they have not given')
+    expect(SOURCE_FIELDS).toContain('For a name they skip, write the one you know them by, or "Unknown"')
+    expect(SOURCE_FIELDS).toContain('for a licence they skip, `U`')
+    expect(schemaMarkdown({ machineName: 'H5P.Test', majorVersion: 1, minorVersion: 2, runnable: 0 }, semantics)).not.toContain(SOURCE_FIELDS)
+  })
 })
 
 describe('what a file is', () => {

skills/h5p-author/SKILL.md

@@ -17,10 +17,22 @@ With this text alone and none of its files beside it, open https://missing-eleme
 first and take every address from it: it writes out in full each file this text names and each
 file step 3 fetches, and a fetch tool may refuse an address put together from a name.
 
-## 1. Choose the content type with the user
+Work in this order, one question at a time: the content type, chosen with the user; then the
+author and licence, which they give or skip; then the source; then the build, the best way this
+environment allows.
 
-Read [the brief](./references/authoring.md) once. If the user named no type, propose one or
-two that fit the material and objective, a sentence each on why, and wait for their choice.
+## 1. Choose the content type, then the author and licence, with the user
+
+Read [the brief](./references/authoring.md) once. Unless the user named a type from the table
+below, propose one or two that fit the material and objective, a sentence each on why, ask them
+to choose, and wait: "a quiz" or "flash cards" says what they want, not which type. Ask nothing
+else in that message.
+
+Once they have chosen, ask in a message of its own for the author's name and the licence, only
+for what they have not given yet, and say they may skip; then wait. What they gave stays as they
+gave it. A name they skip is the one you know them by, or "Unknown"; a licence they skip is `U`
+(undisclosed). Every source names its author and the build refuses one without, but never write
+a name made up for them.
 
 | Type | Use it for |
 |---|---|
@@ -75,6 +87,9 @@ from what you know of the type: the build says, for each place that is wrong, wh
 }
 ```
 
+- Every source names its own `title`, `language`, `license` and `authors` beside `type` and
+  `params`, as above, whatever a type file's example leaves out; the author and licence are the
+  ones step 1 settled.
 - `params` holds only fields that differ from their defaults. Never interface texts (Check,
   Retry…): they come from the libraries' translations for `language`.
 - Text is plain, or markup with only the tags a field marked `html` lists.
@@ -87,6 +102,17 @@ from what you know of the type: the build says, for each place that is wrong, wh
 
 ## 3. Build
 
+Build the best way this environment allows, and tell the user which you take:
+
+- **Here, with npm**: a shell that reaches the npm registry (Claude Code, a terminal). The
+  command below.
+- **Here, from two files**: Node runs and files can be fetched, but npm cannot install, as in
+  ChatGPT. *If it cannot install here*, below.
+- **In the user's browser**: nothing here runs, or nothing fetches, as in Gemini or a chat with
+  no tools. *The build page*, below, with no attempt here first.
+
+Take the first that applies, and the next if it fails.
+
 Build in a working folder of your own, not in the folder the user named:
 
 ```bash

skills/h5p-author/references/authoring.md

@@ -13,10 +13,13 @@ Use what the user already gave. Ask for what is missing and matters:
   texts too, from their own translations, which are often incomplete.
 - **Media**, for a type that needs them: files the user has, or web addresses they may use,
   with who made them and under which licence.
-- **Author and licence**: the author's name, and the licence for the whole, an H5P code: `U`
+- **Author and licence**, asked once the type is chosen: the author's name, which every source
+  needs, and the licence for the whole, an H5P code: `U`
   (undisclosed, when unknown), `CC BY`, `CC BY-SA`, `CC BY-ND`, `CC BY-NC`, `CC BY-NC-SA`,
   `CC BY-NC-ND`, `CC0 1.0`, `CC PDM`, `GNU GPL`, `PD`, `ODC PDDL` or `C`; `licenseVersion`
-  `4.0` for a CC BY one. Never choose a licence the user has not.
+  `4.0` for a CC BY one. The user may skip either: a name they skip is the one you know them
+  by, or "Unknown", and a licence they skip is `U`. What they gave stays. Never make up a name,
+  or choose a licence the user has not.
 - **A pass mark**, for scored content an LMS records, and what a learner who passes or fails
   is told.
 - **Where it goes**: an LMS, a website, a file to hand out.

skills/h5p-author/references/types/H5P.Accordion.md

@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ Text in panels that open on a click, for reference material a learner looks up.
 
 ## Fields of H5P.Accordion 1.0
 
+The example is `type` and `params` alone, and `params` holds the fields below. A source also names its own `title`, `language`, `license` and `authors`, all four required: the build refuses a source that leaves out any of them. The author's name and the licence are the user's: ask for what they have not given. For a name they skip, write the one you know them by, or "Unknown"; for a licence they skip, `U`.
+
 - `panels` list 1–100 of, required — Panels
   - `title` text, required — Title
   - `content` sub-content: H5P.AdvancedText, required — Content type

skills/h5p-author/references/types/H5P.Audio.md

@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ An audio player. On its own it suits a listening task beside other content; in a
 
 ## Fields of H5P.Audio 1.5
 
+The example is `type` and `params` alone, and `params` holds the fields below. A source also names its own `title`, `language`, `license` and `authors`, all four required: the build refuses a source that leaves out any of them. The author's name and the licence are the user's: ask for what they have not given. For a name they skip, write the one you know them by, or "Unknown"; for a licence they skip, `U`.
+
 - `files` audio files, required — Source files
 - `playerMode` one of "minimalistic" | "full" | "transparent" = "minimalistic" — Player mode: Select the layout of the player.
 - `fitToWrapper` boolean = false; only when playerMode is "minimalistic" or playerMode is "full" — Fit to wrapper

skills/h5p-author/references/types/H5P.Blanks.md

@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ Text with gaps the learner types the missing words into. For recall of exact wor
 
 ## Fields of H5P.Blanks 1.14
 
+The example is `type` and `params` alone, and `params` holds the fields below. A source also names its own `title`, `language`, `license` and `authors`, all four required: the build refuses a source that leaves out any of them. The author's name and the licence are the user's: ask for what they have not given. For a name they skip, write the one you know them by, or "Unknown"; for a licence they skip, `U`.
+
 - `media` group — Media
   - `type` sub-content: H5P.Image | H5P.Video | H5P.Audio — Type: Optional media to display above the question.
   - `disableImageZooming` boolean = false; only when type is "H5P.Image 1.1" — Disable image zooming

skills/h5p-author/references/types/H5P.BranchingScenario.md

@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ A story in which the learner's choices lead to different paths and endings: deci
 
 ## Fields of H5P.BranchingScenario 1.11
 
+The example is `type` and `params` alone, and `params` holds the fields below. A source also names its own `title`, `language`, `license` and `authors`, all four required: the build refuses a source that leaves out any of them. The author's name and the licence are the user's: ask for what they have not given. For a name they skip, write the one you know them by, or "Unknown"; for a licence they skip, `U`.
+
 - `branchingScenario` group — Branching Scenario Editor
   - `title` text, required — Title
   - `startScreen` group — Start screen

skills/h5p-author/references/types/H5P.Column.md

@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ A page of content one below another: text, pictures, video and questions, in the
 
 ## Fields of H5P.Column 1.22
 
+The example is `type` and `params` alone, and `params` holds the fields below. A source also names its own `title`, `language`, `license` and `authors`, all four required: the build refuses a source that leaves out any of them. The author's name and the licence are the user's: ask for what they have not given. For a name they skip, write the one you know them by, or "Unknown"; for a licence they skip, `U`.
+
 - `content` list 1+ of, required — List of Column Content
   - `content` sub-content: H5P.Accordion | H5P.Agamotto | H5P.Audio | H5P.AudioRecorder | H5P.Blanks | H5P.Chart | H5P.Collage | H5P.CoursePresentation | H5P.Dialogcards | H5P.DocumentationTool | H5P.DragQuestion | H5P.DragText | H5P.Essay | H5P.GuessTheAnswer | H5P.Table | H5P.AdvancedText | H5P.IFrameEmbed | H5P.Image | H5P.ImageHotspots | H5P.ImageHotspotQuestion | H5P.ImageSlider | H5P.InteractiveVideo | H5P.Link | H5P.MarkTheWords | H5P.MemoryGame | H5P.MultiChoice | H5P.Questionnaire | H5P.QuestionSet | H5P.Row | H5P.SingleChoiceSet | H5P.Summary | H5P.Timeline | H5P.TrueFalse | H5P.Video | H5P.MultiMediaChoice, required — Content
   - `useSeparator` one of "auto" | "disabled" | "enabled" = "auto" — Separate content with a horizontal ruler

skills/h5p-author/references/types/H5P.CoursePresentation.md

@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ Slides with text, pictures, video and questions; a summary slide with the score
 
 ## Fields of H5P.CoursePresentation 1.27
 
+The example is `type` and `params` alone, and `params` holds the fields below. A source also names its own `title`, `language`, `license` and `authors`, all four required: the build refuses a source that leaves out any of them. The author's name and the licence are the user's: ask for what they have not given. For a name they skip, write the one you know them by, or "Unknown"; for a licence they skip, `U`.
+
 - `presentation` group
   - `slides` list of
     - `elements` list of

skills/h5p-author/references/types/H5P.Dialogcards.md

@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ Flash cards: a prompt on the front, the answer on the back, turned by the learne
 
 ## Fields of H5P.Dialogcards 1.9
 
+The example is `type` and `params` alone, and `params` holds the fields below. A source also names its own `title`, `language`, `license` and `authors`, all four required: the build refuses a source that leaves out any of them. The author's name and the licence are the user's: ask for what they have not given. For a name they skip, write the one you know them by, or "Unknown"; for a licence they skip, `U`.
+
 - `title` html: strong em code — Heading
 - `mode` one of "normal" | "repetition" = "normal" — Mode: Mode of presenting the dialog cards
 - `description` html: strong em code — Task description

skills/h5p-author/references/types/H5P.Dictation.md

@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ The learner hears sentences and types them; the content compares what was typed
 
 ## Fields of H5P.Dictation 1.3
 
+The example is `type` and `params` alone, and `params` holds the fields below. A source also names its own `title`, `language`, `license` and `authors`, all four required: the build refuses a source that leaves out any of them. The author's name and the licence are the user's: ask for what they have not given. For a name they skip, write the one you know them by, or "Unknown"; for a licence they skip, `U`.
+
 - `media` group — Media
   - `type` sub-content: H5P.Image | H5P.Video | H5P.Audio — Type: Optional media to display above the question.
   - `disableImageZooming` boolean = false; only when type is "H5P.Image 1.1" — Disable image zooming

skills/h5p-author/references/types/H5P.DragText.md

@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ Text with gaps the learner fills by dragging words from a list. Easier than typi
 
 ## Fields of H5P.DragText 1.10
 
+The example is `type` and `params` alone, and `params` holds the fields below. A source also names its own `title`, `language`, `license` and `authors`, all four required: the build refuses a source that leaves out any of them. The author's name and the licence are the user's: ask for what they have not given. For a name they skip, write the one you know them by, or "Unknown"; for a licence they skip, `U`.
+
 - `media` group — Media
   - `type` sub-content: H5P.Image | H5P.Video | H5P.Audio — Type: Optional media to display above the question.
   - `disableImageZooming` boolean = false; only when type is "H5P.Image 1.1" — Disable image zooming

skills/h5p-author/references/types/H5P.Essay.md

@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ The learner writes a text, scored by the keywords it contains, with feedback per
 
 ## Fields of H5P.Essay 1.5
 
+The example is `type` and `params` alone, and `params` holds the fields below. A source also names its own `title`, `language`, `license` and `authors`, all four required: the build refuses a source that leaves out any of them. The author's name and the licence are the user's: ask for what they have not given. For a name they skip, write the one you know them by, or "Unknown"; for a licence they skip, `U`.
+
 - `media` group — Media
   - `type` sub-content: H5P.Image | H5P.Video | H5P.Audio — Type: Optional media to display above the question.
   - `disableImageZooming` boolean = false; only when type is "H5P.Image 1.1" — Disable image zooming