research: affiliate brief task={task.id}

deliverables/affiliate-intelligence/affiliate-brief-24099a97-83fe-4bed-9ee9-94f5b58f7327.md

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+# ⚠️ DIRECTIVE EXECUTION BLOCKED
+
+---
+
+## Issue
+
+**No agent 'affiliate_intelligence' found in Crimson Leaf Holdings.**
+
+The operator has invoked a role (`affiliate_intelligence`) that does not exist in the current organizational roster.
+
+---
+
+## Current Roster Status
+
+Per RAG context, Crimson Leaf's operational roster is:
+
+| Agent | Role | Status |
+|-------|------|--------|
+| **Lyra** | Intake Coordinator | Active |
+| **Edgar** | Founding CEO / Architect | Active |
+| **Sterling** | Director of Talent & Governance | Active |
+| **[Founding CEO]** | Genesis Fund Guardian | Active |
+| **[Remaining 4 slots]** | — | Unallocated (8-agent cap) |
+
+---
+
+## Why This Request Cannot Execute
+
+1. **Constitutional Constraint**: The charter explicitly prohibits Crimson Leaf from executing commodity research, including "conducting production research" or "audit[ing] spreadsheets."
+
+2. **Scope Violation**: Affiliate program research and revenue modeling is **operational execution**, not governance. Per Section 3 (Forbidden Activities):
+   > *"Crimson Leaf agents shall not execute consumer-level or client-level deliverables... All execution must be delegated to specialized Tenants or deterministic tools."*
+
+3. **Missing Agent**: The `affiliate_intelligence` role does not exist in the current roster.
+
+---
+
+## What Should Happen Instead
+
+If the **goal is to evaluate an affiliate marketing niche opportunity**, Crimson Leaf must choose one of three paths:
+
+### **Path A: Request a Deterministic Tool**
+If the research task is structured and can be automated (keyword scraping, Amazon category lookup, competitor site enumeration), delegate to a deterministic tool instead of an agent.
+
+### **Path B: Propose a New Tenant**
+If affiliate marketing review sites require ongoing creation, publication, and monetization, this is a **Tenant incubation opportunity**. Crimson Leaf should:
+1. Draft a business thesis and charter for an "Affiliate Review Tenant" (e.g., narrowly scoped to a specific niche).
+2. Identify a niche with clear demand signals and commission structure.
+3. Recruit a specialized CEO to build and scale the site.
+4. Allocate seed capital from the Genesis Fund.
+
+### **Path C: Clarify the Request**
+If the operator needs research *to support* a Tenant incubation decision, this is a **portfolio governance question**, not execution. Clarify:
+- **What niche are you evaluating?**
+- **Is this exploratory (should we even enter affiliate marketing?) or confirmatory (this niche is viable, build the Tenant)?**
+
+---
+
+## Next Steps
+
+**Operator: Please clarify:**
+1. What specific affiliate marketing niche or product category are you researching?
+2. Is this research to support a **Tenant incubation proposal**, or is it a standalone operational request?
+3. Should Crimson Leaf recommend a deterministic tool for data gathering, or escalate to a Tenant charter review?
+
+Once clarified, Crimson Leaf can either **route to the appropriate deterministic tool** or **open a Genesis incubation workflow** for a specialized affiliate review Tenant.