Workbench Goal Mode V2

Workbench Goal Mode v2

Use this skill when an issue contains /goal, GOAL_MODE: yes, GOAL_MODE_V2, or asks the workbench to complete an objective autonomously across multiple agents, turns, and evidence gates until a real blocker appears.

Goal Mode v2 is a persistent conductor, not a single-agent persistence wrapper. It splits the workflow into two cooperating layers so the human does not need to babysit windows, monitor every agent, or manually switch contexts.

Session Communication Bootstrap

At conductor startup, load docs/agent-communication-profile.md and apply:

Apply communication profile docs/agent-communication-profile.md.
Tone: human, direct, bilingual, pushback-ok.

This controls communication style only. Runtime identity, model, tools, and MCP availability still require live proof.

Architecture

flowchart TB
  H["Operator shorthand / issue"] --> GC["GOAL_CAPTURED"]
  GC --> DSN["DESIGNING"]
  DSN --> DP["DECISION_PACKET"]
  DP --> DSP["DISPATCHING"]
  DSP --> OBS["OBSERVING"]
  OBS -->|agent done| REV["REVIEWING"]
  OBS -->|new evidence| DP
  REV -->|PASS| LRN["LEARNING / ARCHIVING"]
  REV -->|FLAG| DSP
  REV -->|BLOCK| BC["BLOCKER_CLASSIFIED"]
  BC -->|operator| OP["OPERATOR_NEEDED"]
  BC -->|external| CD["COOLDOWN → retry"]
  BC -->|permanent| ARC["ARCHIVED"]
  LRN --> NG["NEXT_GOAL or DONE"]
  OP -->|human responds| DSN
  CD -->|cooldown elapsed| DSN

Layer 1: Design / Decision

Owned by the conductor (Admin or delegated design agent). Produces decision packets, not raw execution spam.

Responsibilities:

• Refine operator intent into a scoped objective.
• Pull constraints, non-goals, blockers, and evidence expectations from durable memory (SYNTHESIS.md, DECISIONS.md, prior issue evidence).
• Choose the Friction Tier and applicable gates (SDD, L2 Pressure, Capy check).
• Maintain taste, scope, blocker semantics, and evidence standards.
• Ask the operator only when a real design trade-off needs human judgment.

Layer 2: Dispatch / Operations

Owned by the dispatcher (Admin or Supervisor). Converts decision packets into bounded Multica issues, monitors them, and routes follow-ups.

Responsibilities:

• Convert one decision packet into one or more bounded issues.
• Assign one owner per issue. Mention specialists only for narrow review.
• Monitor active / in_review / blocked / done states via multica issue list.
• Re-route only when new evidence changes state — never re-sweep unchanged work.
• Stop when only operator-call or external-platform blockers remain.

State Machine

Decision Packet Format

Every decision packet must be posted as a structured comment before any issues are created:

DECISION_PACKET
goal_id: <goal-shorthand-or-issue-id>
intent: <one-sentence objective>
route: <chosen execution path — which agents, skills, lanes>
owner: <primary executing agent>
reviewer: <who verifies evidence>
constraints: <non-negotiables, boundaries, blocked lanes>
evidence_expectations: <what proves success — exact artifacts or checks>
non_goals: <explicit exclusions>
blocker_conditions: <what would block this route>
tier: fast | standard | heavy
dedupe_key: <canonical key to prevent duplicate dispatch>
max_active: <max concurrent in_progress issues for this goal>
cooldown_minutes: <minimum minutes before next sweep or re-route>
verdict: READY_TO_DISPATCH | NEEDS_DESIGN | OPERATOR_NEEDED

Dedupe, Cooldown, and Noise Controls

These prevent the controller from accumulating endless sweeper issues (per DAS-741 / DAS-743 findings):

Dedupe

• Before creating any issue, check if an equivalent issue already exists using the dedupe_key. Match on title prefix + active status (not done/cancelled).
• If an equivalent issue exists and is in_progress or in_review, do not create a duplicate. Post a status note on the existing issue instead.
• If an equivalent issue exists and is blocked, check if the blocker changed before re-dispatching.

Cooldown

• After dispatching a decision packet, set cooldown_minutes. Do not scan or re-route for this goal until the cooldown elapses.
• Default cooldown: 15 minutes for standard work, 30 minutes for heavy work.
• Cooldown resets when a new decision packet is dispatched.

Max Active

• No more than max_active (default: 5) issues may be in_progress for a single goal at any time.
• If the limit is reached, new dispatch waits until an active issue moves to in_review or done.

Archive and Cancel Semantics

• Completed (done) issues: harvest evidence, then archive — do not re-read or re-route.
• Stale in_review issues (no activity for 48h): post one nudge, then flag for Supervisor.
• Noise issues (created in error, duplicate, superseded): set to cancelled with a one-line reason. Do not leave them in blocked.
• The conductor itself must have a self-cancel condition: if the conductor issue is the only remaining active issue and all dispatched work is done or cancelled, post the final verdict and stop.

Autonomy Guards

The conductor may act autonomously when:

• The decision packet is READY_TO_DISPATCH.
• No operator-call conditions are triggered.
• Dedupe confirms no duplicate work exists.
• The route does not touch blocked lanes (DAS-696, DAS-693, or operator-declared frozen lanes).
• Workbench Max is not in the route.

The conductor MUST call the operator when:

• A design trade-off needs human taste judgment (not just more context).
• A permission, secret, payment, or runtime mutation is required.
• A blocked lane is the only viable route.
• Two prior attempts at the same sub-task failed with different approaches.
• The dedupe key matches an existing active issue with a different decision packet (route conflict).

Composition With Existing Layers

Goal Mode v2 composes with, but does not replace:

Activation

When activated by /goal or GOAL_MODE: yes, the conductor must:

1. Apply docs/agent-communication-profile.md before the first user-facing conductor note.
2. Post GOAL_LOCK with objective, owner, non_goals, closeout gates, and operator-call conditions.
3. If Heavy Path: post SELF_AWARENESS_BOOTSTRAP before designing.
4. If L2_PRESSURE: post RV_PRESSURE_CHECK before routing.
5. Enter DESIGNING → produce DECISION_PACKET → enter DISPATCHING.
6. Continue the observe → review → archive → next-goal loop until DONE or OPERATOR_NEEDED.

Closeout Contract

GOAL_MODE_V2_CLOSEOUT
goal_id:
objective:
state_machine_path: <trace of states visited, e.g. GOAL_CAPTURED→DESIGNING→...→DONE>
decision_packets_produced: <count>
issues_dispatched: <count and IDs>
evidence_harvested: <summary of completed evidence>
noise_cancelled: <count and IDs of cancelled duplicates>
operator_calls: <count and reasons, if any>
residual_risk:
archive_actions_taken:
verdict: PASS | FLAG | BLOCK

Validation

Before claiming DONE, verify:

• Every dispatched issue has a verdict (PASS/FLAG/BLOCK) or is properly cancelled.
• No duplicate active issues share the same dedupe_key.
• The conductor's self-cancel condition is satisfied.
• Evidence is posted on the goal issue, not scattered across child comments.
• OPERATOR_NEEDED was raised for every case where the conductor lacked authority.