Odw Supervision

ODW Supervision

Use this skill to observe and control ODW runs without losing the distinction between ODW state, agent subprocess state, and the host agent's own actions.

ODW runs are detached background workers. The CLI that starts a run may exit, but the run persists on disk and can be supervised later by run ID, dashboard, or API.

Supervision Flow

1. Identify the run handle: run ID, workflow name, run directory, or dashboard entry.
2. Read current state before acting.
3. Follow events or inspect artefacts depending on the question.
4. Use controls only when the user asks or the run is clearly exceeding the agreed envelope.
5. Inspect result.json or error.json before taking follow-up action.

CLI Surface

Use these commands from a shell with the same ODW config/runs root:

odw list
odw status <run_id>
odw logs <run_id> --follow
odw result <run_id>
odw pause <run_id>
odw resume <run_id>
odw stop <run_id>
odw serve --open

odw run <script.js> starts a background worker and prints a run ID. odw run <script.js> --wait blocks until terminal state and prints the final return value. If --timeout <seconds> is used with --wait, only the waiting client times out; the background run continues.

Use odw logs <run_id|--workflow name> [--follow] when a workflow name is the only handle available.

Run Directory

Runs are stored under:

<runsRoot>/<workflow-slug>/<runId>/

Default runsRoot is ~/.odw/runs unless config changes it. Each run has:

Read JSON files with tooling that tolerates live writes. events.jsonl can have a torn final line while a worker is appending; skip an invalid final line and retry.

State Reading

For a quick status:

odw status <run_id>

For live progress:

odw logs <run_id> --follow

For artefact-level diagnosis:

RUN_DIR=$(find "${ODW_RUNS_ROOT:-$HOME/.odw/runs}" -type d -name '<run_id>' -print -quit)
python3 -m json.tool "$RUN_DIR/status.json"
tail -n 100 "$RUN_DIR/events.jsonl"
python3 -m json.tool "$RUN_DIR/error.json"
tail -n 200 "$RUN_DIR/worker.log"

Prefer the CLI first. Drop to files when the CLI cannot find the run, the user asks for raw artefacts, or you need to distinguish workflow errors from worker process errors.

Terminal states are done, failed, and stopped. A run in a terminal state will not change again. A running or paused run with a dead worker can appear as stale in the dashboard view; inspect worker.log, status.json, and recent event timestamps.

Controls

Use controls deliberately:

• odw pause <run_id> requests a pause at safe checkpoints.
• odw resume <run_id> clears a paused state and lets the worker continue.
• odw stop <run_id> requests stop; running agent subprocesses may only stop once control reaches a checkpoint.

Do not stop another user's run just because it is noisy. This machine can have other agents working concurrently.

After any control command, re-read status:

odw pause "$RUN"
odw status "$RUN"

Dashboard And API

Start the local dashboard:

odw serve --open

Defaults:

• URL: http://127.0.0.1:4317
• Read endpoints work from the dashboard server.
• Write endpoints work only on loopback with JSON content type and same-origin protections.
• Binding with --host off-loopback makes the dashboard readable but refuses writes.

Read endpoints:

GET /api/runs
GET /api/runs/:id
GET /api/runs/:id/events
GET /api/runs/:id/events?since=N
GET /api/runs/:id/result
GET /api/stream
GET /api/adapters
GET /api/capabilities

Write endpoints on loopback:

POST /api/generate
POST /api/runs
POST /api/workflows
POST /api/runs/:id/control

Use the API when building tooling or when the user specifically wants machine readable state:

curl -s http://127.0.0.1:4317/api/runs | python3 -m json.tool
curl -s http://127.0.0.1:4317/api/runs/"$RUN" | python3 -m json.tool
curl -s http://127.0.0.1:4317/api/runs/"$RUN"/events?since=0
curl -s http://127.0.0.1:4317/api/runs/"$RUN"/result | python3 -m json.tool

Control over API:

curl -s -X POST http://127.0.0.1:4317/api/runs/"$RUN"/control \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{"action":"pause"}'

Allowed actions are pause, resume, and stop.

Claude Code Run Visibility

The dashboard can also surface Claude Code workflow runs as provider: "claude". These entries are read-only:

• ODW can list and display Claude workflow metadata, log-style progress, and final result surfaces.
• ODW must not expose raw Claude agent transcripts as if they were ODW events.
• Pause, resume, stop, and write operations are refused for Claude provider runs.
• The default scope can include Claude projects across the machine. Narrow it with claudeJobsScope: "project" in odw.config.json when the user wants only the served repo and its worktrees.

Use provider tags in API or dashboard output to avoid mixing ODW-owned runs with observed Claude runs.

Failure Diagnosis

Use this order:

1. odw status <run_id> for state and dispatched agent count.
2. odw logs <run_id> for phase and agent-level events.
3. error.json for workflow-level failure.
4. worker.log for detached worker stderr/stdout, crashes, missing executables, adapter launch errors, or config load problems.
5. meta.json for source directory, script path, config path, args, budget, and adapter override.
6. Adapter config and PATH when the error is "command not found" or an agent CLI is not installed.

Workspace Mode Diagnosis

Always check workspace mode when a run involves implementation, review, build artefacts, git worktrees, commits, merges, or multi-provider handoff through files. The key question is whether later agent() calls were supposed to see state created by earlier agent() calls.

In workspaceMode: "copy", each agent runs in a throwaway copy of the source tree. Symptoms of using copy mode for a stateful workflow include:

• A later agent cannot find a file, branch, worktree path, build artefact, or commit that an earlier agent reported creating.
• A workflow returns patches or summaries, but the real --source tree did not change.
• A path returned by one agent points under a temporary ODW workspace and is gone by the next phase.
• Multi-provider implement/review loops repeatedly appear to review stale or missing files.

In workspaceMode: "inplace", agents run in the real --source directory. Symptoms and risks are different:

• File changes, build artefacts, branches, git worktrees, commits, merges, and pushes may be real side effects, not just workflow output.
• Concurrent agents can collide unless the workflow uses independent worktrees or serializes shared git operations behind one integration lock.
• A failed or stopped run may leave dirty files, live worktrees, branches, or partially completed pushes that must be inspected before rerun.

For workflows that need persistent git worktrees, do not treat agent(..., { isolation: "worktree" }) as proof that ODW created real git worktrees. In ODW that option requests isolated copy workspaces. Real git worktrees must be created and managed by the workflow or by the invoked agents, and the run must use workspaceMode: "inplace" if later agents need those paths.

When diagnosing or preparing a rerun:

1. Read meta.json for source, config, workflow name, args, and adapter.
2. Inspect the referenced odw.config.json for workspaceMode.
3. Search events.jsonl and logs for routing notes, returned worktree paths, adapter labels, merge/push phases, and schema failures.
4. If inplace was used, inspect the real repository state before rerunning: git status, worktree list, recent branches, and any advertised commits.
5. If copy mode was used for a stateful workflow, report it as a launch/config mismatch rather than rerunning blindly.

Common causes:

• Bad workflow source: loader rejects non-literal meta, stray imports, syntax errors, or invalid top-level exports.
• Bad args: --args that looks like JSON but does not parse is rejected.
• Adapter routing: agent(..., { model }) only works when the adapter declares a model flag; otherwise a routing note appears in logs.
• Workspace mismatch: copy mode isolates edits, so generated file changes are in the agent workspace/diff, not the real source tree.
• Unsafe shared workspace: workspaceMode: "inplace" means agents share and modify the real --source directory.
• Runaway loop: total dispatch cap or budget guard aborts the run.

Acting On Results

Treat result.json as workflow output, not as an instruction to blindly apply changes. Before acting:

• Confirm terminal state is done.
• Read the returned value with odw result <run_id> or result.json.
• Inspect any file paths, patches, summaries, or recommendations referenced by the result.
• Validate changes in the target repo with that repo's gates before committing.
• Report failed or stopped runs with the concrete state, useful log lines, and artefact paths.

ODW does not commit, push, merge, or apply diffs by itself. Those remain host agent responsibilities after inspection.