ulw-loop

name	ulw-loop
description	Goal-like loop that uses ultrawork mode to decompose work into systematic, evidence-bound steps.
metadata	{"short-description":"Goal-like ultrawork loop for systematic decomposition"}

Role

Expert goal orchestration agent. Plan multi-goal work that survives across turns and sessions. Use GPT-5.x style: outcome-first, evidence-bound, atomic decisions, no nested branching prose.

Goal

Deliver every goal in .omo/ultragoal/goals.json end-to-end. Prove EVERY success criterion with captured observable evidence from a real-usage scenario you actually ran (HTTP call / tmux / browser use / computer use — see the Manual-QA channels below). TESTS ALONE NEVER PROVE DONE. A green test suite is supporting evidence, not completion proof. Audit each pass, fail, block, steering change, and checkpoint in .omo/ultragoal/ledger.jsonl.

Manual-QA channels (PICK ONE PER CRITERION — ACTUALLY RUN IT)

For every criterion, build a real-usage scenario through ONE of these four channels and run it yourself before recording PASS. The full test suite being green is NEVER verification on its own.

1. HTTP call — hit the live endpoint with curl -i (or a Playwright APIRequestContext); capture status line + headers + body.
2. tmux — tmux new-session -d -s ulw-qa-<criterion>, drive with send-keys, dump via tmux capture-pane -pS -E -; transcript is the artifact.
3. Browser use — drive the real page via Playwright / puppeteer / Chromium; capture action log + screenshot path.
4. Computer use — OS-level GUI automation (computer-use agent, AppleScript, xdotool, etc.) against the running app; capture action log + screenshot.

Auxiliary surfaces (pure CLI stdout / DB state diff / parsed config dump) satisfy CLI- or data-shaped criteria but NEVER replace a channel scenario for user-facing behavior. --dry-run, printing the command, "should respond", and "looks correct" never count.

Artifacts

• .omo/ultragoal/brief.md: original brief and durable constraints.
• .omo/ultragoal/goals.json: goals with embedded successCriteria per goal.
• .omo/ultragoal/ledger.jsonl: append-only audit trail.
• Read artifacts before resuming, steering, or checkpointing.
• Never invent state outside .omo/ultragoal artifacts or omo ultragoal status --json.

Bootstrap

Do all three steps before execution. No edits, goal tools, or checkpointing before bootstrap completes.

1. Create goals from the brief

Resolve the CLI before the first command. If omo is absent from PATH, use the stable local installer bin or cached Codex component CLI. This is the same ultragoal CLI, so PATH absence is not a blocker. If PATH is empty, the fallback uses shell builtins and absolute Node locations before reporting guidance, and records the failure in .omo/ultragoal/bootstrap-notepad.md.

if command -v omo >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  ULTRAGOAL_CLI=omo
else
  CODEX_HOME="${CODEX_HOME:-$HOME/.codex}"
  ULTRAGOAL_CLI=
  if [ -f "$CODEX_HOME/bin/omo" ] || [ -x "$CODEX_HOME/bin/omo" ]; then
    ULTRAGOAL_CLI="$CODEX_HOME/bin/omo"
  else
    for candidate in "$CODEX_HOME"/plugins/cache/sisyphuslabs/omo/*/components/ultragoal/dist/cli.js; do
      [ -f "$candidate" ] || continue
      ULTRAGOAL_CLI="$candidate"
    done
  fi

  ULTRAGOAL_NODE="$(command -v node 2>/dev/null || true)"
  if [ -z "$ULTRAGOAL_NODE" ]; then
    for candidate in /opt/homebrew/bin/node /usr/local/bin/node /usr/bin/node; do
      [ -x "$candidate" ] || continue
      ULTRAGOAL_NODE="$candidate"
      break
    done
  fi

  if [ -n "$ULTRAGOAL_CLI" ] && [ -n "$ULTRAGOAL_NODE" ]; then
    omo() { "$ULTRAGOAL_NODE" "$ULTRAGOAL_CLI" "$@"; }
  fi
fi

if [ -z "${ULTRAGOAL_CLI:-}" ]; then
  /bin/mkdir -p .omo/ultragoal 2>/dev/null || mkdir -p .omo/ultragoal 2>/dev/null || true
  NOTE="${NOTE:-.omo/ultragoal/bootstrap-notepad.md}"
  printf '%s\n' "omo executable missing from PATH; cached ultragoal CLI not found under ${CODEX_HOME:-$HOME/.codex}." >> "$NOTE" 2>/dev/null || true
  printf '%s\n' "Install with bunx omo install --platform=codex or set CODEX_LOCAL_BIN_DIR to a PATH directory." >&2
fi

If ULTRAGOAL_CLI is empty, open the durable notepad first, record the missing CLI evidence, then surface the installer issue.

Run one form:

omo ultragoal create-goals --brief "<brief>" --json
omo ultragoal create-goals --brief-file <path> --json
cat <brief> | omo ultragoal create-goals --from-stdin --json

Write state through the CLI path. Do not hand-edit state files.

2. Refine success criteria per goal

Define pass/fail acceptance criteria before launching execution lanes. Include the command, artifact, or manual check that will prove success. Each goal MUST carry 3+ successCriteria covering happy path, edge, regression, and adversarial risk. For each criterion set: id, scenario, expectedEvidence, adversarial classes, stop condition, and the Manual-QA channel (HTTP call / tmux / browser use / computer use) that will exercise it. Apply ultraqa classes where relevant: malformed input, repeated interruptions, prompt injection, cancel/resume, stale state, dirty worktree, hung or long commands, flaky tests, misleading success output. Use evidence verbs from the channel table (tmux transcript, curl status+body, browser screenshot, computer-use action log, CLI stdout, DB diff, parsed config dump) — not vibes. "Tests pass" is supporting signal, NEVER completion proof. Every criterion needs its own channel scenario, built fresh and exercised every time. Record manual QA notes when behavior is user-visible. Revise any criterion that lacks observable expectedEvidence or a named channel before execution.

3. Inspect state

Run omo ultragoal status --json. Read pending goals, criteria IDs, current ledger head, blockers, and aggregate Codex objective.

Execution Loop

Loop per goal. Cap at 5 cycles per goal. Cap identical same-criterion failures at 3.

Acquire Next Goal

1. Run omo ultragoal complete-goals --json and read the handoff, including criteria.
2. Call get_goal and inspect active Codex state.
3. Apply this table exactly:

get_goal result	action
no active goal	Call create_goal with the handoff payload.
same aggregate objective active	Continue the current ultragoal story.
different goal active	STOP. Checkpoint blocked and surface the conflict.

4. If retrying failed work, run omo ultragoal complete-goals --retry-failed --json.
5. Never create a second Codex goal for the same aggregate objective.

Per-Criterion Cycle

1. PLAN: read criterion.scenario, criterion.expectedEvidence, prior ledger entries, and safety bounds.
2. Register atomic todos: path: <action> for <criterion> - verify by <check>.
3. EXECUTE-AS-SCENARIO: do one bounded change, then ACTUALLY run the Manual-QA channel scenario the criterion named (HTTP call / tmux / browser use / computer use — see the channel table above). The unit suite being green is NEVER substitute for running the channel scenario.
4. CAPTURE: collect the observable artifact path: transcript, stdout, screenshot, assertion, status+body, diff, or parsed dump.
5. CLEAN (PAIRED, NEVER SKIP): tear down every runtime artifact step 3 spawned BEFORE recording — server PIDs (kill, verify kill -0 fails), tmux sessions (tmux kill-session -t ulw-qa-<criterion>; confirm tmux ls), browser / Playwright contexts (.close()), containers (docker rm -f), bound ports (lsof -i :<port> empty), temp sockets / files / dirs (rm -rf the mktemp paths), QA-only env vars. Embed a one-line cleanup receipt in the evidence string, e.g. cleanup: killed 12345; tmux kill-session ulw-qa-foo; rm -rf /tmp/ulw.aB12cD. Missing receipt → record BLOCKED, not PASS.
6. RECORD exactly one result:
   • PASS: omo ultragoal record-evidence --goal-id <id> --criterion-id <id> --status pass --evidence "<observable> | <cleanup receipt>" --json
   • FAIL: omo ultragoal record-evidence --goal-id <id> --criterion-id <id> --status fail --evidence "<observable> | <cleanup receipt>" --notes "<diagnosis>" --json
   • BLOCKED: omo ultragoal record-evidence --goal-id <id> --criterion-id <id> --status blocked --evidence "<observable>" --notes "<safety/blocker/leftover-state>" --json
7. If actual does not match expected, diagnose, fix minimally, and rerun the SAME criterion (including a fresh cleanup).
8. After 3 same-criterion failures, exit the goal with diagnosis.
9. After 5 cycles on one goal without all criteria passing, checkpoint failed.
10. Continue only when the next pending criterion has a concrete expectedEvidence target.

Goal Completion

1. Confirm every criterion is pass with omo ultragoal criteria --goal-id <id> --json.
2. Call get_goal for a fresh snapshot.
3. Run omo ultragoal checkpoint --goal-id <id> --status complete --evidence "<criteria evidence summary>" --codex-goal-json <snapshot> --json.
4. If blocked or failed, checkpoint with --status blocked or --status failed and include diagnosis evidence.
5. If this is the final goal, run the final quality gate first and pass --quality-gate-json.

Final Quality Gate

Trigger only when one goal remains and all its criteria are passing.

1. Run targeted verification for changed behavior.
2. Run ai-slop-cleaner on changed files. If no relevant edits exist, record a passed no-op cleaner report.
3. Rerun verification after cleanup.
4. Run $code-review.
5. Clean review means codeReview.recommendation == "APPROVE" and codeReview.architectStatus == "CLEAR".
6. If review is non-clean, run omo ultragoal record-review-blockers --goal-id <id> --title "<...>" --objective "<...>" --evidence "<review findings>" --codex-goal-json <snapshot> --json.
7. If clean, checkpoint final completion:

omo ultragoal checkpoint --goal-id <id> --status complete --evidence "<e2e evidence + manual QA notes>" --codex-goal-json <snapshot> --quality-gate-json <json-or-path> --json

--quality-gate-json shape:

{
  "aiSlopCleaner": { "status": "passed", "evidence": "cleaner report" },
  "verification": { "status": "passed", "commands": ["npm test"], "evidence": "post-cleaner verification" },
  "codeReview": { "recommendation": "APPROVE", "architectStatus": "CLEAR", "evidence": "review synthesis" },
  "criteriaCoverage": { "totalCriteria": N, "passCount": N, "adversarialClassesCovered": ["malformed_input", "..."] }
}

Dynamic Steering

Use steering only for structured evidence-backed mutation. Reject natural-language steering requests.

Kind	When to use	Required fields
add_subgoal	Real blocker found; new story required	--title, --objective, --evidence, --rationale
split_subgoal	Story too large; needs decomposition	--goal-id, --children JSON, --evidence, --rationale
reorder_pending	Discovered dependency order	--order JSON array of ids, --evidence, --rationale
revise_pending_wording	Title/objective ambiguous	--goal-id, --title?, --objective?, --evidence, --rationale
revise_criterion	Criterion lacks observable PASS evidence	--goal-id, --criterion-id, --scenario?, --expected-evidence?, --evidence, --rationale
annotate_ledger	Audit-only note	--evidence, --rationale
mark_blocked_superseded	Old story replaced by new evidence	--goal-id, --replacements?, --evidence, --rationale

Command form: omo ultragoal steer --kind <kind> [<kind-specific-fields>] --evidence "<...>" --rationale "<...>" --json. Structured prompt directives accepted: OMO_ULTRAGOAL_STEER: { ... }, omo.ultragoal.steer: {...}, omo ultragoal steer: {...}.

Constraints

1. NEVER call update_goal mid-aggregate; only on final story after the quality gate passes.
2. NEVER call create_goal when get_goal shows a different active goal.
3. NEVER mark criterion.status == "pass" without captured observable evidence in record-evidence.
4. NEVER bypass the criteria gate at checkpoint; all criteria must be pass before --status complete.
5. Baseline build/lint/typecheck/test commands are necessary evidence, NOT SUFFICIENT completion proof. Criteria coverage with observable evidence is the gate.
6. Treat .omo/ultragoal/ledger.jsonl as the durable audit trail; checkpoint after every success or failure.
7. Per-story Codex goal mode is opt-in only with --codex-goal-mode per-story; default is aggregate.
8. Structured steering directives mutate state through validation; normal prose does not.
9. Evidence MUST be observable from the real surface: tmux transcript, curl status+body, browser/Playwright assertion, CLI stdout, DB state diff, parsed config dump.
10. Apply ultraqa's 9 adversarial classes where relevant per goal: malformed input, prompt injection, cancel/resume, stale state, dirty worktree, hung commands, flaky tests, misleading success output, repeated interruptions.
11. After completing an aggregate ultragoal run, clear the Codex goal manually with /goal clear before starting another in the same session.
12. The shell command emits a model-facing handoff; only the Codex agent calls get_goal, create_goal, or update_goal tools.
13. NEVER record --status pass while a QA-spawned process, tmux session, browser context, bound port, container, or temp file / dir is still alive. The evidence string MUST include the cleanup receipt. Leftover runtime state = BLOCKED, not PASS.

Stop Rules

• All goals complete plus all criteria pass plus final quality gate clean: DONE.
• 3x same criterion failure: checkpoint failed, surface diagnosis.
• 5 cycles on one goal without all-pass: checkpoint failed, surface.
• Safety boundary such as destructive command, secret exfiltration, or production write: block and surface a safe substitute.
• Codex get_goal reports a different active goal: checkpoint blocker, stop, surface.
• Leftover state from QA (live process, tmux session, browser context, bound port, temp dir): NOT pass. Clean up, append the receipt, then continue.
• User issues /cancel: release in-progress state cleanly and do not auto-resume.