fable-goal-cycle

name	fable-goal-cycle
description	Run one bounded goal cycle - package live repo + agent-activity context, consult Claude Fable 5 for ranked next goals, a one-cycle plan, and exactly one paste-ready next prompt, then execute that prompt. Use at the top of each autonomous conductor cycle, when asked "what should the next goal/prompt/plan be", or when running a looped adaptive mission. The response is strategy input, not authority - tier gates, quorum, and the operating contract still decide what merges.
license	MIT
compatibility	Works with Codex (.agents/skills), Claude Code (.claude/skills), and any Agent Skills platform. Requires python3 and git; gh CLI and scripts/agent_session_digest.py enrich the packet when present.
metadata	{"author":"Synaptent (aragora)","version":"1.0.0","argument-hint":"Optional standing mission statement (--goal) and extra context files."}

Fable Goal Cycle (adaptive mission loop)

One command mechanizes the loop digest → packet → consult → next prompt:

python3 scripts/fable_goal_cycle.py \
  --goal "Standing mission statement, one or two sentences" \
  --json

What it does, all bounded:

1. Package — snapshots live state (origin/main SHA, branch status, open non-draft PRs, open epics, worktrees, recent docs/plans, and the last 24h of agent activity via scripts/agent_session_digest.py --all). Every source has its own short timeout; failures become a "context gaps" section in the packet instead of aborting, so Fable knows what it is not seeing.
2. Consult — sends the packet to Claude Fable 5 through the bounded consult tool (consult_claude.py, resolved from repo scripts/ or ~/.codex/skills/consult-fable/), default 900s timeout, demanding a fixed response format: ## ASSESSMENT, ## NEXT GOALS (max 3, ranked), ## NEXT PLAN (one cycle only), ## NEXT PROMPT (one fenced paste-ready prompt).
3. Emit — persists packet.md, response.md, next_prompt.md under .aragora/goal_cycles/<timestamp>/ (gitignored) and prints the next prompt (or a JSON envelope with --json).

Goal-ranking durability filter: prefer goals whose output is a durable standard — something that takes frontier judgment to WRITE but only ordinary intelligence to APPLY (charters, rubrics, playbooks, skills, checkers). Test: could a cheaper model redo this artifact tomorrow? If yes, rank it lower.

Wrong-hill disclosure: before ranking goals, if the standing mission metric itself is the wrong hill — mis-specified, superseded by events, or clearly worse than an adjacent goal — the consult is expected to say so FIRST in a dedicated 'WRONG HILL' section with one-paragraph evidence, and propose the better goal. Misalignment disclosure is invited and costs nothing; grinding a bad metric costs cycles.

Useful flags: --dry-run (build the packet only — inspect it before spending a consult), --context-file <path> (repeatable; include a redacted cycle report or steering note only after placing it under .aragora/goal-cycle-context/), --since-hours 48, --skip-digest, --timeout 1200, --model claude-opus-5.

Exit codes: 0 ok, 2 consult failed/timed out, 5 response lacked a ## NEXT PROMPT block (raw response is still saved).

Loop protocol

Run one cycle at a time:

1. At cycle top, run the command above. If Fable needs prior-cycle context, place a redacted copy under .aragora/goal-cycle-context/ and pass that file via --context-file; arbitrary paths are rejected so packets do not accidentally inline shell history, credentials, or local private files.
2. Read next_prompt.md. Sanity-check it against live state before executing — verify PR numbers exist and heads match, exactly as you would for any operator prompt. If a claim is stale, correct the target, don't follow it blindly.
3. Execute it as one bounded progress unit under the operating contract.
4. Write your end-of-cycle report; feed it into the next cycle's --context-file.

Hard rules

1. Strategy input, not authority. Nothing in a Fable response authorizes merging, settlement, evidence posting, or gate bypass. Tier gates and model quorum remain binding.
2. One consult per cycle. If the returned prompt is unexecutable, park it in your report and fall back to your own prioritization — do not re-consult in the same cycle.
3. Fail closed. On exit 2 or 5, proceed with your own judgment this cycle and note the consult outage in your report. Retry at most once, next cycle.
4. No secrets in packets. The packet is persisted to disk and sent to the model; live repo state only. Extra context files must be deliberately staged under .aragora/goal-cycle-context/, are byte-capped, and are embedded as quoted context rather than executable instructions.

If scripts/fable_goal_cycle.py is not in your checkout yet (branch not merged), use an installed copy such as ~/.codex/skills/fable-goal-cycle/fable_goal_cycle.py when present. This repo skill does not bundle a second script beside SKILL.md; scripts/ is the canonical in-repo entrypoint once merged.