Use to toggle the safe-mode flag at .claude/safe-mode. The flag is written automatically by consecutive-failure-guard once tool failures hit FORGE_SAFE_MODE_THRESHOLD (default 5), and block-destructive.sh denies every Bash/Write/Edit while it exists. /safe-mode off clears the flag, logs the exit, and prompts /postmortem; /safe-mode on enters manually; /safe-mode status reports current state.
Installation
Install with Codex or Claude Copy this prompt, paste it into Codex, Claude, or another assistant, and let it review the skill page and install it for you.
Use to toggle the safe-mode flag at .claude/safe-mode. The flag is written automatically by consecutive-failure-guard once tool failures hit FORGE_SAFE_MODE_THRESHOLD (default 5), and block-destructive.sh denies every Bash/Write/Edit while it exists. /safe-mode off clears the flag, logs the exit, and prompts /postmortem; /safe-mode on enters manually; /safe-mode status reports current state.
when_to_use
Reach for "/safe-mode off" after diagnosing the failure chain that auto-triggered the lock, or "/safe-mode on" when about to perform a risky operation that you want the harness to block until you explicitly clear it. Do NOT use to skip a postmortem — clearing the flag without root-cause analysis defeats the graceful-degradation contract. Do NOT use for routine harness health checks — use `/healthcheck` instead; safe-mode only toggles the destructive-edit lockdown.
disable-model-invocation
true
argument-hint
<on|off|status>
allowed-tools
["Read","Write","Bash"]
logical
.claude/safe-mode flag toggled to the requested state; ledger entry appended
/safe-mode — Graceful-Degradation Toggle
Controls .claude/safe-mode. When present, block-destructive.sh denies Bash/Write/Edit. Exists to force a human checkpoint after repeated failures, per TRAE §5.2.4 "Graceful Degradation".
Subcommands
/safe-mode status
Read the flag. Print the four base fields, then — when .brief_template is a non-null object — emit a populated 4-field brief using its values, per ## Escalation Brief below. jq -r '.brief_template.trigger // empty' returns the pre-filled trigger string for auto-written flags; manual writes seed .context / .recommendation placeholders that the agent then fills before printing.
Manual entry. Write the flag with the same shape consecutive-failure-guard.sh uses, so /safe-mode status and any future reader can treat auto and manual entries uniformly:
{"entered_at":"<UTC>","reason":"<reason or 'manual'>","counter":0,"last_tool":"manual","brief_template":{"context":"<one line — what the agent is about to do>","trigger":"Manual entry — <one line reason>","options":["<option, agent can do this without help>","<option, requires your action>","<option, requires your action>"],"recommendation":"<option #N>. <one-line reason>"}}
Suggest /postmortem on the failure chain — the whole point of the forced checkpoint is to learn, not to skip past it:
Safe-mode cleared. The failure chain that triggered it is still worth understanding.
Recommend: run /postmortem on the root cause before continuing.
Execution Checklist
/safe-mode status — read .claude/safe-mode; print the four base fields (state, Entered, Reason, Failure counter) and, when .brief_template is non-null, render its populated 4-field Escalation Brief
/safe-mode on [reason] — write .claude/safe-mode with the consecutive-failure-guard.sh JSON shape (entered_at, reason, counter, last_tool, brief_template); append safe-mode-enter ledger entry; report Safe-mode active. Mutations blocked until /safe-mode off.
/safe-mode off — refuse if no flag; delete .claude/safe-mode; reset /tmp/claude-failure-guard/<session>/consecutive-failures; append safe-mode-exit ledger entry; suggest /postmortem on the failure chain
When activating (auto or manual), emit the Escalation Brief in the documented CONTEXT / TRIGGER / OPTIONS / RECOMMENDATION shape so a human can decide fast
Integration
Writer:plugins/context-engine/hooks/consecutive-failure-guard.sh writes the flag at FORGE_SAFE_MODE_THRESHOLD (default 5).
Ledger: All entries use the SEPL schema so /rest-audit Reliability axis and /lineage-audit can inspect them.
Partner skill:/postmortem (evaluator plugin) — the intended follow-up after every exit.
Known Failure Modes
.claude/safe-mode exists but malformed JSON → treat as active (safer default); /safe-mode off still clears it.
Ledger write fails → flag state still changes (the flag is the source of truth; ledger is audit metadata).
Do NOT
Do not clear the flag silently or auto-reset it. The human checkpoint is the value.
Do not extend safe-mode with new blocking scopes in this skill — that belongs in block-destructive.sh, which is the enforcement layer.
Escalation Brief
When this skill activates — automatically via consecutive-failure-guard, or manually via /safe-mode on — emit a structured brief in this exact shape so a human can decide fast. Reproduce the labels verbatim; a downstream parser detects a brief by them.
CONTEXT: <one line — what was the agent trying to do>
TRIGGER: <one line — what stopped it: failure-count threshold, low-confidence signals, denied permission, conflicting evidence>
OPTIONS:
1. <option, agent can do this without help>
2. <option, requires your action>
3. <option, requires your action>
RECOMMENDATION: <option #N>. <one-line reason>
Waiting for instruction. <thing the agent is paused on> is not blocked yet.
The brief is not a substitute for /postmortem after /safe-mode off — it precedes the human decision; postmortem follows the resolution.
Input: consecutive-failure-guard wrote .claude/safe-mode after 5 failed pytest -k user_signup runs; the agent invokes /safe-mode status.
Output:
SAFE MODE: active
Entered: 2026-05-16T14:22:01Z
Reason: consecutive-failures
Failure counter: 5
CONTEXT: Reproduce the user_signup test failure flagged by /verify.
TRIGGER: Failure-count threshold (5 consecutive pytest exits, last was assertion error in fixture teardown).
OPTIONS:
1. Roll back the last commit and re-run from a known-green tree.
2. Show you the failing fixture and the last three diff hunks for a manual decision.
3. Skip user_signup and gate only on the other 41 tests for now.
RECOMMENDATION: Option 2. The failure is in fixture teardown, not the assertion under test — a human glance at the diff is cheaper than another speculative rewrite.
Waiting for instruction. The working tree is not blocked yet — no further edits will be attempted until you reply.
Input: the agent invokes /safe-mode on risky-migration before running a one-shot database schema change it cannot easily undo.
Output:
Safe-mode active. Mutations blocked until /safe-mode off.
CONTEXT: Apply the `add_audit_columns` migration to the production-shape staging DB before the release window.
TRIGGER: Manual entry — operation is one-shot and the rollback path requires a snapshot restore.
OPTIONS:
1. Run the migration with `--dry-run` first and report the planned DDL.
2. Pause for you to confirm the migration plan and the rollback steps you want recorded.
3. Hand off the migration entirely — I draft the SQL, you run it.
RECOMMENDATION: Option 1. A dry-run is reversible and surfaces any unexpected DDL before the destructive write.
Waiting for instruction. The migration is not blocked yet — the connection is open and the dry-run command is queued.
