build-feature

name	build-feature
description	Usage: Build feature {task-id} with harness {harness-cmd}. Implements a requested feature by continuously looping a fast worker agent against a strict, passing-import but failing test harness until success is achieved.
version	2
maturity	stable
input	{"properties":{"task-id":{"type":"string","description":"The unique backlogit task or subtask ID."},"harness-cmd":{"type":"string","description":"The go test command defining the strict test harness boundary."}},"required":["task-id","harness-cmd"]}

Build Feature Skill

Implements a requested feature by continuously looping a fast worker agent against a strict, importable but failing test harness until success is achieved. The harness defines the contract; go test is the critic.

Subagent Execution Constraint (NON-NEGOTIABLE)

This skill is a leaf executor. It MUST NOT spawn additional subagents via runSubagent, Task, or any other agent-spawning mechanism. Perform all work using direct tool calls (read, edit, search, terminal, MCP tools) and return results to the parent agent (build orchestrator). If you encounter work that seems to require a subagent, report it as a finding and let the parent decide.

Agent-Intercom Communication (NON-NEGOTIABLE)

If agent-intercom is available (determined by the parent agent's intercom state), broadcast at every step. Broadcasting is not optional.

Stall Detection

Every terminal command gets a watchdog timeout:

Operation	Timeout	Action
go test / golangci-lint / go vet	10 minutes	Kill process, broadcast stall error, clean up
Non-Go terminal commands	5 minutes	Kill, broadcast, proceed with error handling

If a command exceeds its timeout, broadcast [STALL] {command} exceeded {timeout}, kill the process, clean up any stale build cache artifacts, and count toward the parent orchestrator's stall limit.

Prerequisites

• The test harness defined by ${input:harness-cmd} imports without error (green imports, red tests)
• The structural stubs in internal/ exist with panic("not implemented") markers
• The project imports cleanly before starting (go build ./cmd/backlogit passes)
• All test files follow go test discovery conventions (*_test.go in the same package or _test suffix package)

Shell Session Hygiene

Before starting any test run, verify no previous go test processes are still running from prior iterations. On Windows: Get-Process -Name go -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue. Stale processes can hold file locks and cause silent hangs. Stop them before proceeding.

Remote Operator Integration (agent-intercom)

When the agent-intercom MCP server is reachable, status updates and file modifications route through it so the remote operator can follow progress via Slack.

Availability Detection

At the start of execution, call ping with a brief status message. If the call succeeds, agent-intercom is active and you must follow all remote workflow rules below, then verify messaging with the first broadcast before reading files or running the harness. If it fails or times out, print a prominent CLI warning that agent-intercom is unavailable and Slack status updates will not be delivered for this task, then fall back to local-only operation. Silent fallback is forbidden.

Status Broadcasting

Use broadcast (non-blocking) throughout execution to keep the operator informed.

When	Tool	Level	Message Pattern
Skill start	broadcast	info	[BUILD] Starting task {task-id}: {harness-cmd}
Each iteration start	broadcast	info	[LOOP] Attempt {N}/5 — running harness
File created	broadcast	info	[FILE] created: {file_path} — include full content in body
File modified	broadcast	info	[FILE] modified: {file_path} — include unified diff in body
Harness passes	broadcast	success	[BUILD] Harness passed on attempt {N}
Harness fails	broadcast	warning	[LOOP] Attempt {N} failed — {error_summary}
Circuit breaker hit	broadcast	error	[BUILD] Circuit breaker — 5 attempts exhausted, task blocked
Workspace test pass	broadcast	success	[BUILD] Workspace tests pass — task {task-id} complete
Instruction re-read	broadcast	info	[REINFORCE] Coding standards refreshed for attempt {N}/5
Task complete	broadcast	success	[BUILD] Task {task-id} complete — commit {short_hash} — {N} attempt(s)
Post the first broadcast as a new top-level message and capture the returned ts. Use that ts as thread_ts for all subsequent messages. That first broadcast is an intercom verification gate and must happen before reading files, editing code, or running the harness. If it fails after a successful ping, print a prominent CLI warning, mark agent-intercom unavailable for the remainder of the task, and continue in local-only mode instead of assuming the operator received the update.

File Change Workflow

File creation and modification proceed with direct writes. After each file write, call broadcast at info level with the change details.

Protected file awareness: When modifying core harness configuration files (.github/agents/*.agent.md, .github/skills/*/SKILL.md, .github/instructions/*.instructions.md, AGENTS.md), broadcast at info level: [PROTECTED] Modifying harness config: {file_path}. This alerts the operator without blocking modification.

For destructive operations (file deletion, directory removal), route through the approval workflow:

1. auto_check — Check if workspace policy allows the operation.
2. check_clearance — Submit proposal and block until operator responds.
3. check_diff — Execute only after status: "approved".

Execution Steps

Step 1: Context Isolation

1. Read the test file targeted by the ${input:harness-cmd}. Carefully read the embedded # GIVEN, # WHEN, # THEN BDD comments to fully internalize the human intent behind the test.
2. Use grep/glob tools to understand the codebase context before reading raw files:
   • Search for each domain class and function found in the test to locate the source files in src/ containing the panic("not implemented") stubs that require attention.
   • Search for the feature's key concepts to find related code and prior decisions that inform the implementation.
   • Use glob to discover available modules in specific packages.
3. Read .github/copilot-instructions.md and .github/agents/subagents/go-engineer.agent.md (if it exists) for project coding standards and Go-specific conventions.
4. broadcast at info level: [BUILD] Starting task {task-id}: {harness-cmd} with a summary of the test scenarios and stub files.

Step 2: Mechanical Feedback Loop (Actor-Critic)

The harness loop inherently satisfies the atomic milestone validation requirement: every task exits with either a passing test (verifiable state) or a circuit breaker (blocked state). No task completes without a concrete verification artifact.

Execute the following loop with a hard limit of 5 attempts:

1. Run the targeted ${input:harness-cmd}.

2. If it passes (exit code 0): proceed to Step 3.

3. If it fails (exit code != 0): a. Capture the raw output (import errors, type errors, or assertion failures). b. broadcast the failure summary at warning level. c. Instruction reinforcement: Read .github/agents/subagents/go-engineer.agent.md (if it exists) or .github/copilot-instructions.md coding standards section to refresh project conventions before implementing the fix. broadcast at info level: [REINFORCE] Coding standards refreshed for attempt {N}/5. d. Analyze the error output and implement the fix:

   • Import errors: Fix missing packages, incorrect imports, circular imports in the internal/ stubs.
   • Panic (not implemented): Implement the underlying logic inside the internal/ stubs to make the harness pass. Replace the panic("not implemented") markers with real logic.
   • Test assertion failures: Fix the implementation logic (not the test itself, unless the test setup has an import error). d. Apply all project coding standards:
   • All exported functions have GoDoc comments.
   • Use backlogit error hierarchy (internal/errors/), not bare error values.
   • Follow Effective Go naming and GoDoc conventions.
   • Run go build ./cmd/backlogit after each fix to verify the module imports cleanly before re-running the harness. e. After each file write, broadcast the change at info level with the unified diff. f. Do not modify the test file itself unless fixing an import error in the test setup. g. Return to step 1 of this loop.

4. Circuit breaker: If 5 attempts are exhausted without the harness passing:

   • broadcast at error level: [BUILD] Circuit breaker — 5 attempts exhausted, task blocked.
   • Call backlogit_move_item with id: ${input:task-id} and status: "blocked".
   • Call backlogit_append_comment with item_id: ${input:task-id}, actor: "build-feature", and a note indicating the task is blocked pending human review.
   • Halt execution. Do not retry automatically.

Step 3: Verification & State Update

Once the isolated harness passes:

1. Workspace verification — tiered strategy: Do NOT run the full test suite (go test ./...) after every harness pass in the feedback loop. Use this order: a. Run go test {harness_test_path} -v — confirms the harness still passes after any cleanup changes. b. Run go test ./internal/... -v — fast check for internal package regressions. c. Run go test ./... (full suite) exactly once before committing.
   • If new failures appear in the full suite, diagnose and fix them before committing.
   • broadcast at success level: [BUILD] Workspace tests pass — task {task-id} complete.
2. Lint verification: Run golangci-lint run and gofmt -l .. Run go vet ./.... Fix any violations.
3. Commit: Stage and commit validated changes for the current work item only:
   • Stage only the files required for ${input:task-id}. Use explicit paths when unrelated local changes exist. Use git add -A only when the full working tree belongs to this same work item.
   • git commit -m "feat: implement passing harness for ${input:task-id}"
   • Capture commit metadata with:
     • git rev-parse HEAD for the full hash
     • git rev-parse --short HEAD for the short hash
     • git log -1 --pretty=%s HEAD for the commit subject
     • git log -1 --pretty=%an HEAD for the commit author
   • Do not batch unrelated backlogit items into this implementation commit. If the working tree contains changes for sibling, parent, or future items that are not directly completed by this work, split them into a different commit before proceeding.
   • broadcast at success level: [BUILD] Task {task-id} complete, commit {short_hash}, {N} attempt(s). The attempt count is used by the invoking workflow, typically Ship, to decide whether to invoke compound knowledge capture.
4. State update: Record commit traceability only for the items directly affected by this commit:
   • Start affected_item_ids with ${input:task-id}.
   • Add another task, subtask, or review item only when this exact commit directly implements or finalizes that item. Never attach the commit to the full feature or to untouched descendants.
   • For each item in affected_item_ids, call backlogit_track_commit with item_id, sha: {full_commit_hash}, message: {commit_subject}, and author: {commit_author} so the event log captures the precise work-to-commit link.
   • Call backlogit_move_item with id: ${input:task-id} and status: "done".
   • Move any additional affected item to done only when its acceptance criteria and Definition of Done are fully satisfied by this commit. Otherwise leave its status unchanged and only record the commit link.

Troubleshooting

Compilation errors after adding new packages

Verify that all new packages have correct package declarations matching the directory name and that imports use the full module path (github.com/softwaresalt/backlogit/internal/{package}). Check that go.mod has the correct module declaration.

Go vet reports suspicious constructs

Review go vet ./... output for common issues: unused variables, unreachable code, mismatched struct tags. Go vet findings must be fixed before committing.

SQLite locking in tests

SQLite allows only one writer at a time. If parallel tests share a database file, use t.TempDir() to create isolated databases per test. Avoid go test -parallel for database-touching tests unless each test uses its own database file.

Tests pass locally but fail in CI

Verify the Go version in go.mod matches the CI matrix in .github/workflows/ci.yml. Check that all test dependencies are properly declared in go.mod and resolved via go mod tidy.

Circuit breaker triggered (5 failed attempts)

When the 5-attempt hard limit is reached, the task is marked as blocked in backlogit. Review the error output from each attempt to identify the root cause. Common issues include incorrect function signatures in stubs, missing interface implementations, or test assumptions that conflict with the codebase architecture.

Proceed by reading the harness test file and isolating context for the given task.