| 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"} |
ulw-loop
Use this skill when the user asks for ulw-loop, ulw, durable goal execution, evidence-led work, manual QA, or checkpointed long-running delivery.
This skill is intentionally compact. The full workflow lives in references/full-workflow.md. Read only the sections needed for the current phase, then execute them exactly.
Required First Steps
- Open
references/full-workflow.md.
- Read through Bootstrap (including its tier triage), Execution Loop, and the Manual-QA channels table before running any ULW command or recording evidence.
- If the task has code edits, tests, QA, or commit work, follow the full workflow's delegation and evidence rules. Tests alone never prove done.
Non-Negotiables
- Use the ulw-loop CLI state under
.omo/ulw-loop; do not hand-edit goal state.
- After any compaction or context loss, re-read brief + goals + ledger FIRST plus
omo ulw-loop status --json, then resume; never re-plan from scratch.
- If
omo ulw-loop create-goals says the existing aggregate is already complete, start unrelated new work with a fresh --session-id <new-id> instead of steering or forcing the completed default state. Use --force only to intentionally overwrite completed evidence.
- Every success criterion needs observable evidence from a real surface: a channel (terminal/TUI via the xterm.js web terminal, HTTP, browser, computer-use) or, for CLI- or data-shaped criteria, an auxiliary surface (CLI stdout, DB diff, parsed config dump).
- Evidence is bound to its capture commit; a later fix, rebase, or merge makes it stale — re-run at the current HEAD and re-record, never relabel or regenerate. Record only after cleanup receipts exist.
- Delegate code edits, test writes, fixes, and QA execution to right-sized Codex subagents when the workflow requires it.
- Every
spawn_agent message starts with TASK:, then names DELIVERABLE, SCOPE, and VERIFY; put role and specialty instructions inside message; use fork_turns: "none" (v1: fork_context: false) unless full history is truly required.
- Plan and reviewer agents may run for a long time; spawn them in the background, keep doing independent root work, and poll with short
wait_agent cycles. Never use a single long blocking wait for them.
- For work likely to exceed one wait cycle, require the child to send
WORKING: <task> - <current phase> before long reading, testing, or review passes, and BLOCKED: <reason> only when it cannot progress.
- Track spawned agent names locally. Use
wait_agent for mailbox signals, not proof of completion. A timeout only means no new mailbox update arrived. Treat a running child as alive.
- While children run, surface the active subagent count, agent names, and latest
WORKING: phase.
- Fallback only when the child is completed without the deliverable, ack-only after
followup_task, explicitly BLOCKED:, or no longer running. Then record inconclusive and respawn a smaller fork_turns: "none" task with the missing deliverable.
- Use
git-master for git-tracked edits: inspect recent and touched-path commit history, then commit each verified work unit atomically in the repository's observed language, scope, and message style with only that unit's files staged.
Codex Tool Mapping
Codex exposes ONE subagent surface per session — check your tool list. GPT-5.6 (sol/terra) get the flat MultiAgentV2 tools (primary); GPT-5.5 and gpt-5.6-luna get the namespaced multi_agent_v1.* set (fallback row). The workflow's orchestration examples map to:
| Intent | MultiAgentV2 (gpt-5.6 sol/terra) |
|---|
| Spawn a worker | spawn_agent({"task_name":"<lower_snake_id>","message":"TASK: act as <role>. ...","fork_turns":"none"}) — task_name+message required; fork_turns:"none" = no parent history; do NOT set agent_type/model/reasoning_effort |
| Re-task an idle worker (wakes it) | followup_task({"target":"<name>","message":"..."}) |
| Send context without interrupting | send_message({"target":"<name>","message":"..."}) |
| Wait for a mailbox signal | wait_agent({"timeout_ms":<ms>}) — any live worker; a timeout only means no new update |
| Enumerate / stop a runaway | list_agents() / interrupt_agent({"target":"<name>"}) — no close_agent; finished workers end on their own |
V1 fallback (gpt-5.5, gpt-5.6-luna): multi_agent_v1.spawn_agent({...,"fork_context":false}), multi_agent_v1.send_input (re-task), multi_agent_v1.wait_agent({"targets":[...],"timeout_ms":...}), multi_agent_v1.close_agent.
When translating load_skills=[...], include the requested skill names in the spawned agent's message.