drive

name	drive
description	Perpetual project driver — automatically advances the Open-FARS pipeline until completion or human decision needed. Use /drive to start, /drive off to stop, /drive status to check.
user_invocable	true

Open-FARS Perpetual Driver (/drive)

Overview

The driver keeps Claude working non-stop on the Open-FARS pipeline. Once activated, Claude never stops — it reads pipeline state, determines the next action, executes it, and repeats. The Stop hook blocks session exit so the loop continues.

Driving stops only when:

• User runs /drive off
• All stages complete (S7 done)
• A human decision point is reached (email sent, then pause)

Usage

/drive              # Activate driver (same as /drive on)
/drive on           # Activate driver
/drive off          # Deactivate driver
/drive status       # Show current driver state

Activation (/drive or /drive on)

1. Create/update .open-fars/meta/driver-state.yaml:

   active: true
   awaiting_human: false
   awaiting_reason: ""
   last_action: ""
   last_action_time: ""
   total_actions: 0
   history: []
   

2. Reset block counter: echo "0" > .open-fars/meta/.driver-block-count
3. Read .open-fars/meta/registry.yaml
4. Execute the first priority action (see Driver Decision Logic below)
5. After action completes, update driver-state.yaml:
   • Set last_action to a brief description
   • Set last_action_time to current Beijing timestamp
   • Increment total_actions
   • Append to history (keep last 20 entries)

Deactivation (/drive off)

1. Update driver-state.yaml: set active: false
2. Remove block counter file: .open-fars/meta/.driver-block-count
3. Run /status skill to generate a final progress report
4. Send email notification via email-notify:
   • Subject: [Claude Code] Driver deactivated — progress report
   • Body: status report summary

Status Check (/drive status)

Read and display:

1. driver-state.yaml — active state, last action, total actions
2. Recent history entries
3. Current block counter value
4. Registry pipeline state summary

Driver Decision Logic

After each action, determine the next one. Priority from highest to lowest:

P1: Human Decision Points

Check if any stage requires human input:

• S2 PASS but no idea chosen → send reminder email, set awaiting_human: true, awaiting_reason: "Waiting for idea selection (S2)"
• S3 PASS but no user confirmation → send reminder email, set awaiting_human: true, awaiting_reason: "Waiting for plan confirmation (S3)"
• Any stage with awaiting_human: true in driver state → do nothing, let Stop hook release

P2: Failed Reviews Needing Re-run

Find stages where the latest review verdict is FAIL and review count < threshold:

• Re-run the corresponding subagent with judge feedback
• After subagent returns, auto-trigger /review (judge review)
• Thresholds: S1/S2/S3 = 3, S4/S5/S6/S7 = 5

If review count >= threshold → send escalation email, set awaiting_human: true

P3: Completed Stage Without Review

Find stages with status completed but no review (or no PASS review):

• Auto-trigger /review for that stage

P4: PASS Review — Advance to Next Stage

Find the latest stage that has a PASS review and whose next stage is still pending:

• Follow the per-stage rules in AGENTS.md:
  • S1 PASS → auto-advance to S2 (spawn ideation)
  • S2 PASS → email user for idea selection, set awaiting_human
  • S3 PASS → email user for plan confirmation, set awaiting_human
  • S4 PASS → auto-advance to S5 (spawn experiment)
  • S5 PASS → auto-advance to S6 (spawn writing)
  • S6 PASS → send notification email, auto-advance to S7
  • S7 done → send final email, set active: false
• Update registry stage status to in_progress
• Spawn the corresponding subagent

P5: Monitor Running Experiments

If S5 is in_progress:

• Check tmux sessions for running experiments
• Check experiment output directories for new results
• If experiments complete, collect results and mark stage completed

P6: Periodic Maintenance

• If no /status report in last 6 hours → run /status
• If no /catchup document in last 24 hours → run /catchup
• If degradations exist and no recent audit → run /review audit

P7: Nothing To Do

If no action matches:

• Generate a brief summary of current state
• Set active: false
• Send email: [Claude Code] Driver completed — no more actions available

State File Schema

driver-state.yaml:

active: true                              # Whether driver is active
awaiting_human: false                     # Whether paused for human decision
awaiting_reason: ""                       # Why we're waiting
last_action: "Spawned S4 assets agent"    # Last completed action
last_action_time: "2026-02-21T14:30+08:00" # Beijing time
total_actions: 12                         # Cumulative action count
history:                                  # Last 20 actions
  - time: "2026-02-21T14:30+08:00"
    action: "Spawned S4 assets agent"
  - time: "2026-02-21T14:15+08:00"
    action: "S3 plan review PASS"

How the Stop Hook Works

The Stop hook (driver-stop.sh) is the engine:

Normal cycle: Stop → block → Claude continues → Stop → block → ...
Compact:      Stop → let go → compact → SessionStart(compact) injects driver context
              → Claude continues → Stop → block → normal cycle resumes

Three-layer deadloop protection:

1. stop_hook_active check — if already blocked once, let go
2. External file counter — >10 consecutive blocks, force let go
3. Post-compact SessionStart hook resets counter and re-injects driver context

Important Notes

• The driver follows AGENTS.md orchestration protocol for all stage transitions
• All email notifications use the email-notify skill
• Registry.yaml is the source of truth for pipeline state
• Driver state is separate from registry — it only tracks the driving mechanism
• When awaiting_human is true, the Stop hook lets Claude exit normally
• User can always /drive off to stop, or /drive on to resume after providing input