exec

name	exec
description	Use when running execution-ready task slices, dispatching verified `lev exec` flows, or reviewing implementation work in the Exec lane.
skill_type	workflow
category	lifecycle
output_template	hud

/exec - Exec Lane

/exec runs execution-ready entities. It does not invent plans, weaken verifiers, or complete work without review evidence.

Goal Prompt Discipline

When a user asks to set a goal involving /exec, the goal objective must be the domain task. Name /exec, Lev, Ralph, profiles, or runtime surfaces only as bounded tools/surfaces.

Bad goal objective:

• "Execute all slices through the exec lane, validate readiness, collect receipts, route blockers, and close with verified status."

Good goal objective:

• "COPI cutover. Tools: /exec/Lev Ralph as bounded execution surfaces. Run one slice at a time; stop on reviewer advice, blocker, failed declared gate, or a no-op/advice loop; report diagnostics."

Do not turn the workflow mechanics into the goal. The goal is the product or repo outcome; /exec is just the controlled way to attempt it.

Model Selection Discipline

Model choice is execution policy, not skill prose. It varies by adapter, project, FlowMind topology, profile, and current local configuration.

Before dispatch:

1. Run lev exec --help in the target project before choosing model, profile, flow, binding, budget, or loop flags. Do not guess flags or aliases.
2. Prefer the selected task execution.yaml, FlowMind --flow=<path>, or exec --profile=<id> over an inline --model.
3. Let exec profiles carry adapter/model policy. Project .lev/exec-profiles/ overlays plugin profiles; explicit CLI flags override profile values only when the user or execution artifact requires an override.
4. Use lev exec "binding smoke" --profile=<id> --dry-run --dry-run-resolve-binding before a real dispatch when profile/model selection matters. Treat dry-run binding output as resolution evidence, not live provider execution proof.
5. If no project, FlowMind, or exec-profile policy exists, stop and route to /propose or diagnostics for a policy decision instead of inventing a stale model default in the skill.

Worker / Reviewer Profile Pattern

Exec profiles are the ONLY profile system. Adapter-native profile/config layers (e.g. codex -p <overlay>) are never read by Lev — the provider card passes explicit model flags. Do not duplicate adapter/model policy into adapter-native config; that is a split-brain.

Canonical bounded-loop dispatch (ralph shape):

lev exec "<bounded slice>" --profile=<worker-profile-id> \
  --until="<completion condition>" --verifier="<shell command>"

• Worker and reviewer are separate profiles (separate lanes, separate system prompts). Review dispatch reuses the same shape with the reviewer profile and a verifier that greps machine-checkable VERDICT <claim>: lines.
• Agent iterations outlive the default transport delta timeout; pass --with execution_delta_timeout_ms=180000 (or higher) for loop dispatches unless the loop path already defaults it.
• Per-iteration gate proofs land at .lev/agentfs/exec/artifacts/<execId>/loop-verifier/iteration-N/gate-proof.json; cite them as receipt evidence, never the worker's prose claim.
• Discover profile ids with ls .lev/exec-profiles/ plus plugin-shipped profiles; never hardcode model names in prompts or skills.

Work Link

Lifecycle lane: Exec Entity movement: execution_ready -> executing -> verified | blocked | needs_propose Workstream: resolve active workstream and task entity before dispatch Upstream: /propose Downstream: /close Router: /work HUD: end with 🧬 {ws} ⚡{exec_count} 📥{capture_count} ⏸️{paused_count} ✅{done_count} | 🚦{gate}={score} | ⏭️ {next} | 🔁{loop_state}

Adversarial Exec Contract

When a task has dna.yaml and execution.yaml, execution readiness is enforced by Lev SDK, not prose:

1. Resolve the task path.
2. Run lev task validate <task-id|task-path> before dispatch.
3. Prefer plugins/sdlc/flows/exec-adversarial-readiness.flow.yaml for claim-backed tasks.
4. Review order: source-design claim coverage -> verifier adequacy -> declared gate output -> write scope -> code quality.
5. If proof_gates.pentagon.lfd.required is true, verify the LFD target, constraints, instruments, dev/holdout policy, cheap paths, and preflight calibration before dispatch.
6. If readiness fails, stop before worker dispatch and route to /propose.

Hard rule: a green command is not enough. Completion needs queryable receipt/trace evidence: node artifacts, branch decisions, verifier commands, stdout/stderr paths, exit codes, touched files, and claim_verdicts with evidence_ref. Score-lift needs row-level before/after deltas attributed to selected candidates. Routing and telemetry claims need machine-readable traces. execution_ready is never completion.

For LFD-shaped work, a worker must not see or mutate holdout answers, scorer internals, private lint details, or calibration fixtures. If the execution surface cannot enforce that read/write split, run only dev/preflight checks and route the holdout or harness design back to /propose.

Follow-up Ledger

Every exec follow-up must preserve the artifact ledger from /propose and add runtime evidence: selected slice, command, cwd, verifier, receipt/trace refs, touched files, result, fidelity/confidence, and next route. Follow-ups are compiled into agent-operational rows, not copied from final-answer prose. If a fix, blocker, or follow-up is discovered, write or route it through /capture; do not leave it only in chat memory.

Protocol

steps:
  - id: resolve_context
    action: Identify workstream, task path, execution artifact, and target slice.
    validation: "workstream id, task id/path, and current slice are known."
    on_failure: "Route to /work, /ws, or /propose before executing."

  - id: validate_task
    action: Run `lev task validate <task-id|task-path>`.
    validation: "Task validation exits 0, or failures are captured as proposal work."
    on_failure: "Do not dispatch. Route to /propose with diagnostics."

  - id: read_execution_yaml
    action: Extract topology, runtime_profile, proof_gates, verifier_contract, write_scope, dependencies, and forbidden_moves.
    validation: "Every slice has verifier, write scope, and dependency status."
    on_failure: "Treat as not execution-ready."

  - id: read_proof_gates
    action: Classify Pentagon, UltraQA, and ai-slop-cleaner gates for the selected slice.
    validation: "Each applicable proof gate has commands, scenario classes, expected receipts, owner-local test placement, and cleanup policy."
    on_failure: "Route to /propose for proof-gate repair before dispatch."

  - id: verify_lfd_preflight
    action: Verify Pentagon-LFD target and cheap-path hardening when present.
    validation: "Score/lint/probe/status/proof instruments exist, known-good passes, known-bad fails, lint VOID is non-oracular, holdout is aggregate-only or unavailable to worker, and cheap-path probes fail closed."
    on_failure: "Do not dispatch. Route to /propose with the failed cheap path and missing instrument."

  - id: classify_batch
    action: Mark slices parallel_safe or serial_only and lev_exec_first or subagent_required.
    validation: "No batch has overlapping write scope or more than 3 implementation tasks."
    on_failure: "Collapse to serial execution."

  - id: verify_surface
    action: Run `lev exec --help`, confirm flow exists, and confirm command shape before dispatch.
    validation: "No guessed flags or flow names."
    on_failure: "Downgrade to subagent or route to /propose."

  - id: dispatch
    action: Run the selected flow or subagent with bounded prompt, write scope, and verifier.
    validation: "Dispatch records command, cwd, verifier, and expected receipt/trace evidence."
    on_failure: "Emit <diagnostics-report>."

  - id: review_spec
    action: Check requested behavior, no extra behavior, write scope, and runtime contracts.
    validation: "Spec approval occurs before quality review."
    on_failure: "Fail closed as needs_propose/blocked. Do not redispatch a worker from reviewer advice unless the user explicitly asks."

  - id: review_quality
    action: Review interfaces, maintainability, tests, complexity, and correctness risks.
    validation: "Quality approval and declared verifier both pass."
    on_failure: "Do not mark verified."

  - id: run_runtime_qa
    action: Execute declared proof gates before final verification.
    validation: "Baseline verifiers, Pentagon gates, UltraQA runtime scenarios, cleanup, generated-artifact status, and ai-slop-cleaner review pass or produce a blocked verdict."
    on_failure: "Stop the current slice as blocked with diagnostics; do not spin."

  - id: final_verify
    action: Run declared verifiers, inspect changed files, and collect receipt/trace evidence.
    validation: "All verifiers pass and evidence supports the claims."
    on_failure: "Emit diagnostics and stop the failing slice."

  - id: update_followup_ledger
    action: Record verified, blocked, or follow-up rows with disk/memory state and evidence refs.
    validation: "Every new follow-up has compiled_intent, current_location, artifact_ref or blocker, fidelity/confidence, route_state, and next_route."
    on_failure: "Route unresolved rows to /capture before final summary."

QA / Pentagon Runtime Rules

• Treat UltraQA scenario generation as proposal/design input, but runtime execution belongs here: commands, exit codes, timeouts, temporary harnesses, cleanup, flaky reruns, misleading-output checks, and residual risks.
• Run Pentagon gates from execution.yaml.proof_gates.pentagon when present. Do not substitute a repo-wide green audit for a feature-local promotion claim.
• When proof_gates.pentagon.lfd is present, run the declared score, lint, probe, status, and proof instruments in the declared order. Score must run lint first; holdout must be aggregate-only and rate-limited; known-bad calibration must fail before worker output can be trusted.
• Run ai-slop-cleaner review when proof_gates.quality.ai_slop_cleaner.required is true, or when the exec slice performs cleanup/refactor work or touches fallback/boundary-risk code.
• Module-specific tests, probes, fixtures, and harness suites stay with the owning module. core/testing is a shared testing/eval library and generic gate surface, not the destination for module-owned proof code.
• Record generated harnesses, logs, state files, and cleanup status in the validation evidence. Remove temporary artifacts unless the task deliberately promotes them.

Dogfood Rules

• While working on Lev, use Lev surfaces first when reasonable.
• Fix simple local errors discovered by the verified path when scoped, reversible, and covered by the same verifier.
• Always try --help before unfamiliar Lev commands or flags.
• Prefer short evidence chains: --help, --dry-run, verifier, then trace.
• After failed or interesting lev exec, inspect receipt/trace lookup before summarizing.

Fail-Closed Loop Rules

• Multi-slice exec runs are serial by default. Run one slice, review it, then decide whether the next slice is still execution-ready.
• Reviewer advice is a terminal blocker for the current dispatch. Route to diagnostics or /propose; do not treat advice as another worker prompt.
• A no-op worker followed by reviewer advice is an immediate stop condition.
• A green command plus reviewer advice means the verifier is insufficient or the claim is overbroad. Stop and repair the task/proof, not the code.
• Same blocker twice means stop. Do not spend a third loop unless the user explicitly asks for another attempt.

Diagnostics Report

## Exec Diagnostics: {task_or_slice}

• command: {command}
• cwd: {cwd}
• exit_code: {exit_code}
• stdout: {stdout_path_or_excerpt}
• stderr: {stderr_path_or_excerpt}
• receipt_id: {receipt_id_or_none}
• exec_id: {exec_id_or_none}
• trace: {trace_ref_or_none}
• ledger_row: {capture_or_followup_id}
• compiled_intent: {agent_operational_followup}
• current_location: {disk|memory|both|external|unknown}
• artifact_ref: {path_or_none}
• route_state: {captured|execution_ready|blocked|done|rejected}
• next_route: {retry_exec|propose|capture|work|blocked|close}
• suspected_layer: {plan|surface|adapter|verifier|implementation|environment}
• simplest_next_fix: {one_action}
• route: {retry_exec|propose|work|blocked}

Flow Routing

Situation	Surface
task has execution.yaml	project-selected FlowMind/topology from execution artifact
bounded implementation with verifier	verified lev exec flow
reviewer loop needed	lev-ralph if supported by current CLI
no clean verifier or bespoke context	subagent with explicit scope and verifier
architecture or tradeoff work	route back to /propose, /interview, or /prior-art
weak/missing execution artifact	/propose

For 10x Ralph/proposal expansion, use an outer controller loop. One successful Ralph run produces one item, not the full list.

Lev Contracts for Runtime Work

If touching FlowMind, plugin config, scheduler, runtime steering, context injection, protocols, or graph control flow, load relevant DNA/gates/design docs and carry explicit notes for:

• LevEvent lifecycle emission
• trace context propagation
• structured logging
• bounded budgets, retries, and timeouts
• append-only receipts
• scope and permissions
• structured machine schemas
• resumability and idempotency
• project scheduler use
• protocol/config resolution through the fractal chain

Red Flags

• "Just ship it."
• "The verifier is small but probably enough."
• "Flow name probably maps to CLI."
• "No execution.yaml, but this is obvious."
• "execution_ready means done."
• "Receipt lookup can wait."
• "I'll summarize the failure without the command and exit code."
• "UltraQA is just a scenario list; no runtime cleanup or evidence needed."
• "A green Pentagon audit proves the feature-local claim."
• "The loss-function harness is gameable, but the worker probably will not notice."
• "Known-good passed; no need to run known-bad."
• "Holdout is only a file path; prompt instructions are enough to keep it hidden."
• "Exec follow-ups can stay in the final answer without a ledger route."
• "Reviewer advice means try the worker again."
• "The goal prompt should describe the exec workflow instead of the actual task."

Rationalization Table

Excuse	Reality
"Smallest relevant checks."	Declared verifiers and claim evidence are mandatory.
"We can infer success from no-regression."	Behavioral claims need direct outcome evidence.
"The CLI probably supports that flag."	Run --help; never guess.
"Trace is optional."	Routing, telemetry, and receipt claims need machine-readable evidence.
"The executor can fix the plan."	Weak plans route to /propose, not execution.
"The scorer is just a helper."	For LFD-shaped work, the scorer is the target; if it is weak, patch the loss function before dispatch.

Related

• /work routes lifecycle state.
• /propose creates execution-ready artifacts.
• /close seals verified work.