evolve

name	evolve
description	Continuous improvement loop — assesses open beads, classifies by effort, dispatches generator→evaluator pipeline with file-based handoff. No per-agent commits — evaluator gates all changes. Post-mortem refines agent prompts. Modes: --simplify (refactor only, no net new code), --security, --fe, --prune. Composable with /loop for cron scheduling.
user-invocable	true
argument-hint	[--dry-run] [--simplify|--security|--fe|--prune] [--focus <area>]
allowed-tools	*
version	0.3.0
author	ART Ecosystem

/evolve — Continuous Improvement Loop

Autonomous improvement for any ART repo. Reads beads, picks up work, ships fixes, closes beads. Humans review the summary, not permission prompts.

Composable: /loop 10m /rosary:evolve --simplify for continuous refactoring.

Modes

Mode	Constraint	Goal
(default)	Fix closable beads	Ship work
--simplify	No net new code — refactor only	Extract abstractions, reduce LOC
--security	Security findings only	Audit + fix vulnerabilities
--fe	FE consistency only	Design language, UX
--prune	Delete only — dead code, stale beads	Reduce surface area
--dry-run	Assess + plan, no changes	Preview what would happen

Scale — Intel before operation

Evolve operates at three scales. The assessment phase determines which:

Scale	Scope	When	Intel source
File	Single file refactor	--simplify on small beads	LSP, mache get_impact
Repo	Cross-file coherence	Default mode, most beads	mache get_communities, dependency graph
Ecosystem	Cross-repo dependencies	Beads touching shared types/APIs	rosary.toml repo list, ../ traversal

Ecosystem scale applies when:

• A bead references files in multiple repos (e.g., signet cert format + rig cert minting)
• A change in one repo breaks assumptions in another
• Imports or configs reference external repos

Scale detection is DERIVED, not configured:

1. Check if rosary.toml exists -- if yes, read the repo map
2. If not, check ../ for sibling repos (common monorepo/workspace pattern)
3. Check imports/configs for cross-repo references (go.mod, Cargo.toml, package.json)
4. If no cross-repo deps found, operate at repo scale

At ecosystem scale, the scoping-agent maps dependencies (rosary.toml OR ../ scan), then checks if the bead's files touch any cross-repo seams (use rosary:seam-discovery). If yes, plan.md must document which repos are affected and in what order.

The skill works with zero config. rosary.toml is a hint, not a requirement.

Personas — Who works on what

Agents are personas (perspective + judgment) with abilities (skills + tools):

Persona	Perspective	Skills	Constraints
scoping-agent	Planner — enriches before expensive work	note	Haiku model, cheap
dev-agent	Implementer — finds complexity, fixes it	simplify	Full access
principal-agent	Does what is right, not what was asked	evolve, simplify, seam-discovery, note	Full access, Opus
skeptic-agent	Distrusts AI output, assumes wrong until proven	note	Read-only, no Write/Edit
staging-agent	Adversarial tester — tests test real behavior?		Read-only
prod-agent	Finds resource leaks, error swallowing, concurrency	note	Read-only
pm-agent	Strategic — cross-repo overlap, scope creep, retro	note, evolve	Full access

Mode determines which personas deploy:

Mode	Generator	Evaluator
default	dev-agent	staging-agent
--simplify	principal-agent	skeptic-agent
--security	prod-agent	skeptic-agent
--fe	dev-agent	staging-agent
--prune	janitor-agent	skeptic-agent

Team Scaling — Match team size to task size

The scoping-agent determines team composition. Mode selects which AGENTS, scale selects HOW MANY:

Bead scope	Team	Rationale
1 file	Generator solo	No coordination overhead
2-5 files, same module	Generator + evaluator	Minimal viable pipeline
>5 files OR cross-module	Scoping + generator + evaluator + skeptic	Full pipeline
--simplify (any size)	principal-agent + skeptic	Simplify always needs adversarial check
--security (any size)	prod-agent + skeptic	Security always needs adversarial check

How to determine scale:

1. Count files in bead scope
2. Check if files span multiple directories (mache get_communities if available)
3. Mode flags (--simplify, --security) override file-count logic
4. Scoping-agent writes team composition into plan.md's ## Team section

For 1-file scale: the generator agent does its own verification (no separate evaluator). This avoids spawning a second agent just to re-run one lint command.

Architecture (Anthropic Harness Pattern)

Separate generator from evaluator. Self-evaluation creates confirmation bias; external evaluation enables skepticism. File-based handoff between stages.

bead (contract: "what done looks like")
  -> scoping-agent (reads bead + files, writes plan.md)
    -> dev-agent (implements, stages changes -- does NOT commit)
      -> evaluator (runs typecheck + tests, writes eval.md)
        -> PASS: team lead commits + closes bead
        -> FAIL: feedback.md -> dev-agent retries (max 3)
          -> pm-agent (post-mortem, updates operating principles)

Critical rules:

• Agents stage changes, they do NOT commit
• Evaluator is the gate -- no code merges without passing eval
• File-based handoff: plan.md -> changes -> eval.md -> feedback.md
• Bead = sprint contract (what done looks like, not how to do it)

What To Do

1. Assess

rsry bead list       -> open beads for this repo
mache get_overview   -> structural health (if available)
git log --oneline -20 -> recent momentum

Classify each open bead:

• Closable now -- small, files known, tests writable (<30 min)
• Needs design -- architecture decision, multiple approaches
• Blocked -- waiting on external (CF beta, pricing decision, other repo)
• Stale -- already done or superseded (auto-close these)

For --simplify mode: ignore beads. Scan codebase for:

• Duplicated patterns (mache get_communities)
• High-complexity files (LOC > 300, many imports)
• Unused exports, dead code paths
• Inconsistent error handling or response shapes File ephemeral beads for each extraction, execute, close in same run.

2. Derive the lifecycle -- Don't configure, discover

For each closable bead, the scoping-agent DERIVES the lifecycle from the code. Do not ask the human to define these -- read the codebase and figure it out. If something is NOT derivable, ASK the human before proceeding.

Starting point (derive from bead + code):

• Problem statement: what does the bead describe? Read the bead description.
• Current state: read the files the bead touches. What exists today?
• Outcome: what should be different after? Derive from bead title + description.
• If the bead is vague, ASK: "What does done look like for {bead-id}?"

Stopping point (derive from existing tests + types):

• Definition of done: does a test exist that would fail today and pass after? If yes, that's the acceptance criterion. If no, write one.
• Acceptance criteria: typecheck passes, existing tests don't regress, new test passes.
• If there are no tests for this area, ASK: "No tests cover {file}. Should I add one?"

Validation (derive from the dependency graph):

• What calls this code? (mache find_callers or grep)
• What does this code call? (mache find_callees)
• If callers > 3, the change is high-risk -- evaluator must verify each caller.
• If the file has no callers, it might be dead code -- flag for --prune.

Verification and attestation (cite sources):

• Every claim in plan.md must have a citation:
  • File path + line number for code references
  • Bead ID for the work item
  • Test name for acceptance criteria
  • mache output for dependency claims
• If you can't cite it, you don't know it. ASK or investigate.

The scoping-agent writes all of this into plan.md:

## Plan: {bead-id} -- {title}

### Starting point
- Problem: {derived from bead description}
- Files: {list with line numbers}
- Current behavior: {what the code does now, with citations}

### Stopping point
- Done when: {test name} passes
- Acceptance: typecheck + {N} existing tests + 1 new test
- LOC delta: {estimate, negative for simplify}

### Validation
- Callers: {list from mache/grep, with file:line}
- Risk: {low|medium|high} because {reason}

### Verification
- Citations: {every claim has a file:line or bead-id}
- Questions for human: {anything not derivable}

If the Questions for human section is non-empty, STOP and ask before executing. An empty questions section means the plan is self-contained and can proceed autonomously.

2.5 Discover Verification — Don't hardcode, probe

The scoping-agent discovers verification commands for the repo. This replaces any hardcoded assumptions about what tools a repo uses.

Principle: One path, multiple callers. Evolve uses the same commands a developer runs locally, CI runs remotely, and pre-commit runs on commit. It never invents its own verification commands.

Probe hierarchy (scoping-agent checks in order, uses first match per category):

Priority	File	Extract
1	Taskfile.yml	Parse task names — lint, test, check, typecheck, build
2	Makefile	Parse targets — lint, test, check
3	package.json	Parse scripts — test, lint, typecheck, build
4	Cargo.toml	cargo test, cargo clippy, cargo build
5	go.mod	go test ./..., go vet ./...
6	mix.exs	mix test, mix format --check-formatted
7	pyproject.toml	pytest, ruff check .

Fast-fail layer: Before running any of the above, the evaluator runs mache get_diagnostics on changed files. Type/syntax errors caught in milliseconds — no point running a 30-second test suite if the code doesn't parse.

Commit gate: If .pre-commit-config.yaml exists, run pre-commit run --all-files as a final gate. If not, suggest bootstrapping from the reference template in docs/pre-commit-reference.yaml.

Hard stop: If NO verification tooling is found, STOP and ask the human: "No verification tooling found in {repo}. What should I run?" Do not guess. Do not proceed without verification.

The scoping-agent writes all discovered commands into plan.md's ## Verification section. Downstream agents read this section — they never probe on their own.

3. Execute -- Generator -> Evaluator pipeline

Generator (dev-agent, per bead):

• Reads plan.md (including ## Verification section)
• Implements the fix
• Runs ALL verify commands from plan.md's Verification section
• Captures stdout/stderr of each command
• Stages changes (git add)
• Writes changes.md with:
  • Summary of what was done
  • Verification Output section with actual command output and exit codes
  • If any command failed, reports the failure — does NOT claim success
• Does NOT commit

Evaluator (staging-agent, after ALL generators finish):

• Runs mache get_diagnostics on changed files (fast-fail — ms)
• Re-runs ALL verify commands from plan.md independently (does NOT trust generator's output)
• Compares its results against generator's claimed results in changes.md
• If results differ, that itself is a finding (stale state, flaky test, or lie)
• Reads each changes.md
• Writes eval.md per bead: PASS or FAIL with:
  • Its own command output as evidence
  • Specific error messages if FAIL (not just "tests failed")
  • Diff against generator's claimed output if they diverge

On FAIL: writes feedback.md with the exact error output (command, exit code, stderr). Generator retries with this specific error context (max 3). If all retries fail, bead stays open with error details as a comment via rsry_bead_comment.

On PASS: team lead commits all passing beads as one batch.

4. Commit -- Team lead only

Only after evaluator passes ALL changes:

• One commit per bead: [bead-id] type(scope): description
• git push origin main
• Deploy if applicable
• Close beads via rsry

5. Post-mortem -- pm-agent reviews the run

After every run, pm-agent writes postmortem.md:

## /evolve post-mortem -- {date}

### What worked
- dev-agent extracted middleware correctly on first try

### What failed
- api-cleanup left unused imports (evaluator caught on retry)

### Operating principles (updated)
1. Always run typecheck before reporting done
2. JSX components: verify rendered, not just imported
3. as-any casts: document WHY, link upstream issue

### Agent prompt improvements
- dev-agent: add "run typecheck before done"
- staging-agent: add "check unused imports specifically"

### Metrics
- Beads closed: 4 | Retries: 1 | Human interventions: 0

Operating principles feed back into agent prompts. Each run makes agents better.

6. Report

## /evolve run -- {date} ({mode})

### Closed
- rig-abc123: Fixed X (3 files, 2 tests)

### Needs human
- rig-967ae1: Needs pricing decision

### Blocked
- rig-bf1493: Waiting on CF beta

### Health
- Typecheck: pass | Tests: 52/52 | Deploy: v{id}
- Beads: 39 -> 35 | LOC delta: -47

### Post-mortem
- 1 retry, 0 human interventions, 2 principles updated

Scheduling

/rosary:evolve                        # full sweep
/rosary:evolve --simplify             # refactor pass
/rosary:evolve --dry-run              # preview only
/loop 30m /rosary:evolve --simplify   # continuous refactoring
/loop 4h /rosary:evolve               # full sweep every 4 hours

Lifecycle conditions

START: bead open + files specified + description clear + verification discovered STOP: evaluator passes + ALL discovered verify commands green (with evidence) ESCALATE: critical issue found, or >3 files without tests, or no verification tooling found RETRY: evaluator fails with specific error output (max 3 per bead) NEVER: commit without eval pass, push with failing tests, proceed without verification

Provenance

Commits: [bead-id] type(scope): description PRs: bead link + test results + files + agent name Post-mortem: what agents learned + principles updated Future: BDR-configurable output templates per repo (rig-d2b660)