ak-codex-goal

name	ak:codex-goal
description	Guide long-running Codex goal work with a verifiable stop condition. Use when users mention /goal, goal mode, durable objectives, or autonomous multi-turn Codex runs.
user-invocable	true
when_to_use	Invoke for Codex-native /goal guidance, not generic iteration loops or multi-CLI orchestration.
category	utilities
keywords	["codex","goal","autonomous","validation","long-running"]
license	MIT
argument-hint	<objective | goal draft>
metadata	{"author":"agentkit","version":"1.0.0","upstream":"Pinned MIT source archive: codex-goal-loop@ce70edaa26247b84c2b9491a0cdb4964f65cf3a5"}

Codex Goal

Use Codex /goal for a durable objective that has a clear stopping condition and a validation loop. It is not a safety boundary, a replacement for product decisions, or a way to run an unbounded backlog.

Availability Check

Confirm /goal appears in the Codex slash-command list. If it does not, enable the documented feature flag in config.toml:

[features]
goals = true

Alternatively run: codex features enable goals

As verified on 2026-07-11, the official guide documents setting a goal with /goal , checking it with /goal, and controlling it with /goal pause, /goal resume, and /goal clear. Re-check the current documentation before relying on any behavior not stated here: https://learn.chatgpt.com/use-cases/follow-goals

Use Test

Use a goal only when all three are true:

1. The task is longer than one normal turn and mainly mechanical.
2. The stop condition is verifiable through tests, an eval, a build, or another explicit artifact.
3. The scope is sufficiently clear that Codex can make progress without a product or architecture decision at each checkpoint.

Do not use it for exploratory work, vague improvement requests, production credential changes, destructive shared infrastructure, or unrelated backlogs.

Draft the Goal Contract

Give Codex one objective, files to read first, constraints, a validation command, checkpoints, and a stop condition:

/goal Complete <objective>.
Read first: <plan, issue, files>.
Constraints: <unchanged contracts and scope boundary>.
Validate after each checkpoint: <command>.
Keep a brief progress log.
Stop when <verifiable end state>, or when further work needs human input.

Include a prohibition against weakening, narrowing, skipping, or deleting tests to satisfy the goal. Pause for ambiguity instead of inventing a product decision. Review the final diff before merging.

Boundaries

• Use ak-loop, available in the engineer kit, for local metric-driven iteration.
• Use ak-orchestrate, available in the engineer kit, for dispatch across multiple coding-agent CLIs.
• Do not claim undocumented versions, authentication restrictions, or internal lifecycle states. Treat the official documentation as the source of truth.