ck-autoresearch

# ck:autoresearch — Autonomous Optimization Loop > Constraint + Mechanical Metric + Fast Verification = Autonomous Improvement ## When to Use - Improve a measurable metric (test coverage, bundle size, ESLint errors, Lighthouse score, etc.) - Autonomous execution over N iterations without manual intervention - Git-tracked experiments where you want rollback on regression - Exploring a search space of code changes with consistent evaluation ## When NOT to Use | Situation | Better Tool | |-----------|-------------| | Subjective goals ("make it cleaner") | `ck:cook` | | Bug fixing with known root cause | `ck:fix` or `ck:debug` | | One-shot tasks, no repetition needed | `ck:cook` | | No mechanical metric to measure progress | `ck:cook --interactive` | | Files outside a defined scope | manual approach | ## Configuration Format Parsed from user message. Missing required fields trigger a **batched** `AskUserQuestion`. ### Required | Field | Description | Example | |-------|-------------|---------| | `Goal` | Human description of what to improve | `"Increase test coverage in src/utils"` | | `Scope` | Glob pattern(s) for editable files | `"src/utils/**/*.ts"` | | `Verify` | Shell command that outputs **a single number** | `"npx jest --coverage --json \| jq '.coverageMap \| .. \| .s? \| to_entries \| map(.value) \| (map(select(.>0)) \| length) / length * 100' \| tail -1"` | ### Optional | Field | Default | Description | |-------|---------|-------------| | `Guard` | none | Regression check command (exit 0 = pass) | | `Iterations` | 10 | Maximum iterations to run | | `Noise` | medium | Tolerance for metric variance: `low` / `medium` / `high` | | `Min-Delta` | 0 | Minimum improvement to count as progress | | `Direction` | higher | Whether `higher` or `lower` metric value is better | ## Interactive Setup When required fields are missing, ask all at once: ``` AskUserQuestion({ questions: [ { question: "What metric do you want to improve? (e.g. 'test coverage in src/utils')", field: "Goal" }, { question: "Which files may be edited? (glob, e.g. 'src/utils/**/*.ts')", field: "Scope" }, { question: "Verify command — must print a single number to stdout", field: "Verify" }, { question: "Guard command for regression check? (optional, press Enter to skip)", field: "Guard" } ] }) ``` ## Core Protocol See [`references/autonomous-loop-protocol.md`](references/autonomous-loop-protocol.md) for the full 8-phase specification. **Key invariants:** - ONE atomic change per iteration — atomicity test: can you describe it in one sentence without "and"? - Commit BEFORE verify — git is memory, not a safety net - Guard files are **read-only** — never modify files in guard command's scope - Prefer `git revert` over `git reset` — preserve history ## Results Logging Each iteration appends a TSV line to `loop-results.tsv` in the working directory: ``` iteration commit metric delta status description 0 a1b2c3d 80.0 - baseline initial measurement 1 e4f5a6b 82.4 +2.4 keep add null checks to parser.ts 2 - 81.9 -0.5 discard extract helper function ``` See [`references/autonomous-loop-protocol.md`](references/autonomous-loop-protocol.md) — Phase 7 for full schema. ## Stuck Detection | Condition | Action | |-----------|--------| | 5 consecutive discards | Analyze patterns → shift strategy (different files, different approach) | | 10 consecutive discards | STOP — report findings, surface to user | ## Example Invocations ### 1. Increase test coverage ``` /ck:autoresearch Goal: Increase test coverage in src/utils from ~60% to 80% Scope: src/utils/**/*.ts, tests/utils/**/*.test.ts Verify: npx jest tests/utils --coverage --coverageReporters=json-summary 2>/dev/null | node -e "const d=require('./coverage-summary.json');console.log(d.total.lines.pct)" Guard: npx tsc --noEmit && npx jest --passWithNoTests Iterations: 15 Direction: higher ``` ### 2. Reduce bundle size ``` /ck:autoresearch Goal: Reduce main bundle size below 200KB Scope: src/**/*.ts, src/**/*.tsx Verify: npx vite build 2>/dev/null | grep "dist/index" | awk '{print $2}' | sed 's/kB//' Guard: npx tsc --noEmit Direction: lower Min-Delta: 0.5 ``` ### 3. Eliminate ESLint errors ``` /ck:autoresearch Goal: Drive ESLint error count to zero in src/api Scope: src/api/**/*.ts Verify: npx eslint src/api --format=json 2>/dev/null | node -e "const r=require('/dev/stdin');console.log(r.reduce((a,f)=>a+f.errorCount,0))" || echo 999 Direction: lower Iterations: 20 ``` ## Limitations (Honest) - Cannot optimize subjective or aesthetic goals - Cannot modify files outside the declared `Scope` - Cannot modify files referenced by the `Guard` command - Cannot guarantee improvement — some metrics have hard ceilings - Requires a **git repository with a clean working tree** before starting - `Verify` command must complete in **< 30 seconds** (otherwise loop is impractical) - Does not parallelize iterations — sequential by design (each iteration learns from the last) ## References - [`references/autonomous-loop-protocol.md`](references/autonomous-loop-protocol.md) — Full 8-phase loop spec, decision matrix, anti-patterns - [`references/git-memory-pattern.md`](references/git-memory-pattern.md) — Git as cross-iteration memory, revert vs reset, commit conventions - [`references/guard-and-noise.md`](references/guard-and-noise.md) — Guard pattern for regression prevention, noise-aware verification - [`references/results-logging.md`](references/results-logging.md) — TSV format spec, progressive summaries - [`references/metric-library.md`](references/metric-library.md) — Common verify commands by domain