status-beacon

name	status-beacon
description	Lightweight mid-flight progress logging for long agent runs. Where `report-back` writes the final outcome, status-beacon drops short, timestamped progress notes to a file DURING the work so a human or orchestrator can check in without interrupting. Triggers on long/multi-phase tasks, or when the user says "keep a log", "leave progress notes", "beacon this", "let me track this". Appends to a `progress.md` inside the active bundle/work dir. Honest about uncertainty — notes are signals, not guarantees. Works across Claude, Cursor, Copilot, Codex, Gemini, Aider, Windsurf.
license	MIT

Status-beacon

A long agent run is a black box until it ends. This skill cracks the box open with cheap, append-only progress notes so the orchestrator can watch without stopping the work.

When to Use This Skill

Trigger when:

• A task spans many phases / long execution (a report-back at the end isn't enough visibility)
• The user says "keep a log", "leave progress notes", "beacon this", "let me track this"
• An execute run delegates to a coding agent that will run for a while

How It Works

Append, don't rewrite

Append one block per milestone to progress.md in the active bundle/work dir:

## <ISO timestamp> — <phase>
- Did: <one line>
- Next: <one line>
- Blocked: <none | reason>
- Confidence: <high | medium | low> that this is on track

Cadence

One beacon per meaningful milestone (a phase done, a decision made, a block hit) — not per file edit. Aim for signal, not noise: a reader should reconstruct the run from the beacons alone.

Handoff to report-back

When the run ends, report-back reads progress.md to seed the final report, then writes the -shipped/handoff.md. Beacons are the rough log; the report is the clean record.

Operational Rules

1. Append-only. Never rewrite history — the timeline is the value.
2. Milestones, not keystrokes. Beacon on phase/decision/block boundaries.
3. Be honest about confidence. "low confidence, exploring" beats false certainty.
4. No secrets in the log. Same rule as everywhere.
5. Beacons feed report-back. Don't duplicate the final report inline.

Position in the PURE Loop

Runs alongside execute for long delegations; its progress.md is the raw material report-back distills. Together with organize-agents, it gives the orchestrator both live (beacon) and final (report) views of every run.

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Part of the Vibe Coding Mastery skill suite. MIT licensed.