execute

name	execute
argument-hint	<--session <uuid> | --plan <text|path> --title <title> | --review-only> [--stop-after <stage>] [--handsfree] [--accept-external-state]
description	Run the execution + quality polish + delivery stages of review-loop against one of three entry modes: resume an approved session (`--session`), execute a user-supplied plan (`--plan`), or run a pure-CR pass on the current working tree (`--review-only`). Supports batched runs via `--stop-after <stage>`. Use when you already have a plan, or only want CR on existing code.

execute — Execution + Polish + Delivery Sub-Skill

Drive an approved / user-supplied / review-only plan through the execution loop, quality polish (Step 3.5), docs consistency (3.6), security preflight (3.7), and delivery (Step 4). Supports multi-batch runs via --stop-after <stage> and the unsafe --accept-external-state opt-in.

Protocol Imports

The Orchestrator MUST Read each of these files at start. They are the single source of truth for this skill's execution loop and output schemas.

• docs/protocol/session-file.md
• docs/protocol/execution.md
• docs/protocol/executor-output.md
• docs/protocol/reviewer-output.md

Do not re-derive any rule that already lives in a protocol doc. When a step below says "see docs/protocol/<doc>.md §Foo", follow that doc verbatim. The startup read set is complete only after all 4 docs above have been read explicitly; the embedded executor/reviewer prompt bodies are not a substitute for reading executor-output.md and reviewer-output.md.

Orchestrator rules

• Plugin agent-type sandbox bug: every Executor / Reviewer / quality agent invocation MUST use subagent_type: general-purpose with the agent's full .md body inlined in the prompt parameter. Never use subagent_type: review-loop:<name>. See CLAUDE.md §"Plugin agent type sandbox bug".
• Unsupported --stop-after values are rejected at parse time, before any lock is acquired or session field is written. The Orchestrator must not modify the session file or create the lock until flag parsing has succeeded.
• Only the Orchestrator writes to the session file. Sub-agents read.
• Live Reports after each round are not optional.

Invocation — three mutually-exclusive entry modes

Exactly one of the three entry flags must be supplied. Supplying more than one is a parse error; the Orchestrator exits without touching the session file or the lock.

# Entry mode 1 — resume an approved session
run execute: --session <uuid> [--stop-after <stage>] [--handsfree] [--accept-external-state]

# Entry mode 2 — execute a user-supplied plan verbatim
run execute: --plan <text|path> --title <...> [--description <...>] [--stop-after <stage>] [--handsfree] [--accept-external-state]

# Entry mode 3 — pure code-review over the current working tree
run execute: --review-only [--description <what was done>] [--stop-after <stage>] [--handsfree] [--accept-external-state]

---

Step 0 — Parse and validate flags

Before parsing flags or touching session state, Read the 4 Protocol Imports docs listed above.

Execute before any lock or session write.

1. Entry-mode mutual exclusion: count how many of --session, --plan, --review-only are present. If ≠ 1 → print usage and exit with non-zero.

2. --stop-after <stage>: validate against the Claude Code full supported set (per docs/protocol/execution.md §Runtime-supported subsets):

   • exec-round
   • before-polish
   • before-docs
   • before-security
   • before-delivery
   • delivery (default when flag is absent)

   Any other value → reject at parse time. Error message must list the supported subset. Do not create the lock, do not touch the session file.

3. --handsfree: enable handsfree mode for this invocation. Handsfree alone does NOT auto-accept drift — see --accept-external-state.

4. --accept-external-state: unsafe opt-in. Auto-selects "(A) accept" wherever docs/protocol/session-file.md instructs the Orchestrator to pause-and-confirm (drift check step 4; backward-compat missing-baseline fallback). Documented as unsafe: the user is opting out of pausing on external tree drift. The flag has no effect outside those two prompts — it does not bypass unmerged-conflict errors, unknown-git-state errors, or per-stage hard-stops.

5. Config load: read .review-loop/config.md if present; otherwise use defaults from skills/review-loop/SKILL.md §Configuration.

6. Reviewer backend availability: same probe as plan skill (which codex for reviewer: codex).

Step 0.5 — Resolve target UUID (no writes yet)

Compute the session UUID so the lock path is known; do not read or write the session file yet — the single-writer lock must come first per docs/protocol/session-file.md §Lock file lifecycle.

• --session <uuid>: adopt the UUID the user supplied. Confirm the path is well-formed (.review-loop/sessions/{uuid}.md). Do not Read the file content yet.
• --plan <text|path>: generate a fresh lowercase UUID.
• --review-only: generate a fresh lowercase UUID.

Flag parsing (Step 0) and --stop-after validation have already completed; those steps are intentionally pre-lock per the --stop-after design-spec requirement and docs/protocol/execution.md §Parse-time validation.

Step 1 — Acquire the single-writer lock

Per docs/protocol/session-file.md §Lock file lifecycle. Every subsequent read and write of the session file (creation, resume-time re-baselining, round updates) must happen under this lock. Summary:

• .review-loop/sessions/{uuid}.lock — PID, ISO-8601 started_at, entry_point, stop_after.
• No lock → proceed. Lock present + PID alive → refuse. Lock present + PID dead → prompt-to-recover.
• Release on every clean exit path (delivery, --stop-after stop, signal abort trap, unrecoverable error trap).

Step 1.5 — Initialize or resume the session (under the lock)

Per the entry-mode initialization table in docs/protocol/session-file.md §Entry-mode initialization table. All reads and writes below happen after Step 1 acquired the lock.

entry_point is set once on session creation per docs/protocol/session-file.md §Session Metadata schema; --session resumes preserve the original value.

Mode: --session <uuid>

1. Read .review-loop/sessions/{uuid}.md. If the file is missing → release the lock and exit with an error.
2. Preserve all existing canonical content.
3. Respect backward-compat fallback: if any baseline quintet field is missing, pause-and-prompt per docs/protocol/session-file.md §Backward-compat fallback. --accept-external-state auto-picks (A). Handsfree alone blocks. The entry_point backfill rule for legacy sessions also lives in docs/protocol/session-file.md §Session Metadata schema; this skill defers to the protocol doc rather than re-stating it here.

Mode: --plan <text|path>

1. Create .review-loop/sessions/{uuid}.md with the --plan column of the init table:
   • ## Approved Plan → - Source: user-supplied followed by the user's free-form plan text injected verbatim. If --plan was a path, read the file and inject its contents; if it was inline text, inject directly.
   • ## Current Phase: execution.
   • ## Context = "User-supplied plan; no planning-phase context captured." + any --description.
   • ## Acceptance Criteria = "Implementation matches the user-supplied plan in ## Approved Plan.".
2. Write ## Session Metadata:
   • entry_point: execute-from-plan
   • plan_source: user-supplied
   • Fresh baseline quintet (base_head, base_dirty, etc.) from current repo state.
3. This mode drives provenance-aware reviewer behavior: during execution rounds the reviewer's plan-conformance deviations are advisory / MINOR per docs/protocol/execution.md §Provenance-aware reviewer prompts, plan_source: user-supplied block. Correctness + intent-alignment are still enforced strictly.

Mode: --review-only

1. Create .review-loop/sessions/{uuid}.md with the --review-only column of the init table:

   • ## Approved Plan → - Source: review-only followed by the two-line canonical sentinel exactly as documented in docs/protocol/session-file.md §Canonical sentinel for review-only:

     (none — review-only mode)
     
     Scope: see `## Review Target` section below.
     

     No other text goes into the body.

   • ## Review Target (non-canonical supplemental section) is populated from the user's --description / scope arguments.

   • ## Current Phase: execution.

   • ## Files Changed — populated from the actual post-open dirty set (read-only snapshot).

2. Write ## Session Metadata:
   • entry_point: review-only
   • plan_source: review-only
   • Fresh baseline quintet from current repo state.
3. The execution loop skips the first Executor round per docs/protocol/execution.md §--review-only first-round skip.

Step 2 — Drift check

Per docs/protocol/session-file.md §Drift-check decision tree (5 steps). For --plan and --review-only fresh sessions, the freshly written baseline equals current state so step 2 + 3 pass cleanly. For --session resumes, run the full decision tree.

On detected drift:

(A) Accept drift and reset baseline to current state
    (clears completed_stages entirely, including exec)
(B) Abort

• --accept-external-state auto-picks (A). Unsafe.
• Handsfree still blocks on drift (external fact, not a design decision).
• On (A): set base_head ← current_head, base_dirty ← current_dirty, last_verified_head ← current_head, last_verified_dirty ← current_dirty, clear completed_stages entirely, continue.
• On (B): release the lock, exit.

Resume from non-null delivery_blocked_by

Per docs/protocol/session-file.md §Resume from non-null delivery_blocked_by. When the existing session has a non-null delivery_blocked_by: prompt continue-or-abort with the previous block reason; on continue, clear delivery_blocked_by ← null and then run the standard drift check.

Step 3 — Execution round loop

Per docs/protocol/execution.md §Step 3 — Execution round loop. Round sequence: update context → Executor (skipped on --review-only round 1) → update context → optional context-persist sub-step → Reviewer → parse → Live Report → loop control.

Provenance-aware reviewer prompts

The Orchestrator picks the reviewer-prompt block that matches the active ## Session Metadata.plan_source, per docs/protocol/execution.md §Provenance-aware reviewer prompts:

• plan_source: reviewer-approved → strict plan-conformance block.
• plan_source: user-supplied → plan-conformance deviations become [MINOR]/advisory unless they change user-visible behavior or violate acceptance criteria; correctness + intent still enforced. The orchestrator MUST emit the literal sentinel (plan_source: user-supplied — plan conformance is advisory/MINOR) verbatim inside the reviewer prompt so tests and audits can confirm this block was selected.
• plan_source: review-only → pure CR mode. No plan-conformance language. Reviewer is explicitly told the Approved Plan body is the canonical sentinel from docs/protocol/session-file.md §Canonical sentinel for review-only and ## Review Target carries the scope.

--review-only first-round skip

Per docs/protocol/execution.md §--review-only first-round skip:

1. Round 1 — jump straight to the Reviewer. No Executor output. The review content targets the existing diff + ## Review Target scope. The Orchestrator writes the round-1 Review History entry with the literal marker - Executor backend: skipped (review-only first round) so tests and audits can assert the skip unambiguously.
2. APPROVE → enter the normal post-APPROVE transition: run Step 3.4 before Step 3.5, and mint exec only after Step 3.4 APPROVE/controlled SKIP, or after Step 3.4 REQUEST_CHANGES is repaired and a later normal Step 3 Reviewer returns APPROVE. This remains the only path where exec can be added without the Executor running before the first review-only gate.
3. REQUEST_CHANGES → round 2+ follows the standard CR → fix loop (Executor runs, then Reviewer, alternating).

Executor / Reviewer dispatch (Claude Code)

Executor: see docs/protocol/planning.md §Executor dispatch, Claude Code block — same template, with the execution-mode task body per docs/protocol/execution.md §Round steps step 2.

Dispatch anchor: execute_executor_dispatch_skill. The execution-phase Executor remains a judgment-tier dispatch and resolves model as executor_model if set and not inherit, else judgment_model if set, else omit.

Reviewer: see docs/protocol/planning.md §Reviewer dispatch, Claude Code block, with the execution-mode review content template per docs/protocol/execution.md §Round steps step 5. review_style and review_focus apply to all rounds, not only round 2+.

Never use subagent_type: review-loop:<name> — plugin agent-type sandbox bug. Always general-purpose with body inlined.

Loop control

• APPROVE → exit the execution loop. If Step 3.4 has not yet run in this execution convergence, run Step 3.4 before Step 3.5 and do not mint exec yet. Step 3.4 is single-pass per execution convergence. Step 3.4 APPROVE or controlled SKIP mints exec into completed_stages for the current tree+index state, then proceeds to Step 3.5 unless --stop-after before-polish. Step 3.4 REQUEST_CHANGES withholds exec and feeds the gate findings to ordinary Step 3 Executor/Reviewer repair rounds; do not run Step 3.4 again while repairing those findings. A later normal Step 3 reviewer APPROVE after those repairs mints exec and proceeds to Step 3.5 unless --stop-after before-polish.
• REQUEST_CHANGES → feed feedback to the next Executor round.
• Soft limit + stuck detection per docs/protocol/execution.md §Per-stage max-round caps (soft_limit_exec, default 3).
• --stop-after exec-round → clean exit after the current round finishes (even on REQUEST_CHANGES). Perform step 5 of the drift tree (update last_verified_*, append to session_commits).

No-op round validation

Per docs/protocol/execution.md §No-op execution round validation. The Orchestrator compares the Executor's claimed file list against the current-round delta (pre-round vs post-round). Same path sets alone do not prove a no-op.

• If git diff --name-only HEAD itself fails (non-zero exit, missing repo, etc.) when computing the pre-Executor or post-Executor changed set, stop and surface the failure to the user. Then release the single-writer lock per docs/protocol/session-file.md §Lock file lifecycle before exiting. Do not proceed with a partial or invented changed-set.

Step 3.4 — Terminal Adversarial Gate

Per docs/protocol/execution.md §Step 3.4 — Terminal Adversarial Gate. Single-entry-point Python invoker; single-pass per execution convergence between Step 3 APPROVE and Step 3.5 polish entry. Gate APPROVE/SKIP mints exec; gate REQUEST_CHANGES returns to ordinary Step 3 repair rounds without minting exec, and the gate does not run again while repairing those findings. All concerns (plugin-path preference, snapshot/restore, drain threads, signal cleanup) live inside the invoker.

# Terminal Adversarial Gate — single-entry-point Python invoker.
python3 scripts/adversarial_gate_invoke.py --focus-file "$focus_text_file"
adversarial_exit=$?
# 0 → APPROVE; 1 → REQUEST_CHANGES; SKIP reasons land on stderr.

SKIP banner format: adversarial-gate: SKIP reason=<reason>[ detail=<...>] (5 reasons per the protocol-doc SKIP-reason table). Verdict table: adapter exit 0 → APPROVE; exit 1 → REQUEST_CHANGES; exit 2 → REQUEST_CHANGES because produced-but-malformed adversarial output is blocking, not SKIP. APPROVE mints exec; REQUEST_CHANGES does not mint exec and feeds findings to ordinary Step 3 repair rounds without another Step 3.4 pass in that repair path.

Fallback cleanup failure is a blocking REQUEST_CHANGES, not SKIP: if .review-loop/config.md cannot be proven restored/deleted after fallback execution, or an unexpected existing or create-from-empty config change must be preserved for inspection, do not mint exec; feed the synthetic [CRITICAL] cleanup issue to ordinary Step 3 repair rounds without another Step 3.4 pass in that repair path.

No Agent dispatch involved — invoker is a Bash shell-out to Python, so the plugin-agent-sandbox bug does not apply.

The adversarial_gate_skip_paths config key (default ["**/SKILL.md", "docs/protocol/**", "tests/skills/contracts/**"]) lets the orchestrator skip the gate entirely when every Step 3 changed file matches one of the patterns.

Step 3.5 — Quality Polish

Per docs/protocol/execution.md §Step 3.5. Runs language-specific static analysis, code-quality review-fix loop, simplify, test consolidation. quality_focus applies only when Step 3.5 Quality Polish actually runs. If skip_quality_polish: true in config, mint polish as a no-op completion and continue to Step 3.6.

• Any substep that writes code clears completed_stages and the Orchestrator replays from exec per docs/protocol/session-file.md §completed_stages lifecycle. Each replay iteration that writes files clears the set and restarts from exec. Termination is guaranteed by the per-stage caps.
• Narrow reviewer-only fast-replay exception: eligible Step 3.5.4 prose/comment/metadata-only writes that do not touch lint-pinned needles or change the bash scripts/run-skill-lint baseline may preserve the current completed_stages per docs/protocol/session-file.md §completed_stages lifecycle.
• Step 3.5.4 reviewer-only fast-replay APPROVE does not mint polish. Step 3.5.6 mints polish only after the full Step 3.5 invocation finishes cleanly with either no writes, or only eligible writes already approved by reviewer-only fast-replay.
• Hallucination guard: for every quality agent returning tool_uses: 0, discard and retry once; if retry is also 0, skip and report.
• --stop-after before-polish → exit after Step 3.4 APPROVE/SKIP and before Step 3.5 starts. --stop-after before-docs → exit after Step 3.5 and before Step 3.6.

All Step 3.5 invocations use subagent_type: general-purpose with the agent body inlined, per docs/protocol/execution.md §3.5.2 / §3.5.3 / §3.5.4 / §3.5.5.

Step 3.6 — Documentation Consistency

Per docs/protocol/execution.md §Step 3.6. Single pass. Update project docs + fix stale code comments. Writes → clear completed_stages, replay from exec, except for the narrow reviewer-only fast-replay exception above when the write is eligible prose/comment/metadata-only work that does not touch lint-pinned needles or change the bash scripts/run-skill-lint baseline. No-write or approved reviewer-only fast-replay → mint docs. After minting docs, proceed to Step 3.7 — a no-op docs stage is not a terminal state.

• Hallucination guard: for every documentation-stage agent returning tool_uses: 0, discard and retry once; if retry is also 0, skip and report.

--stop-after before-security → exit after Step 3.6 and before Step 3.7.

Step 3.7 — Security Preflight

Per docs/protocol/execution.md §Step 3.7. Single scan. Check for tracked/staged sensitive files; audit .gitignore for missing coverage. Writes to .gitignore or git rm --cached → clear completed_stages, replay from exec. No-write → mint security.

Step 3.7 runs unconditionally after Step 3.6, regardless of whether any prior stage wrote files. A no-op session (zero code changes, zero doc updates) still runs this scan — it is a security gate, not a content-dependent step. The only exits before 3.7 are --stop-after before-security / before-docs / before-polish / exec-round.

• Hallucination guard: for every security-stage agent returning tool_uses: 0, discard and retry once; if retry is also 0, skip and report.

--stop-after before-delivery → exit after Step 3.7 and before Step 4.

Step 4 — Delivery

Per docs/protocol/execution.md §Step 4 — Delivery, gated by the delivery gate in §Delivery gate: runtime_supported_set ⊆ completed_stages. For Claude Code the runtime set is {exec, polish, docs, security}; for Codex Stage 1 it is {exec, polish, docs, security}. Codex Stage 1: {exec, polish, docs, security} ⊆ completed_stages.

On gate failure, hard-stop per §Delivery gate: set delivery_blocked_by ← <first missing stage>, release the single-writer lock per docs/protocol/session-file.md §Lock file lifecycle, and exit without delivering. The stuck summary is printed from docs/protocol/execution.md §Per-stage max-round caps.

On gate pass:

1. If auto_commit: true: stage only the files the Executor reported (never git add -A/git add .), commit with {commit_message_prefix}: {title}, append sha to session_commits.
2. Print the Delivery Summary (format in docs/protocol/execution.md §Step 4 — Delivery — this skill reuses the same format). Render the Delivery Summary in 中文 (Simplified Chinese) per docs/protocol/execution.md §Step 4: section headings, prose, and prose-style field values use 中文; ASCII tokens stay in original form.
3. Append to docs_file if set.
4. Cleanup round temp files; preserve the session file.
5. Clear delivery_blocked_by ← null. Release the lock.

--stop-after replay / invalidation interaction

• Clean --stop-after exit at any stage clears delivery_blocked_by per docs/protocol/session-file.md §delivery_blocked_by lifecycle, even if the session was previously blocked (the user already acknowledged on resume).
• Stage invalidation rules (see docs/protocol/session-file.md §completed_stages lifecycle) apply during replay. Each writing substep clears the set; replay restarts from exec. Per-stage caps bound iteration.

Hard-stop and delivery_blocked_by lifecycle

Per docs/protocol/session-file.md §delivery_blocked_by lifecycle.

• Set by: per-stage hard-stop (<stage>) or signal abort ("user-abort").
• Cleared by: delivery success, clean --stop-after exit, user's resume-continue choice.
• Unrecoverable errors preserve last_verified_* and delivery_blocked_by unchanged so the user can audit.

---

Context Management

The Orchestrator keeps minimal state between rounds (session path, latest Reviewer feedback, round number, current stage). All durable state is on disk. See docs/protocol/planning.md §Context management discipline (applies equally to execution).