linzhe001/auto-iterate-goal

Purpose

Bridge skill between WF7.5 PASS and WF8 auto-iterate start. Produces or validates docs/auto_iterate_goal.md — the operator-facing research objective that the controller's goal parser consumes.

When To Use

• After $validate-run returns PASS (WF7.5 gate cleared)
• Before running tooling/auto_iterate/scripts/auto_iterate_ctl.sh start --goal docs/auto_iterate_goal.md
• When the orchestrator auto-triggers a goal readiness check

References (read before executing)

• ./references/goal-template.md
• .agents/references/workflow-guide.md
• ../evaluate/references/stage-report.md
• tooling/auto_iterate/docs/auto_iterate_goal_template.md

Subcommands

init

Generate docs/auto_iterate_goal.md when it does not exist.

Sources:

• WF5 baseline metrics and evaluation protocol
• WF7.5 validate-run output
• Project context from CLAUDE.md / PROJECT_STATE.json

Output: docs/auto_iterate_goal.md with all required structured fields.

refresh

Update an existing goal when fields are missing, defaults changed, or new context is available.

Behavior:

• Read existing docs/auto_iterate_goal.md
• Identify missing or outdated fields
• Generate updated version or draft
• Do NOT silently overwrite human-edited objective constraints (name, direction, target)
• Present diff or highlight changes for operator review

check

Validate the existing goal file without modifying it.

Checks:

• All required fields present (see goal-template.md)
• primary_metric.direction is maximize or minimize
• budget.max_rounds is a positive integer
• screening_policy.enabled is boolean
• No placeholder {{...}} markers remain

Output: PASS or list of validation errors.

What This Skill Does NOT Do

• Does not write .auto_iterate/goal.md (that is the controller's job via start --goal)
• Does not write .auto_iterate/state.json
• Does not start, stop, pause, or resume the auto-iterate loop
• Does not decide NEXT_ROUND / CONTINUE / etc. (that is $evaluate's job)

Orchestrator Integration

The orchestrator should auto-trigger after WF7.5 PASS:

WF7.5 validate-run PASS
  → $auto-iterate-goal check
    → goal exists + valid: no-op
    → goal missing: $auto-iterate-goal init
    → goal invalid/incomplete: $auto-iterate-goal refresh