Phased/Stepped Execution
Divide dependent work into stages with explicit exit checks.
Workflow control
Workflow Mode Branching
Choose one named workflow mode before executing its steps.
Interactive Flow Control
Ask only unresolved questions that change the next action.
Progress Feedback
Report findings and terminal status through the channel the reader sees.
Error Handling / Degradation
Define bounded recovery and honest partial results for each failure.
Intent Classification
Map observable intent signals to named workflows with an ambiguity branch.
Feedback Solicitation
Request feedback at a useful stopping point without repeated interruption.
Loop Prevention with Max Iterations
Bound repair loops and preserve the unresolved state when the budget expires.
Resumable Idempotent Actions
Make externally effective steps resumable using explicit state and idempotency keys.
Autonomous PR Feedback Resolution
Verify review feedback before implementing or disputing it.
Time-Boxed Investigation
Time-box investigation and report confirmed, refuted and unresolved leads.
Eager Incremental Materialization
Materialize reversible draft artifacts as decisions become clear.
DAG Journey with Typed Gates
Model prerequisites separately from who can complete each step.
Risk-Ordered Batch Migration + Build-Verify
Migrate in bounded dependency-aware batches and verify each before advancing.
Section-by-Section Collaborative Drafting
Draft and review one coherent section before extending the document.
Pre-Set Catalog with Generate-On-The-Fly Fallback
Choose a catalogued option when it fits and define a constrained generation fallback.
Anti-Performative-Agreement Vocabulary Ban
Respond to review feedback with technical engagement rather than automatic agreement.
Continuous Execution Mandate
Continue approved work across task boundaries while surfacing real blockers.
DOT-Graph Decision Flow Embedded in Prompt
Represent a small decision flow with labeled edges and explicit terminal states.
Self-Looping Stop Hook (Ralph Loop)
Drive repeated work with explicit completed, blocked and budget-exhausted exits.
Reviewer-Gate Task Right-Sizing
Size a task as a unit that can receive a coherent review verdict.
Just-In-Time Capability Offer
Offer optional capabilities when the current task establishes their concrete benefit.
Two-Axis Completion Criterion (Checkable + Exhaustive)
Define completion as both a checkable predicate and accounted coverage.
Fog of War (Frontier Planning)
Plan the known frontier and keep dependent unknowns visibly unresolved.
Feedback-Loop-Before-Hypothesis Gate
Establish a runnable failure signal before investing in root-cause hypotheses.
ADR-Worthiness Triple Gate
Record an architectural decision when reversal cost, missing context and trade-off all matter.
Wait for a job’s terminal state
Separate accepted jobs from completed outputs.
Checkpoint partial bulk progress
Process bounded batches and persist completed work for safe resume.
Manage helper process lifetime
Start dependencies, wait for readiness, execute the task and always clean up owned processes.
Materialize expiring outputs before handoff
Treat temporary URLs and temporary stored files as expiring access, not permanent deliverables.
Validate kill assumptions before secondary preferences
Classify assumptions by what their failure would do to the proposed direction.
Place checks by feedback cost
Keep fast feedback near edits and place expensive checks at explicit later gates.
Separate definition versions from runs
Reuse a versioned agent definition while giving each execution its own run identity.
Move deterministic loop steps into code
Use ordinary code for steps fully determined by their inputs and retain model judgment for the ambiguous remainder.
Keep pruning assumptions and deferred choices
Record the assumptions behind a search exclusion and retain the candidate so it can be reopened when evidence or prerequisites change.
Prove behavioral RED before minimal GREEN
Verify that a behavioral test fails for the intended missing behavior before implementing the smallest change that passes it.
Disclose consequential assumptions before acting
Make uncertain requirements and competing interpretations explicit before an irreversible choice.
Reformulate tasks as observable goals
Translate vague actions into observable success criteria and verify each meaningful step.
Audit and preserve redesign contracts
Classify redesign intent and inventory nonvisual contracts before changing presentation.
Inspect the specimen before translating it
Extract an explicit visual contract before coding from a reference artifact.
Compatibility-preserving migration tickets
Use expand/migrate/contract stages when a broad mechanical change cannot land in independent vertical slices.
Question-shaped throwaway experiment
Choose the prototype artifact by the uncertainty it must resolve and expose relevant state.
Dependency-ready question rounds
Ask only decisions whose prerequisites have already settled, then recompute the next round.
Question the knowledge owner through a send brief
Ask the requester who holds missing knowledge and what decision needs it, then target the actual owner.
Reread shared artifacts before incremental writes
Preserve intervening human edits while materializing agreed work incrementally.
Persist a master design system with page-specific overrides
Maintain shared rules once and store page deviations separately, with explicit override, inheritance and missing-file handling.
Verify a retrieved UI recommendation before reuse
Treat a retrieved UI suggestion as provisional until its scope and identity fit the request.
Record reversible decisions with their rationale and cost
Record an authorized implementation decision, its evidence and cost if wrong, then include it in the final handoff.
Probe-to-Saturation Interview
Ask one focused follow-up at a time until the current topic stops producing new information.
Drain Completion before Stopping the Observer
Keep the completion observer alive while its producer finalizes pending work.
Eligibility Before Expensive Scoring
Remove provably ineligible candidates before spending on ranking or model enrichment.
Promote the Exact Verified Artifact
Keep the identity of the tested artifact unchanged through staging, publication and promotion, and read it back.
Adopt-Extend-Compose-Build Decision
Check existing local and external solutions before writing a new utility, then explain the chosen reuse strategy.
Exclude Self-Generated Feedback Events
Identify automated output events and exclude them before they recreate the workflow that produced them.
First Verifiable Vertical Slice
Build one small end-to-end user path from the existing specification before expanding all layers.
Owner-token terminal cleanup
Release only temporary state created and still owned by the current operation.