set-acceptance-criteria

Before implementing, lock the goal's acceptance criteria. Criteria must be observable, have a unique id, and declare whether they are required for completion. Once locked, they cannot be modified for the current goal.

💡 Fast-path: Use the quick_start_goal tool to lock criteria and optional task plans in a single tool call.

When to Plan First

For any multi-step task (implement, fix, refactor), do NOT write criteria directly. Instead, use the goal-planning skill to spawn a planning subagent that:

1. Explores the codebase to understand what the task touches
2. Drafts criteria with goal-backward coverage analysis
3. Checks for overlaps and gaps
4. Submits via set_acceptance_criteria

This prevents the main agent from writing vague, incomplete, or overlapping criteria under execution pressure.

Criterion Quality Rules

Each criterion MUST have:

• id: kebab-case, unique (e.g. api-200, core-default-role-agent)
• description: concrete and verifiable, not vague
  • BAD: description: "error handling works"
  • GOOD: description: "fetchUser returns 404 when user not found"
• required: true if the goal cannot be achieved without it
• method: one of command | file | url — NEVER text
  • command: specify the exact command (e.g. pnpm test)
  • file: specify the exact file path to check
  • url: specify the exact URL and expected response
• task_ids: linked task IDs for progress tracking

Role

Default role=agent: passed criteria are marked self-claimed, requiring confirm_criterion by an independent reviewer before completion.

Use role=reviewer or role=dual ONLY when the user explicitly waives independent review.

Example

{
  "criteria": [
    {
      "id": "api-200",
      "description": "GET /health returns HTTP 200 with { status: \"ok\" }",
      "required": true,
      "method": "command",
      "task_ids": ["t1"]
    },
    {
      "id": "docs-updated",
      "description": "README.md contains the new /health endpoint in the API table",
      "required": false,
      "method": "file",
      "task_ids": ["t2"]
    }
  ]
}