Getting it into your agent
It runs from inside its repository, so the clone comes first — what it calls does not travel with the file alone.
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/mthines/agent-skillsnpx agentmods add skills/mthines/agent-skills/autonomous-workflowWrote this? Show the measurements
A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.
[](https://agentmods.dev/skills/mthines/agent-skills/autonomous-workflow)<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/mthines/agent-skills/autonomous-workflow"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/mthines/agent-skills/autonomous-workflow/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/mthines/agent-skills/autonomous-workflow"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/mthines/agent-skills/autonomous-workflow.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>- NVIDIA SkillSpector warn
SkillSpector: 16 findings, up to high
These are SkillSpector’s own severities. On a checked sample its high-severity flags on skills were ~96% false positives — a documented command, a public API, a “never do X” rule — so we show them as a caution to read, not a verdict. Why →
- high Tool Misuse · line 14 Tool parameters are crafted to achieve unintended or unsafe behavior. Parameter abuse can bypass intended safety checks (e.g. shell=True, --force, dangerous glob patterns).Fix: Validate all tool parameters against an allowlist. Reject dangerous parameter values (shell=True, --force, -rf /) and use safe defaults.
- high Tool Misuse · line 155 Tool parameters are crafted to achieve unintended or unsafe behavior. Parameter abuse can bypass intended safety checks (e.g. shell=True, --force, dangerous glob patterns).Fix: Validate all tool parameters against an allowlist. Reject dangerous parameter values (shell=True, --force, -rf /) and use safe defaults.
- high Tool Misuse · line 156 Tool parameters are crafted to achieve unintended or unsafe behavior. Parameter abuse can bypass intended safety checks (e.g. shell=True, --force, dangerous glob patterns).Fix: Validate all tool parameters against an allowlist. Reject dangerous parameter values (shell=True, --force, -rf /) and use safe defaults.
- high Tool Misuse · line 207 Tool parameters are crafted to achieve unintended or unsafe behavior. Parameter abuse can bypass intended safety checks (e.g. shell=True, --force, dangerous glob patterns).Fix: Validate all tool parameters against an allowlist. Reject dangerous parameter values (shell=True, --force, -rf /) and use safe defaults.
- high Tool Misuse · line 261 Tool parameters are crafted to achieve unintended or unsafe behavior. Parameter abuse can bypass intended safety checks (e.g. shell=True, --force, dangerous glob patterns).Fix: Validate all tool parameters against an allowlist. Reject dangerous parameter values (shell=True, --force, -rf /) and use safe defaults.
- medium Excessive Agency · line 14 Skill enables autonomous high-impact decisions without human-in-the-loop verification. Critical operations (destructive commands, financial transactions, data deletion) should require explicit user confirmation.Fix: Add human-in-the-loop confirmation for destructive, irreversible, or high-impact operations. Never auto-execute commands that modify files, send data, or alter system state.
- medium Excessive Agency · line 155 Skill enables autonomous high-impact decisions without human-in-the-loop verification. Critical operations (destructive commands, financial transactions, data deletion) should require explicit user confirmation.Fix: Add human-in-the-loop confirmation for destructive, irreversible, or high-impact operations. Never auto-execute commands that modify files, send data, or alter system state.
- medium Excessive Agency · line 156 Skill enables autonomous high-impact decisions without human-in-the-loop verification. Critical operations (destructive commands, financial transactions, data deletion) should require explicit user confirmation.Fix: Add human-in-the-loop confirmation for destructive, irreversible, or high-impact operations. Never auto-execute commands that modify files, send data, or alter system state.
- medium Excessive Agency · line 207 Skill enables autonomous high-impact decisions without human-in-the-loop verification. Critical operations (destructive commands, financial transactions, data deletion) should require explicit user confirmation.Fix: Add human-in-the-loop confirmation for destructive, irreversible, or high-impact operations. Never auto-execute commands that modify files, send data, or alter system state.
- medium Excessive Agency · line 261 Skill enables autonomous high-impact decisions without human-in-the-loop verification. Critical operations (destructive commands, financial transactions, data deletion) should require explicit user confirmation.Fix: Add human-in-the-loop confirmation for destructive, irreversible, or high-impact operations. Never auto-execute commands that modify files, send data, or alter system state.
- medium Prompt Injection · line 84 Large whitespace padding was detected (a block of blank lines or a long run of spaces). This can push injected instructions below or to the right of the visible area so a human reviewer never sees them while the agent still reads them. Manual review of the hidden content is recommended.Fix: Remove the large whitespace padding (blank-line blocks or long space runs) and review any content hidden below or to the right of it. Keep skill files compact and reviewable so no instructions can be
- medium Excessive Agency · line 156 Skill enables autonomous high-impact decisions without human-in-the-loop verification. Critical operations (destructive commands, financial transactions, data deletion) should require explicit user confirmation.Fix: Add human-in-the-loop confirmation for destructive, irreversible, or high-impact operations. Never auto-execute commands that modify files, send data, or alter system state.
- medium Rogue Agent · line 230 Skill establishes unauthorized persistence across sessions via cron jobs, startup scripts, or state files. Session persistence allows an attacker to maintain access beyond the current interaction.Fix: Remove any persistence mechanisms (cron jobs, startup scripts, state files). Skills should not maintain state across sessions without explicit user consent.
- medium Prompt Injection · line 258 Large whitespace padding was detected (a block of blank lines or a long run of spaces). This can push injected instructions below or to the right of the visible area so a human reviewer never sees them while the agent still reads them. Manual review of the hidden content is recommended.Fix: Remove the large whitespace padding (blank-line blocks or long space runs) and review any content hidden below or to the right of it. Keep skill files compact and reviewable so no instructions can be
- medium Agent Snooping · line 374 Skill enumerates or reads other installed skills. Access to other skills' SKILL.md files or the skills directory reveals prompt instructions, capabilities, and secrets that should be invisible to peer skills.Fix: Remove all code or instructions that list or read other skills' files or directories. Skills should operate independently; cross-skill access is a privilege escalation.
- medium MCP Rug Pull · line 386 npx commands without a version suffix (e.g. @1.0.0) create a rug-pull risk if the upstream server is compromised and publishes a malicious update.Fix: Pin the version: npx @scope/[email protected]
What it costs to keep this loaded
Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.
| Model | Per session | Once invoked |
|---|---|---|
| Fable 5.1 | $0.00086 | $0.04201 |
| Opus 5.5 | $0.00034 | $0.01680 |
| Sonnet 5.5 | $0.00017 | $0.00840 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $0.00009 | $0.00420 |
Grade A, and why
autonomous-workflow scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 6d ago.
A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.
Nothing flagged
None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.
How it starts
The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 227 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.
Autonomous Workflow
Phase-based autonomous feature development: each phase has a gate that must pass before the next.
This file is an index; procedures live in rules/*.md and load on demand.
Contents
- Before Starting Any Work — Step 1 tier detection, Step 2 prerequisites
- Workflow Phases
- Core Principles
- Artifacts
- Lite and Micro path
- Companions and parallelization
- Units and install
Before Starting Any Work
Step 1: Detect Workflow Mode (MANDATORY)
Complexity is the primary signal. File count is the tie-breaker. Walk these
questions in order — the first yes selects Full Mode:
| # | Question | If yes → | If no → |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Is this task architectural / cross-cutting / does it require significant design decisions? | Full | go to next |
| 2 | Does the task involve unfamiliar code or domains the agent hasn't worked in before, or is the cause or location not yet known — an investigation rather than a known edit? | Full | go to next |
| 3 | Is the change touching 4+ files OR 2+ packages? | Full | go to next |
| 4 | Is the change 2–3 files, OR any non-trivial logic change? | Lite | Micro |
| Tier | Files / shape | Artifacts | Planning | Companions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full | complex / 4+ files / unfamiliar / cause or location unknown | Required | aw writes a short plan.md brief, works to its checks, then a fresh-eyes review |
required ones; the rest at judgment |
| Lite | 2–3 files, or 1 file carrying non-trivial logic | None | in-conversation brief | per signal |
| Micro | 1 file and purely mechanical (typo, copy, bump, string change) | None | in-conversation brief, no planning | none (docs if drift) |
What ships with it
53 files beside SKILL.md in the same directory: the scripts, references and assets a skill reads on demand. Not counted in the per-session cost; read them before you install if any of them is executable.
- aw-tester-chrome/SKILL.md 19 KB
- aw/references/dispatcher-rationale.md 4.3 KB
- aw/rules/full-tier.md 11 KB
- aw/rules/lessons.md 2.8 KB
- aw/SKILL.md 11 KB
- CLAUDE.md 102 KB
- install.sh 13 KB runs code
- README.md 26 KB
- references/anthropic-architecture-research.md 30 KB
- references/autonomous-workflow-complete.md 23 KB
- references/cloud-stalling-analysis.md 9.7 KB
- references/error-recovery-scenarios.md 19 KB
- references/intent-specs-rationale.md 4.7 KB
- references/iterative-refinement.md 19 KB
- references/planning-quality-research.md 36 KB
- references/routing-rationale.md 1.8 KB
- references/self-improvement-walkthrough.md 6.6 KB
- rules/_template.md 1.7 KB
- rules/artifacts-overview.md 11 KB
- rules/aw-tester-auth.md 3.8 KB
- rules/aw-tester-captures.md 6.4 KB
- rules/aw-tester-intent-probe.md 14 KB
- rules/aw-tester-lessons.md 3.2 KB
- rules/companion-skills.md 19 KB
- rules/corrections.md 8.9 KB
- rules/decision-framework.md 3.4 KB
- rules/diagnostic-surface.md 23 KB
- rules/error-recovery.md 7.8 KB
- rules/goal-emission.md 4.3 KB
- rules/overview.md 10 KB
- rules/parallel-coordination.md 13 KB
- rules/phase-0-validation.md 15 KB
- rules/phase-1-planning.md 27 KB
- rules/phase-2-worktree.md 12 KB
- rules/phase-3-implementation.md 17 KB
- rules/phase-4-spec-verification.md 17 KB
- rules/phase-4-testing.md 37 KB
- rules/phase-5-documentation.md 9.7 KB
- rules/phase-6-pr-creation.md 17 KB
- rules/phase-7-ci-gate.md 36 KB
- rules/planner-executor-handoff.md 12 KB
- rules/prerequisites.md 11 KB
- rules/safety-guardrails.md 12 KB
- rules/self-improvement-loop.md 29 KB
- rules/smart-worktree-detection.md 5.6 KB
- rules/spec-run-contract.md 29 KB
- scripts/run-checks.mjs 20 KB runs code
- templates/_deprecated-single-agent.md 1.3 KB
- templates/aw-executor.agent.md 8.9 KB
- templates/aw-tester.agent.md 21 KB
- templates/intent-spec.md.template 3.7 KB
- templates/routing.rule.md 2.1 KB
- templates/specs.md.template 5.9 KB
What this file has done since we first saw it
Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.
- 6d ago Changed 53fdf7c63c9f
- 15d ago Changed · +37 lines 0b282e578078
- 16d ago Changed · -249 lines · -62 tokens per session a295f85d7aba
- 1mo ago Changed · +1 lines a0f513ac4d50
- 1mo ago Changed · +6 tokens per session b4689d021d91
- 1mo ago Changed 69bcd27e5be0
- 2mo ago Changed · +15 lines ace8998bab3e
- 2mo ago Changed · +19 lines · +38 tokens per session bc006a09cd8a
- 2mo ago Changed · +2 lines 7d4053da06a3
- 2mo ago First seen · 402 lines · 104 tokens per session scan A 79066500e1ce
autonomous-workflow is a skill published in the GitHub repository mthines/agent-skills (20 stars, last pushed 2d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 86 tokens to every session and 4,201 once invoked, about $0.0003 per session on Opus 5.5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-31.
autonomous-workflow compared with skills from other repositories
| Mod | Type | Stars | Last push | Licence | Scan | Tokens | Works with |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| autonomous-workflowmthines/agent-skills | Skill | 20 | 2d ago | MIT | A | 86 | Claude Code |
| git-workflow-and-versioningshennawardana23/skillme | Skill | 4 | 22d ago | Apache-2.0 | A | 68 | Claude Code |
| incremental-implementationshennawardana23/skillme | Skill | 4 | 22d ago | Apache-2.0 | A | 70 | Claude Code |
| codely-plan-phase-implement-githubCodelyTV/agent-harness | Skill | 301 | 10d ago | none | A | 96 | Claude Code |
| codely-git-conventional-commitCodelyTV/agent-harness | Skill | 301 | 10d ago | none | A | 34 | Claude Code |
| gajnsahaj/skills | Skill | 107 | 1mo ago | none | A | 50 | Claude Code |
| create-draft-prjnsahaj/skills | Skill | 107 | 1mo ago | none | A | 27 | Claude Code |