deep

Deep Mode

Orchestrate a base skill in an iterative auto-fix loop. Each iteration runs in a fresh subagent context, so the loop is not bounded by single-conversation context decay. All state lives in the target's progress file; the harness_common.cli helper applies fixes, runs tests, bisects failures, and decides termination.

Targets

Target	Base skill (--skill)	Progress file	Cap flag (default/hard)	Loop reference	Focus
review	code-review	.claude/code-review-deep-progress.json	--max-iterations 8/20	references/orchestrator-loop-single.md	no
refactor	refactor	.claude/refactor-deep-progress.json	--max-iterations 8/20	references/orchestrator-loop-single.md	yes
coverage	unit-test	.claude/unit-test-deep-progress.json	--max-cycles 5/10	references/orchestrator-loop-paired.md	no — pinned to testability for its refactor phase; a user-supplied focus is rejected

The progress-file paths are load-bearing CLI defaults — never rename them. The coverage target counts cycles, not iterations: each cycle dispatches a unit-test phase (write tests, measure coverage, flag untestable code) and, when untestable items are pending, a refactor phase with testability focus.

Step 1: Parse Arguments and Guard Against Re-entry

Re-entry guard

If your invocation prompt body already contains HARNESS_MODE_INLINE, stop immediately with: "Deep mode cannot run inside deep mode." This prevents a misbehaving subagent from spawning a recursive deep run.

Parse invocation arguments

1. Target — the first standalone token must be review, refactor, or coverage; otherwise stop and show the usage from the argument hint. All table lookups below use this target's row.
2. --resume and --no-commit flags (present/absent)
3. --yes flag — auto-confirm every confirmation prompt in this skill (the Step 3 prompt and Step 4's coverage red-baseline confirmation); required when invoked under claude -p or any other non-interactive session that cannot answer AskUserQuestion.
4. Cap — the target's cap flag from the table (--max-iterations N or --max-cycles N), default and hard cap per the table.
5. Focus — refactor target only; stop on any other value or any other target (the CLI rejects both). Accept either --focus testability|guidelines or a bare testability/guidelines token, applying the Focus detection rules in $CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/skills/refactor/SKILL.md — read that section when parsing this item; it is the single source for the rule (do not paraphrase it here). A token consumed as focus is removed from the scope text before item 7 — otherwise deep refactor guidelines src would lose the src path scope.
6. --allow-red-baseline — review/refactor only; coverage always tolerates a red baseline (see Step 4).
7. Everything else → scope text. An existing path scopes the run to that path; any other text is recorded as intent only — it does not filter. Default scope: review covers the branch diff; refactor covers the feature-branch diff when one exists, otherwise the full project, widening per iteration to files with active findings and newly modified files; coverage covers the full project.