long-running-agent

long-running-agent is a skill for Claude Code, Codex from pbc-os/smb-starter-kit. It costs 93 tokens per session (2,209 once invoked), scanned A, original, MIT.

A planning tool for turning a software specification into phases, smaller tasks, checks, and instructions for a coding agent that works across multiple sessions. TDD, or test-driven development, is not described in the entry.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to convert a plan into a task file, operating instructions, preserved specification, phase checkpoints, and Git checkpoints for each task. It supports choosing between continued autonomous execution and stopping for human review.
Why use it?
It gives long projects a shared task record and checkpoints, reducing the chance that an autonomous agent loses track of work between sessions.

Skill for Claude CodeCodex

Written for no agent in particular: nothing here depends on one. Also seen: names the AskUserQuestion tool.

Good fit Use it to convert a plan into a task file, operating instructions, preserved specification, phase checkpoints, and Git checkpoints for each task. It supports choosing between continued autonomous execution and stopping for human review.

Compare 6 skills from other repositories ↓
Install with agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/pbc-os/smb-starter-kit/long-running-agent
Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

Any agent
npx skills add pbc-os/smb-starter-kit --skill long-running-agent
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/pbc-os/smb-starter-kit

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Wrote 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.

agentmods badge for long-running-agent

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/pbc-os/smb-starter-kit/long-running-agent/github.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/skills/pbc-os/smb-starter-kit/long-running-agent)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/pbc-os/smb-starter-kit/long-running-agent"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/pbc-os/smb-starter-kit/long-running-agent/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.

agentmods 80×15 button for long-running-agent

Your own site · 80×15
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/pbc-os/smb-starter-kit/long-running-agent"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/pbc-os/smb-starter-kit/long-running-agent.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>
Per session 93 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 2,209 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

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.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00093 $0.02209
Opus 5 $0.00046 $0.01104
Sonnet 5 $0.00019 $0.00442
Haiku 4.5 $0.00009 $0.00221

Measured 10d ago against content hash a4efd28f659f, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-09, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

long-running-agent 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 10d 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.

skills/tier-5-automation/long-running-agent/SKILL.md · 196 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 196 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Long-Running Agent Setup

Turn a spec into a working long-running agent — phases, tasks, verification, and the operating prompt — in one shot.

This skill converts planning documents and specs into the file structure a long-running Claude agent uses to execute multi-session work: a claude-task.json task tracker, a claude-prompt.md operating manual, and a preserved SPEC.md. Before generating files it asks how autonomous the agent should be, so the prompt and task structure match.

Triggers

  • "set up a long-running agent for..."
  • "convert this spec into phases"
  • "I have a spec, build out the agent task structure"
  • "make a claude-task.json for this plan"
  • "break this plan into phases with verification"
  • "spin up an autonomous build of..."

Source of Truth

Before doing anything, fetch and read this blog post for the core patterns:

https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/effective-harnesses-for-long-running-agents

The blog defines the effective patterns for long-running coding agents. Apply them directly. Key takeaways: phase-based work with verification checkpoints, granular task enumeration, JSON task tracking, git checkpointing per task, never weaken/remove tests to make a phase pass.

Core Workflow

1. Gather Inputs

Request from the user:

  • Spec / planning doc — the document to convert (required). Will be preserved as SPEC.md.
  • Project name — short identifier; used in headings and the JSON project field.
  • Output location — where to create files (default: a new directory at the user's choice).

If the user has the spec inline in chat or pointed at a file path, read it. If multiple files together form the spec (e.g., a SPEC.md + a data_model.md + a workflows.md), read all of them.

2. Read the Blog

Fetch the Anthropic blog post above. The patterns to apply:

  • Phase-based work with verification checkpoints — verification is required before advance, in either operating mode
  • Explicit feature/task enumeration — granular, single-task focus
  • Task file as progress tracker — JSON, not markdown (the model is less likely to corrupt it)
  • Git checkpointing after each tasktask-XXX: brief description
  • Strong constraints — never delete or weaken tests/verification

Read the full file on GitHub · 196 lines

Files

What ships with it

3 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.

Changes

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.

  1. 10d ago First seen · 196 lines · 93 tokens per session scan A a4efd28f659f

Subscribe to this mod's changes

long-running-agent is a skill published in the GitHub repository pbc-os/smb-starter-kit (10 stars, last pushed 3mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 93 tokens to every session and 2,209 once invoked, about $0.0005 per session on Opus 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.

Related

Other skills, from other repositories

systematic-debugging

Use when encountering any bug, test failure, or unexpected behavior, before proposing fixes.

obra/superpowers · 21 tokens

local-ai-agents

Build local-first AI agents that run entirely on a developer workstation with Microsoft Foundry Local and Qwen function-calling models. Covers Small Language Models (SLMs), the OpenAI-compatible local endpoint, sandboxed local tools, local RAG with Chroma, local MCP servers, hybrid cloud/local routing, and the…

microsoft/ai-agents-for-beginners · 200 tokens

next-cache-components-adoption

Turn on Cache Components in a Next.js app and resolve the blocking routes it surfaces. Use when the user wants to enable, adopt, or migrate to Cache Components, flip the cacheComponents flag, work through a flood of blocking-prerender / instant validation errors, run the cache-components-instant-false codemod, or…

vercel/next.js · 95 tokens

insight-error-page

Write or audit an insight-kind error page for the Next.js dev overlay. Use when creating a new errors/ .mdx page, auditing an existing one, or checking that a page matches the framework fix cards. Covers page structure, title alignment, FixCard cards with Copy prompt button, code snippets, terminology verification…

vercel/next.js · 83 tokens

next-cache-components-optimizer

Drive a Next.js route to instant navigation by setting up an agentic loop, under Cache Components / PPR, on initial load (hard navigation) and client-side navigation (soft navigation). Encode the goal as a failing @next/playwright instant() e2e and work it to green, one verified route at a time; the shipped test then…

vercel/next.js · 170 tokens

next-partial-prefetching-adoption

Turn on Partial Prefetching in a Next.js app and work through the insights it surfaces. Use when the user wants to enable or adopt Partial Prefetching, flip the partialPrefetching flag, opt routes in with export const prefetch = 'partial', audit Link prefetch={true} behavior, preserve existing prefetched UI with…

vercel/next.js · 103 tokens