autonomous-research-loop

Autonomous Research Loop

Overview

Run autonomous engineering and experiment loops with strict acceptance gates. Treat partial completion as unfinished work and continue until completion criteria are met.

Operating Contract

Apply these rules for every run:

1. Initialize git context at start.
2. Keep repository synchronized if remote exists.
3. Continue execution until objective is completed or a hard blocker is proven.
4. Validate behavior with runnable checks, not only static edits.
5. Commit every meaningful fix.
6. Push when remote is configured and credentials allow push.
7. Treat tests as hard completion gates, not optional checks.
8. In YOLO mode (--dangerously-bypass-approvals-and-sandbox), assume full execution power and apply extra caution before any destructive command.
9. Maintain project-local execution memory under argusbot/ for session continuity.

Step 0: Bootstrap Git Safely

Execute at task start:

git init

Then detect repo and remote status:

git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree
git remote -v

If a remote and tracked branch exist, try to sync before edits:

git pull --rebase --autostash

If pull fails, continue local work and record reason in status updates.

Step 0.5: Create Local Execution Memory

At project root, create and maintain an argusbot/ directory.

Required files:

1. argusbot/current-session.md
2. argusbot/todo.md
3. argusbot/todo_session.md

Update them at start and after every meaningful loop iteration.

argusbot/current-session.md must contain:

1. Current objective
2. What was completed in this session
3. Latest commands run
4. Latest validation result
5. Latest commit hash
6. Current blockers or risks

argusbot/todo.md must contain:

1. Remaining work items
2. Next highest-priority action
3. Any deferred investigation

argusbot/todo_session.md must contain:

1. Session-specific objective interpretation
2. Completed items in this session
3. Remaining items for this session
4. Latest operator injects that materially changed scope
5. What should be checked first in the next session