Agentops autodev

Manage the PROGRAM.md operational contract that bounds autonomous development loops. Use when setting up or validating PROGRAM.md/AUTODEV.md, choosing between autodev and evolve, or turning a repeated postmortem -> analyze -> plan -> pre-mortem -> implement -> validate cycle into the v2 autonomous workflow.

install

source · Clone the upstream repo

git clone https://github.com/boshu2/agentops

Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/

T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/boshu2/agentops "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/skills-codex/autodev" ~/.claude/skills/boshu2-agentops-autodev && rm -rf "$T"

manifest: skills-codex/autodev/SKILL.md

$autodev

$autodev

manages the repo-local operational contract for autonomous development. It does not replace

$evolve

$rpi

```
PROGRAM.md
```
or
```
AUTODEV.md
```
defines the contract: mutable scope, immutable scope, experiment unit, validation commands, decision policy, escalation rules, and stop conditions.
```
ao autodev
```
creates, inspects, and validates that contract.
```
ao evolve
```
runs the v2 autonomous improvement loop.
```
ao rpi
```
runs one research -> plan -> implement -> validate lifecycle.

Codex Lifecycle Guard

When this skill runs in Codex hookless mode (

CODEX_THREAD_ID

is set or

CODEX_INTERNAL_ORIGINATOR_OVERRIDE

Codex Desktop

), ensure startup context before editing or validating the contract:

ao codex ensure-start 2>/dev/null || true

Routing

Use this split when the user asks whether the old evolve flow should become a new command or skill:

Intent Action

define or repair the repo-local autonomous policy

use

$autodev

and

ao autodev

run the autonomous improvement loop

use

$evolve

ao evolve

run one bounded lifecycle

use

$rpi

ao rpi

PROGRAM.md

takes precedence over

AUTODEV.md

. Treat

AUTODEV.md

as the compatibility alias.

Execution Steps

Step 1: Detect the contract

if [ -f PROGRAM.md ]; then
  PROGRAM_PATH=PROGRAM.md
elif [ -f AUTODEV.md ]; then
  PROGRAM_PATH=AUTODEV.md
else
  PROGRAM_PATH=
fi

If a contract exists, validate before using it:

ao autodev validate --json ${PROGRAM_PATH:+--file "$PROGRAM_PATH"}

If no contract exists and the user asked to initialize or define the loop, create one:

ao autodev init "<objective>"

Infer the objective from the user request when it is clear. Ask only when the objective cannot be discovered from repo context and inventing it would make the contract misleading.

Step 2: Repair or explain validation failures

When validation fails, inspect the missing fields and patch the program file if the user asked to create or fix the contract. Required sections:

```
Objective
```
```
Mutable Scope
```
```
Immutable Scope
```
```
Experiment Unit
```
```
Validation Commands
```
```
Decision Policy
```
```
Escalation Rules
```
```
Stop Conditions
```

Prefer narrow mutable scope and concrete validation commands. If the needed work crosses immutable scope, create or update a bead instead of silently widening the contract.

Step 3: Hand off to the loop

After

ao autodev validate

passes:

For one lifecycle, run
```
$rpi "<goal>"
```
or
```
ao rpi ...
```
.
For the repeated autonomous loop, run
```
$evolve
```
or
```
ao evolve --max-cycles <n>
```
.
If both
```
PROGRAM.md
```
and
```
GOALS.md
```
exist,
```
GOALS.md
```
is strategic fitness and
```
PROGRAM.md
```
is the operational execution layer.

Do not mark an autonomous cycle successful only because the main tests pass. The program validation bundle and stop conditions must also be satisfied.

Examples

User: turn this postmortem/analyze/plan/pre-mortem/implement/validate loop into
a v2 command.
Agent: Explain that `ao evolve` runs the loop, then create or validate
`PROGRAM.md` with `$autodev` so the loop has explicit scope and gates.

ao autodev init "Continuously improve AgentOps skills within explicit scope."
ao autodev validate
ao evolve --max-cycles 1

Troubleshooting

Problem	Response
`PROGRAM.md not found`	Run `ao autodev init "<objective>"` when setup is requested.
validation reports missing sections	Patch the missing required sections, then rerun `ao autodev validate --json` .
requested work is outside immutable scope	Stop direct edits and create a bead or ask for an explicit contract change.
user asks "is this evolve?"	Answer: `autodev` defines the loop contract; `evolve` runs the loop.