# AO Auto — Autonomous Work Implementation Summary

## Overview

Created a new `ao-auto` skill that enables autonomous work on issues without requiring user intervention between issues, as requested.

## Key Changes

### 1. New Skill: `.ao/skills/ao-auto/SKILL.md`

**Location:** `.ao/skills/ao-auto/SKILL.md`

**Purpose:** Actively looks for issues and works on them autonomously without asking, unless all priority files are empty.

**Core Behavior:**
```
IF actionable issues exist in priority files (critical.md, high.md, medium.md, low.md):
    → Work on them autonomously (no prompts between issues)
ELSE IF backlog.md has items:
    → Ask user for prioritization/triage
ELSE:
    → Ask what to work on next (discovery mode)
```

**Key Features:**
- **Autonomous Loop:** Continues working through NORMAL/HIGH confidence issues without asking
- **LOW Confidence Exclusion:** LOW confidence issues are detected, reported, but NOT worked on (require human oversight)
- **Actionable Issue Criteria:** Issues must be unblocked, have no unresolved questions, have all dependencies met, and have confidence of normal or high
- **Backlog Promotion:** When all priority files are empty, checks backlog.md and presents items to human. **Only the human can promote issues from backlog** (HARD STOP)
- **Confidence Handling:** Works on NORMAL (up to 3 issues) and HIGH (up to 5 issues) confidence levels
- **Safety Gates:** Stops on implementation failures, validation failures, user interruptions, or when no more NORMAL/HIGH confidence issues exist

### 2. Updated: `.ao/agents/ao-worker.agent.md`

**Change 1: Auto Handoff** (lines 16-19)
```yaml
  - label: Auto
    agent: ao-worker
    prompt: "/ao-auto — Autonomously find and work on issues without asking. Uses priority-first scanning. Stops and asks human when backlog promotion is needed."
    send: true
```

**Change 2: Added Handoff Options Section** (lines 227+)
Added documentation explaining what happens when each handoff option is selected, with special detail for the Auto option.

### 3. Updated: `.ao/skill-index.md`

**Change 1: Tier 2: State Management** (line 177)
Added `ao-auto` to the Tier 2 skills table:
```
| `ao-auto` | Autonomous work on multiple issues | [SKILL.md](skills/ao-auto/SKILL.md) |
```

**Change 2: Skill Selection Decision Tree** (line 117)
Added decision point for autonomous work:
```
├─ Work on issues autonomously? → ao-auto
```

### 4. Updated: `.opencode/commands/ao-auto.md`

Renamed from `ao-continue.md` to `ao-auto.md` and updated content to match new skill behavior.

### 5. Updated: `.claude/agents/ao-worker.md`

**Change 1: Auto Handoff** (lines 16-19)
Updated label from "Continue" to "Auto" and updated prompt to invoke `/ao-auto`.

**Change 2: Handoff Options Menu** (lines 231-256)
Updated menu option from "Continue" to "Auto" with updated description.

## How It Works

### Autonomous Loop Algorithm

```
function autonomous_continue_loop():
    WHILE True:
        // 1. Find actionable issues
        actionable_issues = scan_priority_files_for_actionable()

        // 2. If found, work autonomously
        IF len(actionable_issues) > 0:
            issue = select_highest_priority(actionable_issues)
            implement_issue(issue)
            IF success:
                mark_as_done(issue)
                CONTINUE  // Loop back for next issue
            ELSE:
                BREAK  // Stop and ask user

        // 3. No actionable issues - determine why
        IF len(priority_issues) == 0:
            handle_empty_priority_files()  // Check backlog
            BREAK
```

### Actionable Issue Criteria

An issue is **actionable** if ALL of these are true:

| Criterion | Check |
|-----------|-------|
| **Status** | `todo` or `in_progress` |
| **Blocked** | Not `blocked` |
| **Cancelled** | Not `cancelled` or `dropped` |
| **Clarification** | No unresolved `- [ ]` questions |
| **Dependencies** | All `depends_on` items are `done` |

### When It Asks the User

The ao-auto skill **only asks** in these situations:

1. **All priority files empty** → HARD STOP: presents backlog items, only human can promote
2. **All issues need clarification** → Offers to start clarification interview
3. **Implementation fails** → Asks how to handle the failure
4. **Validation fails** → Stops for review if regressions detected
5. **Safety limits reached** → Max iterations or max time reached

## Example Sessions

### Example 1: Autonomous Multi-Issue Session

```
User: Auto

🔄 AUTONOMOUS MODE — Scanning for issues...

Found 3 actionable issues:
- CRIT-0023 — Fix authentication bug (critical)
- HIGH-0018 — Add user profile API (high)
- MED-0045 — Update email templates (medium)

→ Working on CRIT-0023...
✅ Completed: CRIT-0023

→ Working on HIGH-0018...
✅ Completed: HIGH-0018

→ Working on MED-0045...
✅ Completed: MED-0045

🏁 Autonomous session complete
Completed 3 issues. No more actionable issues in priority files.
```

### Example 2: Empty Priority Files

```
User: Auto

🔄 AUTONOMOUS MODE — Scanning for issues...

All priority files are empty.
Checking backlog.md... Found 5 items:
- IDEA-0010 — Add dark mode theme
- IDEA-0011 — Mobile app integration

Options:
1. Promote specific issues (you select which)
2. Run triage to review all backlog
3. Create new issue
4. Exit to manual mode
```

## Usage

### Via Handoff

At the end of any iteration, select **"Auto"** from the handoff options.

### Direct Command

```
/ao-auto
```

### Programmatic

```bash
# Using aoc CLI (when available)
aoc auto
```

## Safety Features

1. **Confidence-Based Limits:** Respects batch limits based on issue confidence
2. **Baseline Check:** Requires fresh baseline before starting work
3. **Validation Gate:** Stops if regressions detected vs baseline
4. **Time/Iteration Limits:** Safety limits to prevent runaway sessions
5. **Error Handling:** Graceful stops on failures with user options

## Files Modified

1. `.ao/skills/ao-auto/SKILL.md` — NEW (renamed from ao-continue)
2. `.ao/agents/ao-worker.agent.md` — Modified
3. `.ao/skill-index.md` — Modified
4. `.opencode/commands/ao-auto.md` — Modified (renamed from ao-continue)
5. `.claude/agents/ao-worker.md` — Modified

## Testing

To test the ao-auto skill:

1. Create some test issues in different priority files with various confidence levels
2. Run `/ao-auto` and verify:
   - It works through NORMAL/HIGH confidence actionable issues without asking
   - It skips and reports LOW confidence issues without working on them
   - It stops when no more NORMAL/HIGH confidence issues exist
   - It properly handles empty priority files (checks backlog)
   - It respects confidence-based batch limits (NORMAL: 3, HIGH: 5)

## Integration Notes

The ao-auto skill integrates with:
- **ao-focus-scan:** For issue scanning and selection
- **ao-implementation:** For implementing each selected issue
- **ao-interview:** For clarifying issues that have questions
- **ao-worker:** As the primary agent invoking the skill

## Next Steps

1. ✅ Created ao-auto skill (renamed from ao-continue)
2. ✅ Updated ao-worker agent
3. ✅ Updated skill-index.md
4. ✅ Updated .opencode/commands/ao-auto.md
5. ✅ Updated .claude/agents/ao-worker.md
6. ⏭️ Optional: Create test cases to verify behavior
7. ⏭️ Optional: Add ao-auto to documentation/help
