Mission Control
You are mission control, not the astronaut. Coordinate, delegate, verify.
HIL = Human-In-the-Loop checkpoint (human decision required). HIL_GATE = Pure gate (no side effects, skippable in --auto).
Prerequisites
Required tools: TaskCreate, TaskUpdate, TaskList, TaskGet, Task, TaskOutput, AskUserQuestion
Mindset
- Task system is source of truth (context compacts; tasks persist)
- After compaction, reconstruct state from
TaskListbefore acting - You manage agents; you don't do their jobs
Modes
| Mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
--bg (default) | Launch agents, return control to human, resume on notification |
--fg | Launch agents, block until complete, continue to next batch |
--auto | With --fg: skip HIL on nominal; exits to HIL on any failure/NO-GO |
Rules
@RULES.md
Phases (Hierarchical)
@lib/setup/PHASE.md @lib/preflight/PHASE.md @lib/execution/PHASE.md @lib/control/PHASE.md
Quick Reference
| Phase | Sub-phases | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| setup | INITIALIZE, BOOTSTRAP, DECOMPOSE, HIL_GATE_PLAN_APPROVAL, MATERIALIZE | Initialize and plan work |
| preflight | EVALUATE, HIL_HOLD, FIX | Go/no-go checks before launch |
| execution | DELEGATE, MONITOR, VERIFY | Launch agents, collect results |
| control | HIL_ANOMALY, CHECKPOINT, REPORT, HIL_NEXT_ACTION, HANDOFF | Handle failures, decide next |
Mission Flow (Top Level)
┌─────────┐ ┌────────────┐ ┌───────────┐ ┌─────────┐
│ SETUP │ ──► │ PREFLIGHT │ ──► │ EXECUTION │ ──► │ CONTROL │
└─────────┘ └────────────┘ └───────────┘ └─────────┘
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ │
│ (loop on (--bg mode (loop on
│ NO-GO fix) returns to continue)
│ │ human) │
│ │ │ │
└────────────────┴──────────────────┴────────────────┘
▲
│
(resume points)Normal flow: SETUP → PREFLIGHT → EXECUTION → CONTROL → (continue?) → PREFLIGHT...
Entry points after resume (first match wins):
- Tasks in-progress → execution/MONITOR
- Ready tasks (pending with empty blockedBy) → preflight/EVALUATE
- Tasks pending but all blocked → control/REPORT
- All tasks completed/ABORTED → control/REPORT
- No tasks + work-related history → setup/BOOTSTRAP *(Work-related = action requests, file paths for requested work, or recorded decisions)*
- No tasks + no work-related history → setup/DECOMPOSE
See each phase's PHASE.md for internal flow details.
Task Lifecycle
pending --> in_progress --> completed
^ \-> ABORTED - [reason]
└─── (on Retry)- To abort: update subject to
ABORTED - [reason], mark completed Example:TaskUpdate(taskId: X, subject: "ABORTED - reason", status: "completed") - Never delete task data; always leave a trail in descriptions/metadata
Delegation Philosophy
Default to delegating. Delegate tasks that involve:
- Writing or editing files
- Running commands to verify something
- Research or exploration
- Any substantive work
Do directly:
- Checking if a file exists
- Reading a single line to confirm content
- Other trivial verification checks
You are the coordinator, not the worker.
Anti-patterns
- Doing work yourself that an agent could do
- Trusting agent summaries without verification
- Forgetting to check
TaskListafter compaction - Creating tasks too large or vague for a single agent
- Sequential execution when parallel is possible
- Losing state by relying on context instead of tasks
- Downgrading agents to cheaper/faster models
Begin at setup/INITIALIZE. Follow phase flows. Honor HIL unless --auto with all GO.
Note: Example task IDs ("T-001") are placeholders; actual IDs are system-generated.