Use this pattern when an approved objective has observable acceptance criteria
and the work should continue through execution, verification, and delivery.
An issue, manual request, event-response handoff, or inspected candidate can
start the pattern. /goal is only a host expression when the active host
supports it.
| Slot | Contract |
|---|---|
| Trigger | Approved issue or change request, explicit user goal, confirmed event handoff, or accepted inspection candidate with bounded completion criteria. |
| Procedure Owner | Let one selected orchestrating owner compose small understanding, execution, verification, and delivery procedures. Use Skills only when Loop Discovery selected them; do not create one universal issue-solving Skill. |
| Tools / Access | Repository search, source control, isolated worktree, build/test tools, issue or review access, profilers, scanners, and provider CLI or connector as the target requires. |
| Artifact | Scoped patch, tests, docs, migration, benchmark, release candidate, draft pull request, investigation report, or explicit blocked handoff. |
| Verifier | Original reproduction, acceptance checks, targeted tests, diff-scope review, security or performance checks, and independent review where risk warrants it. |
| State | Objective, acceptance checklist, plan, worktree or branch, attempts, validation results, budget, linked issue/review objects, and unresolved decisions. |
| Stop Rule | Stop on verified completion; pause on required product or risk decision; stop on exhausted budget, explicit cancellation, or repeated attempts without new evidence. |
- Restate the objective, acceptance criteria, non-goals, authority, and risk.
- Inspect enough current evidence to reproduce or bound the requested change.
- Select the smallest procedure owner and isolate writes when parallel or background work could collide.
- Make one scoped change or investigation pass.
- Run the predeclared verifier; do not substitute the executor's summary.
- Retry only with a new hypothesis or new evidence.
- Leave a reviewable artifact and update the external object only when that write is authorized.
These names are examples of reusable capabilities, not proof of installed Skills:
| Stage | Candidate procedure shapes | Expected evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Understand | issue-understanding, requirements-clarification |
Reproduction, acceptance criteria, constraints, and open decisions |
| Execute | bug-fix, feature-implementation, docs-sync, dependency-upgrade, code-migration |
Scoped changes tied to the approved objective |
| Verify | test-verifier, diff-scope-checker, security-verifier, performance-verifier |
Commands, results, comparison, and residual risk |
| Deliver | pull-request-preparation, release-preparation, issue-status-update |
Reviewable handoff with artifact references and status |
- Issue refinement: turn a vague bug or feature into scope, acceptance criteria, validation, and a clarification boundary before implementation.
- Static feedback repair: fix the highest-signal compiler, typecheck, lint, or analyzer failure first; rerun the same command before broader checks.
- Runtime debugging: reproduce from logs, stack traces, responses, or screenshots; stop when access, credentials, or product decisions block proof.
- Review follow-up: group review comments by root cause, resolve every valid item, and leave an accept, explain, defer, or blocked decision for each.
- Docs sync: update only documentation affected by visible API, CLI, configuration, schema, example, or user-behavior changes.
- Dependency or security repair: bound the upgrade set, migration, advisory, rollback, and required build, test, or scan evidence.
- Release preparation: verify version, changelog, required changes, tests, docs, and package contents before producing a release candidate.
# Agent-Ready Bug Goal
When: A confirmed issue is approved for implementation with reproduction steps
and acceptance criteria.
See: Current issue state, reproduction output, relevant code and tests, recent
related diff, permissions, and linked review state.
Do: Work in an isolated checkout when needed, reproduce first, make the
smallest fix, add regression coverage when behavior was wrong, and prepare a
draft handoff. Do not broaden the change from topic similarity.
Check: Rerun the original reproduction and targeted tests; inspect the diff
against every acceptance criterion and the approved scope.
Stop: Stop on verified completion. Stop or pause on missing product decisions,
unavailable access, risk beyond scope, exhausted budget, or two attempts
without new evidence.
Leave: Patch, changed-file list, validation commands and results, draft review
reference when authorized, and residual risk.- Event response owns validation and routing of the incoming event; this pattern owns sustained work toward the approved result.
- Scheduled inspection and proactive discovery may nominate work, but they do not grant mutation authority.
- External writes, release, deployment, security-sensitive changes, and broad migrations require the selected owner and human gate.
- Use Loop Primitives for worktree, subagent, connector, and state support; use Loop Spec Card for the canonical card syntax.
Return to the pattern index or Loop Discovery when the objective or owner is not yet proven.