ns-autonomous

Code Autonomous

Harness-aware execution engine: planning depth, doubt resolution, multi-agent dispatch, review gate — standalone pipeline or caller's Phase 2 engine.

Workflow mode (mandatory)

Fixed workflow — named skill handoffs or harness bridges (../../ns-harness/references/subagent-dispatch.md spawn gate). Review gate: ../ns-reviewer/references/review-gate-workflow.md. MUST reviewer-agent when available (else ns-reviewer); then ns-judge in-session only if Code Review: Approved. No Task persona substitutes. ≥2 units → MUST coder-agent per unit (ns-coder); 1 unit → follow ns-coder in A (worktree) — MUST NOT extra spawn. C2 / single-unit workers = implement only; no per-unit review — parent owns REV at closure.

Isolation invariant (non-negotiable)

Skill never writes application code on main product checkout; never commits main/master/base/SOURCE_BRANCH unless human explicitly said work in place this run.

• Standalone + Engine: isolated WORK_BRANCH + WORKTREE_ROOT before any implementation edit.
• Worktree creation fails, or CWD/branch still main checkout / base → stop. No "continue on main to unlock plan".
• Sandbox restrictions (Operation not permitted, .cursor/ paths) not permission to violate invariant.

Session boot

See ../../ns-harness/references/session-boot.md. Complete Session boot (blocking) there before any other step in this skill.

After session boot — Engine and Standalone

Engine mode: caller may have already completed Session boot in Phase 0 — re-read session-boot.md only if context is missing. Standalone: you own Session boot before step 1 of the standalone pipeline.

Routing (read first)

Entry priority table: ../../ns-harness/references/code-skill-routing.md. Standalone triggers: references/entry-triggers.md.

1. Origin is a GitLab issue (ISSUE_URL or issue reference) → entry priority 1 — follow ns-execution-gitlab-issue end to end; this skill only runs as its Phase 2 engine (Engine mode below). Do not run the standalone pipeline, do not touch GitLab state, do not create a worktree.
2. Standalone autonomous (local plan file, pasted text/plan, ad-hoc "implement this autonomously" without an issue) → entry priority 3 — run the standalone pipeline: own worktree, own state, own review loop.

See references/routing.md for Engine-mode I/O and anti-cycle rules with ns-execution-gitlab-issue.

Engine mode (invoked by ns-execution-gitlab-issue)

Inputs (already resolved by the caller — this skill never creates them): issue payload, WORKTREE_ROOT, WORK_BRANCH, SOURCE_BRANCH.

1. Planning-depth self-decision — evaluate the issue payload and decide single work unit vs. light requirements.md + tasks/task-NNN-*.md + execution-plan.md under docs/versions/{version_san}/sdd/. See references/planning-decision.md.
2. Doubt protocol — self-ask, docs-first lookup, self-answer non-destructive doubts, escalate destructive ones as a structured event to the caller instead of mutating GitLab state; pause dependent units until resumed. See references/doubt-resolution.md.
3. Multi-agent dispatch — parse work units. 1 unit: follow ns-coder in this session inside WORKTREE_ROOT (defer review to caller / standalone step 5). ≥2 units: MUST dispatch coder-agent when available (else ns-coder) per unit; parallel only across units with no DAG edge and disjoint file scopes; sequential otherwise. Workers implement only — no per-unit reviewer-agent. See references/multi-agent-dispatch.md and ../../ns-harness/references/subagent-dispatch.md.
4. Checkpoint commits — one commit per completed sequential unit or per completed parallel batch, inside the worktree; the caller squashes at delivery.
5. Fix-loop entry point — when re-invoked after a Rejected verdict, treat the reviewer findings as a new work unit (or units) and repeat step 3 for those only.
6. Return to caller: unit statuses, files changed, any open destructive doubt, and (first invocation only) a plan-based estimate_seconds hint — the caller applies set_issue_estimate only when the issue estimate is empty and the value is ≥ 60 (see ../ns-execution-gitlab-issue/references/time-tracking.md).

Standalone pipeline (non-GitLab origin)

Same internals as Engine mode, but this skill owns the whole run:

1. Resolve the descriptor — local plan path or pasted text. No MCP calls.
2. Infer change_kind (fix/feat), allocate {version_san}, create docs/versions/{version_san}/sdd/ when artifacts needed.
3. Create its own worktree: .worktrees/{version_san}/ + branch work/{version_san} from the resolved base branch, following ../../ns-harness/references/worktree-setup.md. Path is under the repo root, never under .cursor/. On failure → abort (do not fall back to the main checkout) — see references/standalone-pipeline.md.
4. Planning-depth self-decision, doubt protocol (destructive doubt → chat-only gate, no GitLab actions available), multi-agent dispatch — identical logic to Engine mode.
5. Internal review loop — ../ns-reviewer/references/review-gate-workflow.md: MUST reviewer-agent when available (else ns-reviewer) version-closure code mode; max 3 rounds; Code Review: Approved = 10. Score 9 = Rejected (Lift + re-review). Fail = Criticals or score ≤8. Stop on Blocked or rounds exhausted. Do not run ns-judge until code Approved. Then in-session ../ns-judge/SKILL.md (closure). Delivery Review: Approved = 10. Product files changed after judge Rejected: code review again then judge again.
6. Report per review-gate-workflow.md Final report fields plus {version_san}, worktree path, commit(s), and follow-ups. No GitLab board, no MR — unless docs/context/gitlab-sync-config.md exists and the human explicitly asked for one (out of scope for v1; standalone stays local-only otherwise).

See references/standalone-pipeline.md for the full flow.

Stop and ask the human

Condition	Action
Destructive doubt (Engine mode)	Return escalation event to caller — no chat pause here
Destructive doubt (standalone)	Stop in chat, ask, resume with the answer as context
Worktree conflict for the same {run_id} (standalone)	Stop unless explicit resume
git worktree add failed (permissions/sandbox/path)	Abort — report path attempted; never fall back to main checkout or .cursor/
Still on main/master/base branch when about to edit code	Abort — isolation missing; do not implement
Human explicitly said "do not create a new branch / work in place"	Only then may edit the current branch; still never invent a .cursor/ path
Base branch for standalone worktree unresolved	Stop — ask once
Review Blocked or 3 rounds exhausted	Stop, report as blocked — do not fabricate success
Engine mode invoked with a GitLab origin but no worktree/branch given	Stop — this is a caller contract violation, not a doubt

Related skills

Skill	Role
ns-execution-gitlab-issue	GitLab flow owner — calls this skill for Phase 2
ns-coder	Implement via in-session (1 unit) or coder-agent (≥2 — MUST when available)
ns-reviewer	Closure code gate via reviewer-agent (MUST when available) — not per unit
ns-judge	Delivery proof in-session after Code Review: Approved
ns-harness	Artifact layout, worktree mechanics, discovery

References

File	When
references/routing.md	Issue vs. standalone; Engine-mode I/O and anti-cycle with ns-execution-gitlab-issue
references/entry-triggers.md	Priority 3 standalone entry phrases
references/planning-decision.md	Self-evaluation heuristic: single unit vs. requirements+tasks+plan
references/doubt-resolution.md	Self-ask, docs-first lookup, destructive criteria, escalation shape
references/multi-agent-dispatch.md	DAG + disjoint-scope parallel rule, subagent prompt, checkpoint commits
references/standalone-pipeline.md	Full non-GitLab flow: version alloc, own worktree, review loop

Forbidden

• Review substitutes (senior-tech-lead-reviewer, bugbot, security-review, or any non-ns-reviewer code gate) — harness reviewer-agent is allowed; see ../ns-reviewer/references/review-gate-workflow.md
• ns-judge before Code Review: Approved
• Reporting success without both Approved, or explicit blocked state
• Skipping re-review after a Rejected fix before closure