Goals¶
Source: hooks/ways/meta/goals/goals.md
Frontmatter
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
description |
When and why to set a /goal — running Claude in goal mode toward a completion condition, and the regime that creates |
vocabulary |
goal goal-mode autonomous loop completion condition keep working until evaluator continue persist bounded objective set a goal ralph regime evidence approvals operator turns stopping |
refire |
0.15 |
scope |
agent, subagent |
/goal is a Claude Code built-in: it sets a completion condition and keeps the session working turn-over-turn until a separate evaluator judges the condition met. It's the autonomy primitive — it removes per-turn approvals. This way is the who/what/when/why; the goal-author skill is the how (composing a well-bounded condition).
When to set a goal (vs. just act)¶
Set a goal when the work is multi-turn, has a checkable end-state, and you'd otherwise be re-prompting Claude to "keep going" — a test suite to get green, a consistency pass across many files, a migration. Don't set one for a single-step task, or for open-ended exploration where the direction isn't settled yet — there, ordinary turns and signposts serve better.
What changes in goal mode¶
- Per-turn approvals are gone. Claude continues on its own until the condition holds; the
◎indicator shows the regime is active. Setting a goal is consent to that — the operator should know they've entered it. - The evaluator judges surfaced text. It can't run commands itself, so a condition must be met by shown evidence: an exit code, a clean status. Author for evidence.
- There is no model-side abort. Only the operator (
/goal clear), the met condition, a timeout, or session end stops it. Claude can always decline an action and surface a concern — the loop blocks stopping, it never forces an action — but it can't end the loop itself. So the bounds live in the condition.
Author the condition deliberately¶
Because the condition is the whole contract once per-turn approval is gone, frame it with care: one measurable end-state, the evidence that proves it, a turn/time bound, scope limits, and a door clause for any irreversible action (stop before it, surface). The goal-author skill walks this collaboratively.
See also¶
- the goal-author skill — composing the condition (the how)
- choices(meta) — surfacing curated decisions to the operator