/autopilot - Iterative Autonomous Development

Execute complex features autonomously using the Autopilot technique: PRD as source of truth, progress file for state persistence, and fresh-context iterations to avoid context rot.

Target: $ARGUMENTS

When to Use

Features that require 5+ tasks to implement
Overnight or unattended batch execution
Migrations (database, framework, architecture)
Building MVPs from a PRD
Any task where context rot degrades quality over long sessions
NOT for: single-file changes (use @builder)
NOT for: subjective design decisions (need human feedback)
NOT for: tasks without clear completion criteria

Workflow

Step 1: PRD Resolution

If argument is a file path (ends in .md): Read it as the PRD
If argument is a description: Delegate to /prd to generate docs/PRD-[name].md
If PRD already exists at .claude/autopilot/progress.md with a PRD reference: Resume from where it left off

# Check for existing progress
cat .claude/autopilot/progress.md 2>/dev/null

BLOCKED until a PRD file exists and is readable.

Step 2: Task Extraction & Progress Initialization

Parse the PRD for implementable tasks (look for issue breakdown, task lists, or feature sections)
Create progress file at .claude/autopilot/progress.md:

# Autopilot Progress

## Config
- PRD: [path/to/PRD.md]
- Max iterations: [N, default 10]
- Current iteration: 0
- Status: IN_PROGRESS
- Started: [timestamp]

## Tasks
| # | Task | Status | Iteration | Notes |
|---|------|--------|-----------|-------|
| 1 | [task from PRD] | PENDING | - | - |
| 2 | [task from PRD] | PENDING | - | - |
| 3 | [task from PRD] | PENDING | - | - |

## Iteration Log

Create git restore point:

git add -A 2>/dev/null
git tag restore-point/ralf-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S) 2>/dev/null

Initialize TodoWrite with all tasks for live progress tracking.

Step 3: Iteration Loop

For each iteration until completion:

3a. Read State

1. READ the PRD (source of truth - may have been updated)
2. READ .claude/autopilot/progress.md
3. IDENTIFY next task with Status = PENDING
4. If no PENDING tasks remain → go to Step 4 (Completion)

3b. Execute Task via Fresh-Context Subagent

Critical: Delegate each task to a subagent using the Agent tool. This gives the task a fresh context window, preventing context rot.

Agent(
  description: "RALF iteration N - task description",
  prompt: "
    You are executing a Autopilot task.

    ## PRD (Source of Truth)
    [inline PRD content]

    ## Current Progress
    [inline progress.md content]

    ## Your Task
    Task #N: [task description]

    ## Instructions
    1. Implement this task completely
    2. Follow existing codebase patterns
    3. Run tests if available
    4. Create a git commit: git add -A && git commit -m 'autopilot: task-N - [description]'
    5. Report what you did and what files changed
  "
)

3c. Verify Result

After the subagent returns:

1. CHECK git log for the commit
2. RUN tests (if test command exists in package.json)
3. RUN type check (tsc --noEmit, if TypeScript project)
4. If PASS → mark task DONE in progress.md
5. If FAIL → retry (max 2 retries per task)
6. If still FAIL after retries → mark task BLOCKED, add error notes

3d. Update Progress

## Update in progress.md:
- Increment "Current iteration" counter
- Update task status (DONE / BLOCKED)
- Add iteration log entry:

### Iteration [N]
- Task: #[X] [description]
- Result: DONE | BLOCKED
- Files changed: [list]
- Notes: [what happened]

3e. Create Checkpoint

git tag checkpoint/ralf-task-[N] 2>/dev/null

3f. Check Completion

- All tasks DONE or BLOCKED? → Exit loop
- Current iteration >= max iterations? → Exit loop
- Otherwise → Continue to next iteration (3a)

Step 4: Completion

Update progress.md status to COMPLETE or MAX_ITERATIONS_REACHED
Generate summary report
Suggest next steps (/verify for validation, /finish for branch finalization)

Progress File Format

The progress file at .claude/autopilot/progress.md is the state persistence layer between iterations. It MUST follow this exact format for reliable parsing:

# Autopilot Progress

## Config
- PRD: docs/PRD-feature-name.md
- Max iterations: 10
- Current iteration: 3
- Status: IN_PROGRESS | COMPLETE | MAX_ITERATIONS_REACHED
- Started: 2026-03-16T14:30:00

## Tasks
| # | Task | Status | Iteration | Notes |
|---|------|--------|-----------|-------|
| 1 | Create data models | DONE | 1 | Created User, Task models |
| 2 | Implement API endpoints | DONE | 2 | REST endpoints for CRUD |
| 3 | Build frontend components | IN_PROGRESS | 3 | Started TaskList component |
| 4 | Add authentication | PENDING | - | - |
| 5 | Write integration tests | PENDING | - | - |

## Iteration Log

### Iteration 1
- Task: #1 Create data models
- Result: DONE
- Files: src/models/user.ts, src/models/task.ts
- Notes: Followed existing Prisma schema patterns

### Iteration 2
- Task: #2 Implement API endpoints
- Result: DONE
- Files: src/api/users.ts, src/api/tasks.ts
- Notes: RESTful CRUD with validation

### Iteration 3
- Task: #3 Build frontend components
- Result: IN_PROGRESS
- Files: src/components/TaskList.tsx
- Notes: Component created, needs styling

Execution Modes

Plugin Mode (Default)

Runs inside Claude Code using Agent tool for fresh-context subagents. Easier to use but doesn't fully reset the outer context window.

/autopilot docs/PRD-my-feature.md --max-iterations=10

Script Mode (Maximum Performance)

For the true Autopilot experience with full context reset between iterations, use the bash script:

./scripts/autopilot.sh docs/PRD-my-feature.md --max-iterations=10 --model=claude-opus-4-6

The script kills and restarts Claude Code between iterations, giving each iteration a completely fresh context window. Best for:

Long-running overnight builds
Complex migrations where context rot is noticeable
Running inside a DevContainer with --dangerously-skip-permissions

See templates/autopilot/README.md for DevContainer setup.

Integration with Specialist Agent

Component	How Autopilot Uses It
`/prd`	Generates the PRD if user provides a description instead of a file
`/checkpoint`	Creates restore points and per-task checkpoints
`@executor`	Pattern reference for self-healing (max 2 retries)
`@builder`	Subagent for implementation tasks
`after-task` hook	Fires after each iteration completes
TodoWrite	Live progress tracking during plugin mode

Anti-Rationalization

Excuse	Reality
"I'll just do it in one long session"	Context rot is real. After ~50K tokens, quality degrades measurably. Fresh iterations produce better code.
"The PRD is too detailed, I'll wing it"	Vague PRDs produce vague code. The PRD is the contract. If it's wrong, fix the PRD first.
"I don't need progress tracking"	You are a goldfish with a notepad. Without progress.md, you'll redo completed work or skip critical tasks.
"One more retry will fix it"	After 2 retries, the approach is wrong, not the execution. Mark BLOCKED and move on. A human needs to look at it.
"I can combine multiple tasks per iteration"	One task per iteration. Combining tasks creates entangled commits and makes rollback impossible.
"Script mode is overkill"	For 3 tasks, maybe. For 10+ tasks or overnight runs, script mode's clean context pays for itself in fewer total iterations.

Rules

One task per iteration - Never combine tasks. Each iteration handles exactly one task.
PRD is sacred - Never modify the PRD during execution. If the PRD is wrong, stop and fix it first.
Progress file is the single source of state - All iteration state lives in progress.md. No in-memory state.
Fresh context per task - Always delegate to a subagent (plugin mode) or restart Claude (script mode).
Max 2 retries per task - After 2 failures, mark BLOCKED and continue with the next task.
Always checkpoint - Every successful task gets a git tag. No exceptions.
Verify before marking DONE - Run tests/type-check. No "should work" claims.
Resume-safe - If interrupted, running /autopilot again reads progress.md and continues from where it stopped.

Output

──── /autopilot ────
PRD: docs/PRD-[name].md
Mode: Plugin | Script
Max Iterations: N

[1/N] Task 1: [description]... DONE (iteration 1)
[2/N] Task 2: [description]... DONE (iteration 2)
[3/N] Task 3: [description]... BLOCKED (iteration 3-5, retried 2x)
[4/N] Task 4: [description]... DONE (iteration 6)
[5/N] Task 5: [description]... PENDING

Status: IN_PROGRESS | COMPLETE | MAX_ITERATIONS_REACHED
Iterations used: X/N
Tasks: Y DONE, Z BLOCKED, W PENDING
Progress: .claude/autopilot/progress.md

──── Next: /verify or /finish ────

autopilot