long-task-continuation

Long Task Continuation

Overview

Keep long work checkpointed, resumable, drift-aware, and evidence-gated. This

protocol does not execute plans, dispatch subagents, run tests, or grant

completion authority.

Authority Boundary

The Method Pack owns continuation discipline only. It does not own the parent

plan, host retry/watchdog behavior, authoritative GateDecision, evidence

sufficiency, requirement acceptance, or completion.

When To Use

Use this skill when the work has meaningful phases, may be compacted/resumed or

handed off, uses subagents, or explicitly needs continuity and drift control.

Architecture, contract, shared-workflow, and verification-gate changes also

benefit from it. Do not force it onto a short answer or one-command check.

Choose exactly one state carrier:

• use a durable work/ record for medium+ work that actually crosses sessions,

needs handoff, or requires resumable state;

• otherwise keep one inline checkpoint.

Multi-step, todo-driven, possible-compaction, and subagent use do not force

durable records by themselves. Do not create both carriers or a record per

slice.

Required Artifacts

A durable task has one process trail under

docs/aegis/work/YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>/. It keeps logical intent/baseline state,

the latest todo/checkpoint/resume state, terminal evidence/drift state, and a

completion reflection when warranted. These are

TaskIntentDraft, BaselineReadSetHint, BaselineUsageDraft,

ImpactStatementDraft, TodoCheckpointDraft, ResumeStateHint,

DriftCheckDraft, and EvidenceBundleDraft views—not authoritative runtime

records or separate plan owners.

Read only the lifecycle-matched section of durable-work-guidance.md:

• ## Required Artifact Layout and ## Create A Durable Work Record for a new durable work record;
• ## Update A Slice when an existing helper-backed record needs sidecar updates;
• ## Retry Convergence Detail for retry/attempt bookkeeping;
• ## Pause, Handoff, And Completion Bundle when preparing a pause, handoff, or completion bundle; and
• ## Expanded State Fields only when natural checkpoint prose is ambiguous.

The reference owns artifact layout and <aegis-workspace-helper> command

detail; this file owns carrier selection, resume order, drift decisions, and

stop conditions.

An Execution Readiness View may be kept in the intent or active checkpoint

for medium/high, handoff-prone, long-running, subagent-driven, architecture,

contract, compatibility, or retirement-sensitive work. It renders existing

intent, scope, baseline, owner, test, review, and drift constraints; it is not a

new JSON artifact or completion authority.

Planless Slice Lane:

• When an existing parent plan/spec owns a bounded task, reuse it and the

current checkpoint. For a no-parent direct bounded request with no new

durable or unclear verification boundary, use an inline checkpoint.

• State one compact Slice Card: Goal, Parent plan/spec (or

none — direct bounded request), Files, Boundary, Verification, and Stop.

• The slice goal closes only that slice. Final completion returns to the parent

or direct bounded request through verification-before-completion.

• Do not create a plan/spec merely to give a micro-slice a parent, and do not

create per-slice plans/specs or work records.

• Escalate when a new owner, contract, schema, public API, architecture,

migration, persistence, security/permission, distribution/release surface,

unclear verification boundary, or mismatch with parent scope or acceptance

appears.

When durable architecture decisions are in scope, these work records are the

preferred ADR Auto Backfill source. Preserve decision signals, source refs,

alternatives, compatibility, retirement, drift, and baseline-sync questions.

Start Protocol

Before execution:

1. Capture requested outcome, scope, non-goals, risks, parent plan/goal, success

evidence, and stop states (`done | blocked | needs-verification |

scope-exceeded`).

1. Identify required baseline refs and record acknowledged, cited, and missing

refs. Missing authority pauses in needs-baseline-readback.

1. Choose inline or durable state once, then record the todo map, active slice,

completed slices/evidence, blockers, next step, and current branch/HEAD.

1. When an Execution Readiness View exists, retain its intent lock, scope

fence, baseline lock, compatibility/retirement boundary, tests, reviews,

evidence, and rewind rules.

1. For a new helper-backed record, use durable-work-guidance.md to create and

structurally check it before implementation.

Retry Convergence Protocol

A failed verification is another attempt in the current slice, not a new

slice. Keep failed-attempt telemetry out of terminal evidence and normal

commits. Only evidence-finalized, blocked, or abandoned is terminal.

When retry state reaches process-artifact-pressure, stop auto-retry and route

to systematic-debugging or verification-before-completion. Load the durable

reference only when the attempt/evidence commands or sidecar rules are needed.

Per-Slice Protocol

Before each slice, state the current goal/todo, intended edits, explicit

non-edits, verification, and readiness alignment. A bounded parent-plan or

no-parent slice uses the compact Slice Card rather than a new plan/spec.

After each slice, update completed todos, evidence refs, newly used baseline

refs, blockers, next step, and drift decision. When an active helper-backed work record exists, read durable-work-guidance.md and update that same record;

never create another workstream for bookkeeping.

When patch-shape/ripple triage, an H-class finding, or a bounded compatibility

mitigation fired, a locally green result does not clear the direction. Retain

PatchShape, CanonicalOwner, UpwardDrillSignal, latest outcome, and one

bounded evidence ref; do not copy raw logs or full diffs. If no fresh evidence

exists, the state is needs-verification or partial.

Resume Protocol

Resume in this order:

1. Read original intent, parent plan/goal, latest checkpoint and resume hint.
2. Re-read required baseline refs and relevant active CONTEXT.md language.
3. Read the Execution Readiness View when present.
4. Compare checkpoint branch/HEAD, completed commits, evidence refs, and claims

with the current worktree.

1. Compare the active slice against intent lock, scope fence, baseline lock,

compatibility/retirement boundary, tests, reviews, and non-goals.

1. Re-run the drift decision, then name the next smallest authorized action.

Any disagreement among plan, checkpoint, baseline, context, readiness view, or

worktree pauses execution. A semantic conflict routes to

establishing-project-context; an unplanned repair re-reads the retained

invariant, owner seam, patch shape, and causal topology, then route comparison to

systematic-debugging. A new carrier name alone does not prove a new direction. Never resume from memory alone.

Drift Check

Check original intent and stop condition, parent scope/acceptance, compatibility,

new owners/fallbacks/adapters/branches, retirement, evidence freshness, and any

readiness locks. Allowed decisions are continue, pause-for-user,

needs-baseline-readback, needs-verification, and blocked.

Never emit gate-passed, completion-granted, or authoritatively-safe.

Completion Candidate Protocol

Before a completion claim:

1. Use aegis:verification-before-completion.
2. Confirm every todo has status, blockers are resolved/externalized, evidence

covers acceptance, and drift has no blocking state.

1. If a durable record exists, load durable-work-guidance.md for the completion

bundle and structural workspace check.

1. For durable architecture work, pass the work record, proof bundle and ADR signals

to verification for ADR Backfill Check.

Generated packs are future-runtime inputs only. Method Pack output remains

verified evidence and advisory judgment, not authoritative completion.

Minimal Reporting Shape

Report naturally and omit empty structures. Keep these semantic slots visible:

Aegis Visibility; current todo/active/completed/next; baseline usage decision;

readiness state when present; fresh evidence; retry/convergence state when

relevant; drift decision; risk/unknown; and the next smallest safe action.