Smart Mode - Intelligent Autonomous Execution

Core intelligence for /auto-smart command. Handles complexity scoring, mode selection, evidence gates, and failure recovery.

When This Skill Activates

• /auto-smart command is invoked
• Need to assess task complexity (1-5 scale)
• Choosing execution mode (DIRECT vs ORCHESTRATED)
• Enforcing evidence-based verification
• Recovering from failures (pivot → research → checkpoint)

Core Concepts

Complexity Scoring

Score every task 1-5 based on scope:

Score	Mode	Characteristics
1-2	DIRECT	Simple, few files, clear scope
3-5	ORCHESTRATED	Complex, many files, needs phases

See references/complexity-rubric.md for detailed scoring criteria.

Execution Modes

DIRECT Mode (Score 1-2):

• Simple iterative loop
• Work until done
• Evidence gate before completion
• No decomposition needed

ORCHESTRATED Mode (Score 3-5):

• Decompose into 2-5 phases
• Checkpoint after each phase
• Evidence gate per phase
• Supports multi-session resume

Evidence Gates (MANDATORY)

Every claim MUST include verification:

✅ VALID:
"Implemented feature X [VERIFIED: npm test → 12 passing]"
"Fixed bug Y [VERIFIED: manual test confirms fix]"
"Added component Z [VERIFIED: npm run build → success]"

❌ INVALID:
"I implemented the feature" (no evidence)
"Should work now" (speculation)
"Tests probably pass" (not verified)

Red Flag Words (trigger re-verification):

• "should", "probably", "I think", "seems to", "likely"

Failure Recovery

See references/failure-handling.md for complete protocol.

Quick Reference:

1. PIVOT (first 3 attempts) - Try alternative approach
2. RESEARCH (next 3 attempts) - Read more code, understand better
3. CHECKPOINT (after 6 failed attempts) - Save state, report stuck

Protocol

Step 1: Analyze Complexity

Parse the user's request and score 1-5:

Analyze: "<user prompt>"

Factors:
- Estimated files affected: N
- Keywords detected: [list]
- Features mentioned: N
- Complexity signals: [list]

Score: X/5
Mode: DIRECT|ORCHESTRATED
Reasoning: "..."

Step 2: Initialize State

Create .claude/smart-ralph/state.yaml:

version: "1.0"
mode: DIRECT|ORCHESTRATED
phase: ANALYZE|EXECUTE|VERIFY
complexity:
  score: N
  reasoning: "explanation"
  mode_selected: DIRECT|ORCHESTRATED
started_at: "ISO timestamp"
prompt: "original user prompt"
orchestrated_phases: []  # only for ORCHESTRATED
failure_recovery:
  pivot_count: 0
  research_count: 0
  last_error: null

Step 3: Execute (Mode-Dependent)

DIRECT Mode:

1. Understand task clearly
2. Implement with TDD when applicable
3. Verify each change
4. Collect evidence
5. Complete when all verified

ORCHESTRATED Mode:

1. Decompose into 2-5 phases
2. Execute phase 1
3. Checkpoint + evidence gate
4. Continue to next phase
5. Final verification after all phases

Step 4: Handle Failures

If stuck (same error 3x, no progress):

1. PIVOT: Identify failure, list alternatives, try different approach
2. RESEARCH: If pivot fails 3x, read more code, understand context
3. CHECKPOINT: If research fails 3x, save state, output STUCK

Update state after each recovery attempt:

failure_recovery:
  pivot_count: 2
  research_count: 1
  last_error: "description of what's failing"

Step 5: Verify and Complete

Before outputting COMPLETE:

1. Run all verification commands (test, build, lint, typecheck)
2. Document each result with evidence
3. Ensure NO red flag words in claims
4. Output structured completion summary

State Management

File Locations

All state in .claude/smart-ralph/:

• state.yaml - Machine-readable execution state
• progress.md - Human-readable progress report
• stuck-report.md - Only created if STUCK (detailed context)

Progress File Format

## Smart Ralph Progress

**Task:** <original prompt>
**Mode:** DIRECT|ORCHESTRATED (Complexity: X/5)
**Started:** <timestamp>
**Status:** in_progress|complete|stuck

### Completed
- [x] Phase/Step 1: Description [VERIFIED: evidence]

### In Progress
- [ ] Phase/Step 2: Description

### Evidence Collected
- `npm test` → 24 passing
- `npm run build` → success

Resume Detection

On session start, check for incomplete state:

1. Read .claude/smart-ralph/state.yaml
2. If exists and phase != COMPLETE → resume
3. Load progress and continue from last checkpoint

Integration with autonomous-dev

Smart Mode reuses:

• project-detector skill for tech stack detection
• verification-runner skill for test/build/lint
• task-decomposer skill (only in ORCHESTRATED mode)
• Result filtering patterns for token efficiency

Key Differences from /auto

Aspect	/auto	/auto-smart
Approval gates	Phase 3, Phase 6	None
Complexity detection	Manual classification	Automatic
Failure handling	Manual intervention	Auto pivot/research
Mode selection	Always full workflow	Adaptive
Resume	/auto-continue	Automatic