ai-goal — the loop contract (Loop Engineering)

The loop is NOT reimplemented: the surface's native goal mode runs it. This skill pins the loop contract from three source skills that cover the full method: feature setup with two human stops (mock and approval), the goal condition for one feature, and an overnight multi-feature queue.

• Feature setup: folder, approved mock, re-entrant spec → new-feature/SKILL.md
• The goal condition for one feature: pointer, reporting clause, met condition → goal-writer/SKILL.md
• Multi-feature queue with a builder subagent + adversary verifier → feature-batch/SKILL.md

Lifecycle

Lane: standard, full Writes: .ai-engineering/plan.html Read by: the human, the next iteration of the loop Dies: with the milestone, when plan.html dies Next: ai-proof after each step; ai-verify when plan.html is fully green

Source: Loop-Engineering, Loop Salon demo repo (attributed — no author or URL declared upstream; open license issue H4).

The ai-engineering seam

1. The loop is NOT reimplemented: a surface with a native goal mode runs it (contract mode), and a surface without one runs under facilitator mode below — ai-goal fixes the contract either way.
2. It consumes .ai-engineering/plan.html and closes .ai-engineering/spec.html gates with receipts (ai-eng spec run).
3. The three stops of blueprint §5.1 become exit conditions: approved contract / loop guard deny / destructive action above budget.
4. The token/turn budget comes from .ai-engineering/config.toml ([budget]), not from the conversation.
5. The closing report is produced by ai-visual-recap (.ai-engineering/recap.html).
6. The "enough" criterion is KISS/YAGNI: the smallest thing that closes the gate.

Facilitator mode

The surface's declared capability decides which mode applies. A surface that declares a native goal loop runs contract mode: this skill pins the contract and the loop executes it. A surface that declares none is not handed off to a loop — this skill runs facilitator mode itself and walks .ai-engineering/plan.html one step at a time inside the session.

Facilitator mode changes who advances the loop, not what the loop guarantees. The same three stops apply (approved contract / loop guard deny / destructive action above the [budget]), every closed gate gets the same receipt (ai-eng spec run), and the human is the clock: one step, its receipt, then stop and wait. No timer, no unattended queue, no implicit approval.

An unverified surface runs facilitator mode until a receipt says otherwise. Native goal capability is a claim like any other, and the first honest receipt is what upgrades it; until that receipt exists, the slow path is the true one.

Routing

In scope: autonomous construction loops, overnight batches, goal contracts with gates and stop conditions. Not for: diagnosing a failure (/ai-debug), verifying a finished diff (/ai-verify), deciding what to build (/ai-brainstorm then /ai-plan).