Code Autonomous

Harness-aware execution engine: decides planning depth, resolves doubts, dispatches multi-agent work, and closes the loop with a review gate — either as a standalone pipeline or as another skill's execution engine.

Workflow mode (mandatory)

Fixed workflow — named skill handoffs or harness project bridges (

../../ns-harness/references/subagent-dispatch.md

). Review gate:

../ns-reviewer/references/review-gate-workflow.md

. MUST

reviewer-agent

when available (else

ns-reviewer

); no platform Task persona substitutes.

C2

(MUST

coder-agent

when available →

ns-coder

) must complete its full per-task cycle including the same review gate before a unit is considered done.

Isolation invariant (non-negotiable)

This skill never writes application code on the main product checkout, and never commits to

main

master

(or any base/

SOURCE_BRANCH

), unless the human has explicitly instructed "do not create a new branch / work in place on the current branch" for this run.

Standalone and Engine mode both require an isolated
```
WORK_BRANCH
```
+
```
WORKTREE_ROOT
```
before any implementation edit.
If worktree creation fails, or CWD/branch is still the main checkout / base branch → stop. Do not "continue on main to unlock the plan".
Sandbox restrictions (
```
Operation not permitted
```
, Cursor agent runtime paths under
```
.cursor/
```
) are not permission to violate this invariant.

Session boot

See

../../ns-harness/references/session-boot.md

. Complete Session boot (blocking) there before any other step in this skill.

After session boot — Engine and Standalone

Engine mode: caller may have already completed Session boot in Phase 0 — re-read

session-boot.md

only if context is missing. Standalone: you own Session boot before step 1 of the standalone pipeline.

Routing (read first)

Entry priority table:

../../ns-harness/references/code-skill-routing.md

. Standalone triggers:

references/entry-triggers.md

Origin is a GitLab issue (
```
ISSUE_URL
```
or issue reference) → entry priority 1 — follow
```
ns-execution-gitlab-issue
```
end to end; this skill only runs as its Phase 2 engine (Engine mode below). Do not run the standalone pipeline, do not touch GitLab state, do not create a worktree.
Standalone autonomous (local plan file, pasted text/plan, ad-hoc "implement this autonomously" without an issue) → entry priority 3 — run the standalone pipeline: own worktree, own state, own review loop.

See

references/routing.md

for Engine-mode I/O and anti-cycle rules with

ns-execution-gitlab-issue

Engine mode (invoked by

ns-execution-gitlab-issue

)

Inputs (already resolved by the caller — this skill never creates them): issue payload,

WORKTREE_ROOT

WORK_BRANCH

SOURCE_BRANCH

Planning-depth self-decision — evaluate the issue payload and decide single work unit vs. light

requirements.md

tasks/task-NNN-*.md

execution-plan.md

under

docs/versions/{version_san}/

. See

references/planning-decision.md

Doubt protocol — self-ask, docs-first lookup, self-answer non-destructive doubts, escalate destructive ones as a structured event to the caller instead of mutating GitLab state; pause dependent units until resumed. See
```
references/doubt-resolution.md
```
.
Multi-agent dispatch — parse work units (or the single unit) and MUST dispatch
```
coder-agent
```
when available (else
```
ns-coder
```
) workers, parallel only across units with no DAG edge and disjoint file scopes, sequential otherwise. Every subagent works inside
```
WORKTREE_ROOT
```
, never the main checkout. See
```
references/multi-agent-dispatch.md
```
and
```
../../ns-harness/references/subagent-dispatch.md
```
.
Checkpoint commits — one commit per completed sequential unit or per completed parallel batch, inside the worktree; the caller squashes at delivery.
Fix-loop entry point — when re-invoked after a
```
Rejected
```
verdict, treat the reviewer findings as a new work unit (or units) and repeat step 3 for those only.
Return to caller: unit statuses, files changed, any open destructive doubt, and (first invocation only) a plan-based
```
estimate_seconds
```
hint — the caller applies
```
set_issue_estimate
```
only when the issue estimate is empty and the value is ≥ 60 (see
```
../ns-execution-gitlab-issue/references/time-tracking.md
```
).

Standalone pipeline (non-GitLab origin)

Same internals as Engine mode, but this skill owns the whole run:

Resolve the descriptor — local plan path or pasted text. No MCP calls.

Infer

change_kind

(fix/feat), allocate

{version_san}

, create

docs/versions/{version_san}/

Create its own worktree:
```
.worktrees/{version_san}/
```
+ branch
```
work/{version_san}
```
from the resolved base branch, following
```
../../ns-harness/references/worktree-setup.md
```
. Path is under the repo root, never under
```
.cursor/
```
. On failure → abort (do not fall back to the main checkout) — see
```
references/standalone-pipeline.md
```
.
Planning-depth self-decision, doubt protocol (destructive doubt → chat-only gate, no GitLab actions available), multi-agent dispatch — identical logic to Engine mode.
Internal review loop —
```
../ns-reviewer/references/review-gate-workflow.md
```
: MUST invoke reviewer-agent
when available (else ns-reviewer
) (version-closure mode) only; max 3 rounds;
```
Approved
```
requires score ≥9/10 (ideal 10); fix units on
```
Rejected
```
(Criticals or score ≤8), then mandatory re-review; stop on
```
Blocked
```
or rounds exhausted.
Report per
```
review-gate-workflow.md
```
Final report fields plus
```
{version_san}
```
, worktree path, commit(s), and follow-ups. No GitLab board, no MR — unless
```
docs/context/gitlab-sync-config.md
```
exists and the human explicitly asked for one (out of scope for v1; standalone stays local-only otherwise).

See

references/standalone-pipeline.md

for the full flow.

Stop and ask the human

Condition	Action
Destructive doubt (Engine mode)	Return escalation event to caller — no chat pause here
Destructive doubt (standalone)	Stop in chat, ask, resume with the answer as context
Worktree conflict for the same `{run_id}` (standalone)	Stop unless explicit resume
`git worktree add` failed (permissions/sandbox/path)	Abort — report path attempted; never fall back to main checkout or `.cursor/`
Still on `main` / `master` /base branch when about to edit code	Abort — isolation missing; do not implement
Human explicitly said "do not create a new branch / work in place"	Only then may edit the current branch; still never invent a `.cursor/` path
Base branch for standalone worktree unresolved	Stop — ask once
Review `Blocked` or 3 rounds exhausted	Stop, report as blocked — do not fabricate success
Engine mode invoked with a GitLab origin but no worktree/branch given	Stop — this is a caller contract violation, not a doubt

Related skills

Skill	Role
`ns-execution-gitlab-issue`	GitLab flow owner — calls this skill for Phase 2
`ns-coder`	Subagent implementation via `coder-agent` (MUST when available)
`ns-reviewer`	Review gate via `reviewer-agent` (MUST when available)
`ns-harness`	Artifact layout, worktree mechanics, discovery

References

File	When
`references/routing.md`	Issue vs. standalone; Engine-mode I/O and anti-cycle with `ns-execution-gitlab-issue`
`references/entry-triggers.md`	Priority 3 standalone entry phrases
`references/planning-decision.md`	Self-evaluation heuristic: single unit vs. requirements+tasks+plan
`references/doubt-resolution.md`	Self-ask, docs-first lookup, destructive criteria, escalation shape
`references/multi-agent-dispatch.md`	DAG + disjoint-scope parallel rule, subagent prompt, checkpoint commits
`references/standalone-pipeline.md`	Full non-GitLab flow: version alloc, own worktree, review loop

Forbidden

Review substitutes (

senior-tech-lead-reviewer

bugbot

security-review

, or any non-

ns-reviewer

gate) — harness

reviewer-agent

is allowed; see

../ns-reviewer/references/review-gate-workflow.md

Reporting success without a passing
```
ns-reviewer
```
verdict or explicit blocked state
Skipping re-review after a
```
Rejected
```
fix before closure

ns-autonomous

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Code Autonomous

Workflow mode (mandatory)

Isolation invariant (non-negotiable)

Session boot

After session boot — Engine and Standalone

Routing (read first)

Engine mode (invoked by
`ns-execution-gitlab-issue`
)

Standalone pipeline (non-GitLab origin)

Stop and ask the human

Related skills

References

Forbidden

ns-autonomous

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Code Autonomous

Workflow mode (mandatory)

Isolation invariant (non-negotiable)

Session boot

After session boot — Engine and Standalone

Routing (read first)

Engine mode (invoked by ns-execution-gitlab-issue)

Standalone pipeline (non-GitLab origin)

Stop and ask the human

Related skills

References

Forbidden

Engine mode (invoked by
`ns-execution-gitlab-issue`
)