Loop Preview Reference

Use this format when the user wants to inspect the execution loop before the final Goal is written. The preview should be concrete enough to review, but it is not permission to execute the work.

Preview contract

Show these elements in order:

1. Provisional outcome: the current best one-sentence result, with assumptions called out.
2. Starting state: the baseline, known constraints, and first cursor.
3. Iteration flow: what is inspected, selected, executed, verified, and recorded in one cycle.
4. Branches: what happens after success, a new failure, no progress, a side quest, missing authority, or a drift signal.
5. Progress evidence: what must change for an iteration to count; which checks run during edits or at delivery, when evidence can be reused, and which changes trigger a rerun. Include bounds for expensive checks.
6. Drift gates: when the Anchor is re-read and what triggers realignment.
7. Terminal states: exact complete, blocked, paused, timeboxed, and stopped conditions.
8. Decisions to confirm: only the choices that could materially change the loop, scope, evidence, or terminal rules. For feedback, adoption, pilot, launch, or validation work, confirm the evidence threshold, what counts, and the feedback window.

End with a handoff such as: “确认这个循环后，我再生成最终 Goal 指令。” Do not include a final executable Goal in a preview-only response and do not perform external mutations.

Visual shape

flowchart TD
    A[Inspect baseline and cursor] --> B[Choose one criterion and expected delta]
    B --> C[Act within allowed scope]
    C --> D[Verify evidence]
    D --> E{Alignment check}
    E -->|ON_TARGET| F[Record delta and next cursor]
    F --> G{All criteria verified?}
    G -->|No| H{Phase gate due?}
    H -->|No| B
    H -->|Yes| I[Re-read Anchor and review scope]
    I --> B
    G -->|Yes| J[GOAL COMPLETE]
    E -->|SIDE_QUEST| K[Defer with revisit condition]
    K --> B
    E -->|DRIFTED| L[Pause and realign]
    L --> M[GOAL PAUSED: realignment required]
    D --> N{Blocked, budgeted, or owner-stopped?}
    N -->|Blocked| O[GOAL BLOCKED]
    N -->|Budget/time limit| P[GOAL TIMEBOXED]
    N -->|Owner cancels| Q[GOAL STOPPED]

Preview table

Example preview

## Loop preview

### Provisional outcome
Produce a tested importer patch that accepts the quoted multiline fixture.
Assumption: the current fixture and test command are authoritative.

### One iteration
Inspect the failing parser path → choose one parsing hypothesis → make one
focused change → run the fixture test → record the diff and result.

### Branches
- Test passes: mark C1 verified and select the next open criterion.
- Test fails with new evidence: revise the hypothesis and try one different
  focused change.
- Same failure twice: stop as `GOAL BLOCKED` with the exact missing evidence.
- Useful unrelated cleanup: mark `SIDE_QUEST` and defer it.
- No criterion moves or scope expands: pause as
  `GOAL PAUSED: realignment required`.

### Gate and limits
Re-read the Anchor after three iterations and before changing dependencies.
Use at most four hypothesis iterations. Run the existing importer suite once
the parser is stable; after a further parser change, refresh affected regression
evidence. Report-only edits do not invalidate unrelated passing parser checks.
Use the repository's command timeout for expensive checks; report any unverified
criterion if it expires.

### Confirm before drafting
Please confirm the retry threshold and whether dependency changes are allowed;
then the final Goal can be generated.