bytelyst-devops-tools/agent-queue/README.md

# agent-queue

A zero-dependency **folder "kanban" runner** for headless coding-agent CLIs —
**Devin**, **Claude Code**, and **OpenAI Codex**. Drop prompt `.md` files into a folder,
and they get executed (in auto-approve mode) one slot at a time, moving through
`inbox → building → review → testing → shipped` (plus `failed`) with live status.

> **Vision & roadmap:** where this is headed — a distributed multi-machine "gigafactory"
> (fleet of factories × tools × profiles, scheduler-routed, built on platform-service +
> tracker-web) — is specified as a checklist-driven implementation roadmap in
> [`docs/GIGAFACTORY_ROADMAP.md`](docs/GIGAFACTORY_ROADMAP.md).

**Build/ship lifecycle — auto-QA, manual ship:**

```
inbox ─▶ building ─▶ review ─▶ testing ─▶ shipped
  (queued)  (agent     (rc=0;    (verify    (you ran
            running)   awaiting  passed —    `ship`)
                       verify)   QA gate)
                          │
        agent rc≠0 /      │ verify fails
        timeout ──────────┴──────────────▶ failed
```

- **Auto:** agent exits 0 → `review/`. If a `verify:` command is configured it runs
  automatically: **pass → `testing/` (QA)**, **fail → `failed/`**. No `verify:` →
  the job parks in `review/` for a manual `promote`.
- **Manual:** you `ship` a `testing/` job → `shipped/` (the human gate). Shipping is
  never automatic.

> **Why this exists:** the agent CLIs ship a minimal local interface (no built-in
> batch/queue/dashboard — that lives in their *cloud* products). This is the
> zero-dependency bash glue that turns "run one prompt interactively" into
> "queue many and walk away."

---

## Quick start

```bash
cd learning_ai_devops_tools/agent-queue
chmod +x agent-queue.sh
./agent-queue.sh init

# queue a roadmap for Devin, running in the tracker-web repo, auto-approving everything
./agent-queue.sh add ~/roadmaps/UX-2.md \
  --engine devin \
  --cwd /Users/sd9235/code/mygh/learning_ai_common_plat/dashboards/tracker-web \
  --yolo

# start processing (foreground; Ctrl-C to stop). Run up to 3 agents at once (default).
./agent-queue.sh run --max 3
```

In a **second terminal**, watch progress:

```bash
./agent-queue.sh watch
```

```
  AGENT QUEUE  /…/agent-queue/queue
  inbox 3   building 2   review 1   testing 2   shipped 5   failed 0   running 2/2

  RUNNING
    20260528-2130__UX-2        devin     4m12s  pid 51234  ⏺ Edited src/app/dashboard/items/page.tsx
    20260528-2131__UX-3        claude    1m02s  pid 51290  Running: pnpm typecheck
```

---

## How a task is configured

Each `.md` carries optional **frontmatter** telling the runner which engine to use,
which directory to run in, and whether to auto-approve:

```md
---
engine: devin          # devin | claude | codex | copilot  (default: $AGENT_QUEUE_ENGINE)
cwd: /abs/path/to/repo # where the agent executes   (default: cwd when added)
yolo: true             # auto-approve ALL tools      (default: true)
lock: my-repo          # optional mutex key (default: cwd). Jobs sharing a key run serially
timeout: 45m           # optional. 90s|45m|2h|1d. On expiry → failed (result=timeout)
verify: pnpm -s test   # optional auto-QA gate. Runs in cwd after rc=0:
                       #   pass → testing/ (QA),  fail → failed/
                       #   (omit to park in review/ for manual promote)
---

# Your task / roadmap goes here
...
```

`add --engine/--cwd/--yolo` will inject this frontmatter for you if the file doesn't
already have a `---` block.

### Manifest fields (Gigafactory Phase 1)

The runner parses the richer [gigafactory manifest](docs/GIGAFACTORY_ROADMAP.md#5-the-evolved-job-manifest-feature)
**backward-compatibly** — a legacy `engine`/`cwd`/`yolo`-only `.md` behaves exactly as before.
Fields marked **RESERVED** are parsed, stored in `.state/<job>.meta`, and shown in `status`, but
are otherwise **no-ops until a later phase** (they do not yet affect execution).

| Field | Status | Default | Meaning |
| ----- | ------ | ------- | ------- |
| `engine` | active | `$AGENT_QUEUE_ENGINE` | explicit engine (`devin\|claude\|codex\|copilot`) — always wins over `engine-class` |
| `cwd` / `yolo` / `lock` / `timeout` / `verify` | active | see above | Phase-0 behavior, unchanged |
| `priority` | **active** | `medium` | `critical\|high\|medium\|low`. Inbox is picked **highest-priority first, then oldest** (was pure FIFO) |
| `engine-class` | **active** | _(none)_ | used only when `engine` is unset: `agentic-coder`→`devin,claude,codex`; `chat-coder`→`copilot`. Picks the first **available** engine. No engine available → job fails `result=no_engine` |
| `prefers-engine` | **active** | _(none)_ | optional order hint for `engine-class` resolution, e.g. `[claude, devin]` |
| `capabilities` | **active** | _(none)_ | hard host requirements, e.g. `[os:any, node>=20, has:git]`. If the host can't satisfy them the job is sent to `failed/` with `result=capability_mismatch` **and the agent is never launched** (grammar below) |
| `idempotency-key` | **active** | _(none)_ | dedupe on `add` (semantics below) |
| `profile` | **active** | _(none)_ | inherit persona + verify/caps/engine-class/prefers-engine/allowed-scope/review-policy from `profiles/<name>.md` (job fields override — see **Profiles**) |
| `prefers` | RESERVED | _(none)_ | soft routing/affinity hints (e.g. `[factory:mac-2]`) |
| `budget` | RESERVED | _(none)_ | `{ usd, tokens, wall }` ceilings (`wall` enforcement is a later slice) |
| `deps` / `deps-mode` | **active** | _(none)_ | block until each referenced `idempotency-key` is in `shipped/` (or `testing/` when `deps-mode: soft`). Submit-time cycle detection (see **Profiles & deps**) |
| `retry` | **active** | _(none)_ | `{ max: N, backoff: 5m, on: [timeout, verify_failed, crash] }` — requeue failures with backoff up to `max`, then `retries_exhausted` (see **Resilience**) |
| `review-policy` | RESERVED | _(none)_ | `auto\|manual\|reviewers:[…]` |
| `artifacts` | RESERVED | _(none)_ | extra outputs to capture (coverage, screenshots) |
| `tracker-item` | RESERVED | _(none)_ | link back to the originating tracker task |

**Capability grammar** (a job matches a host iff **every** required token is satisfied):

| Token form | Example | Satisfied when |
| ---------- | ------- | -------------- |
| `key` (bare presence) | `gpu` | the host advertises `key` in any form |
| `key:value` (exact) | `os:mac`, `engine:devin`, `has:git` | the host advertises that exact token |
| `key:any` (wildcard) | `os:any` | the host advertises any `key:*` (so `os:any` matches every host) |
| `key<op>version` (`>=` `>` `=` `<=` `<`) | `node>=20` | numeric/semver-major compare vs the host's `key:<n>` |

The host advertises (via `detect_capabilities`): `os:<mac\|linux>`, `engine:<each available engine>`,
`node:<major>`, and `has:<git\|pnpm\|docker>` when present.

**`idempotency-key` semantics** (on `add`, hashing the frontmatter-stripped body):

- same key **+ same body** → **no-op** (logged `duplicate, skipped`).
- same key **+ different body**, prior job still in `inbox/` → **supersedes** it (replaces the queued file).
- same key **+ different body**, prior job already past `inbox/` (building/review/testing/shipped) →
  **rejected** with a clear error (use a new key, or requeue the existing job).

## Engine mapping

| `engine:` | Command run | Auto-approve flag (`yolo: true`) |
| --------- | ----------- | -------------------------------- |
| `devin`   | `devin -p --prompt-file <body>` | `--permission-mode dangerous` |
| `claude`  | `claude -p` (body on **stdin**) | `--dangerously-skip-permissions` |
| `codex`   | `codex exec` (body on **stdin**) | `--dangerously-bypass-approvals-and-sandbox` |
| `copilot` | `copilot -p` (body on **stdin**) | `--allow-all-tools` _(best-effort; chat-coder class target)_ |

The frontmatter is **stripped** before the body reaches the agent, and
claude/codex receive it on **stdin** so a body starting with `--` is never
misparsed as a flag.

> Flags drift between CLI versions — if one changes, edit `build_agent_cmd()` in
> `agent-queue.sh` (it's the single place each engine is mapped).

## Commands

| Command | What it does |
| ------- | ------------ |
| `init` | create the `queue/` folders |
| `add <file> [--engine E] [--cwd P] [--yolo\|--no-yolo]` | queue a prompt into `inbox/` |
| `run [--max N] [--engine E] [--once]` | process the inbox (foreground loop) |
| `status` | kanban counts + running-worker table (marks `⚠ stalled`; per-job insights sub-line) |
| `watch [interval]` | live `status` (bash), redrawn every N seconds (default 2) |
| `insights [job]` | per-job metrics, or a recent-jobs table + per-engine token/cost/success rollup (see **Insights**) |
| `recover` | reclaim orphaned `building/` jobs (dead worker) back to `inbox/` (see **Resilience**) |
| `dash [--interval N]` | **interactive Node dashboard** — navigable numbered job list with single-key actions (see below) |
| `stop` | kill running workers + the run loop |
| `logs <job> [-f]` | print / follow a job's log |
| `promote <job>` | advance one stage forward: `review → testing → shipped` |
| `ship <job>` | **manual gate:** move a `testing/` (QA) job → `shipped/` |
| `reject <job>` | send a `review/` or `testing/` job → `failed/` |
| `requeue <job>` | move a `failed`/`review`/`testing` job back to `inbox/` for a fresh run |
| `clean [--keep N]` | archive finished logs+meta beyond the newest N (default 50) into `queue/.archive/` |

Only one `run` loop may be active per queue — a second `run` against the same
queue is refused while the first is alive (a stale `daemon.pid` is cleared).

### Interactive dashboard (`dash`)

`dash` is a single-script, menu-driven control panel (think a tiny "glassbox").
It shows the kanban counts, live RUNNING workers (engine, elapsed, last log
line, stall), a **navigable numbered JOBS list**, and RECENT finished jobs — and
lets you act on jobs without leaving the screen. Every action shells out to
`agent-queue.sh`, so the script stays the single source of truth.

| Key | Action |
| --- | ------ |
| `↑`/`↓`, `j`/`k`, `1`–`9` | select a job in the JOBS list |
| `enter` / `l` | view the selected job's log (live, auto-refreshing) |
| `p` | promote (`review → testing → shipped`) |
| `s` | ship (`testing`/QA → `shipped`, the manual gate) |
| `x` | reject (`review`/`testing` → `failed`) — asks `y/n` |
| `u` | requeue (`failed`/`review`/`testing` → `inbox`) — asks `y/n` |
| `r` | start the `run` loop (detached → `logs/run-loop.log`) |
| `S` | stop the run loop + running workers |
| `g` | refresh now · `?`/`h` help · `q`/`Ctrl-C` quit |

The header shows a `● run loop pid N` / `○ run loop stopped` indicator. Run it in
a TTY for the interactive mode; piped/non-TTY it falls back to a read-only live view.

## Via `bytelyst-cli.sh`

Wired into the repo's unified CLI (no GitHub token required for this subcommand):

```bash
./bytelyst-cli.sh agent-queue run --max 3     # full passthrough
./bytelyst-cli.sh aq status                   # short alias
```

## Folder layout

```
queue/
  inbox/    # drop / queued .md files (oldest eligible picked first)
  building/ # currently executing (agent running)
  review/   # agent exited 0 — awaiting the auto-QA verify gate (or manual promote)
  testing/  # verify passed (QA) — awaiting manual `ship`
  shipped/  # manually shipped — the terminal success stage
  failed/   # non-zero exit, bad cwd, timeout, verify failure, or manual reject
  logs/     # <job>.log — full agent + verify output
  locks/    # per-key flock files (Linux hardening; unused on macOS)
  .state/   # <job>.meta heartbeats + daemon.pid (runtime only)
  .archive/ # <ts>/ — logs+meta moved here by `clean`
```

**`result=` values** written to `<job>.meta`: `review`, `testing`, `shipped`,
`failed`, `timeout`, `verify_failed`, `rejected`, `requeued`, `capability_mismatch`
(host missing a required capability — agent never launched), `no_engine`
(an `engine-class` had no available engine), `retries_exhausted` (failed after
`retry.max` attempts — single-host dead-letter stand-in), `retry_scheduled`
(transient: requeued for another attempt), `recovered` (transient: an orphan was
reclaimed to `inbox/`).

## Profiles & deps

### Profiles (roadmap §6)

A **profile** is a reusable role preset in `profiles/<name>.md`. A job opts in with
`profile: <name>` and inherits any of these fields it does **not** set itself:
`verify` (from the profile's `default-verify`), `capabilities`, `engine-class`,
`prefers-engine`, `allowed-scope`, `review-policy`. The profile's `persona` block is
**prepended** to the body sent to the engine (the job `.md` on disk is unchanged;
secrets are never logged). Resolution runs **before** the capability gate and engine
resolution, so inherited caps / engine-class take effect.

**Precedence:** `job field > profile field > built-in default`. Set `AGENT_QUEUE_PROFILES`
to point at a different catalog directory (defaults to `./profiles`).

Starter catalog: `developer`, `backend-engineer`, `frontend-engineer`, `ux-designer`,
`ui-designer`, `qa`, `reviewer`, `docs-writer`, and a reserved `planner`. Each presets
`name`, `persona`, `capabilities`, `default-verify`, `engine-class`, `prefers-engine`,
`allowed-scope`, and `review-policy`.

**allowed-scope (warn-only this phase).** After a run on a git `cwd`, changed paths
outside the profile/job `allowed-scope` globs (`dir/**` matches the whole subtree) are
logged as a `WARNING` and recorded as `scope_warning=` in the meta — **non-blocking**
(the job is not failed). `path_in_scope` is exposed as a unit-testable function.

### deps / DAG, single host (roadmap §5)

`deps: [keyA, keyB]` references other jobs by their author-controlled
`idempotency-key`. A dep is **satisfied** when a job with that key is in `shipped/`
(default), or in `shipped/` **or** `testing/` when the dependent job sets
`deps-mode: soft`. A job with unmet deps is **blocked**: it is skipped in inbox
selection (never launched, never failed) and surfaced in `status` as
`blocked (waiting on: <keys>)`, then re-evaluated every loop until its deps are met.
`add` performs **submit-time cycle detection** over the inbox + active-stage dep graph
and rejects (nonzero exit) a job that would create a cycle. Cross-machine deps are P2.

## Resilience (crash recovery & work preservation)

Single-host implementations of the durability model (roadmap §25):

- **Orphan recovery.** A job left in `building/` whose worker process is dead (no
  live `pid`, PID-reuse-guarded by `pidstart`) is an orphan from a previous
  crash/power-off. On `run` startup and on every loop iteration (or on demand via
  `agent-queue.sh recover`) it is moved back to `inbox/` with `attempts`
  incremented. Recovery is **idempotent** — once moved out of `building/` it is
  never recovered twice.
- **WIP checkpointing.** When a job's `cwd` is a git repo, the worker creates/checks
  out a dedicated branch **`aq/wip/<job>`** at start and commits any changes to it
  on **every** exit path — success, failure, timeout, and SIGTERM/SIGINT (via a
  trap). It **never** commits to `main`/your current branch. Non-git `cwd` is
  skipped cleanly. `wip_branch` / `wip_base` / `wip_commit` are recorded in the meta.
- **Resume.** When an orphan/retry of a job whose `aq/wip/<job>` branch already
  exists is relaunched, that branch is checked out first so the agent **continues
  from the checkpoint** instead of from zero.
- **Retry policy** (`retry` frontmatter, now active). On a failure whose class is in
  `on` (`crash`/`agent_error` for a non-zero agent exit, `timeout`, `verify_failed`)
  the job is requeued to `inbox/` honoring `backoff` (selection skips it until
  `next_eligible`) up to `max` attempts; on exhaustion it lands in `failed/` with
  `result=retries_exhausted`, preserving the WIP branch + full log. No `retry` =
  no retry (Phase-0 behavior).

All bookkeeping (`attempts`, `next_eligible`, `wip_*`) is append-only in the meta
and re-derivable from the meta + folder location, so recovery is crash-safe.

## Insights (metrics & token accounting)

Each finished run records into `<job>.meta`: `duration_s`, `exit`, `result`,
`attempts`, and — for a git `cwd` — `files_changed` / `lines_added` /
`lines_deleted` (diffed `wip_base..HEAD`). A single `parse_usage <engine> <log>`
adapter extracts `model` / `tokens_in` / `tokens_out` / `tokens_cached` /
`cost_usd` / `turns` / `tool_calls` when the engine exposes them.

```bash
agent-queue.sh insights <job>   # full metrics for one job
agent-queue.sh insights         # recent-jobs table + per-engine rollup
```

> **Token caveat (honest):** real usage is captured only where the engine surfaces
> it. A cooperating wrapper may emit a machine-readable `AQ_USAGE key=value …` line;
> otherwise per-engine heuristics apply (Claude/Codex token fields parsed; Devin
> session metrics + Copilot are API-only and currently TODO in `parse_usage`). When
> a value is not provider-reported it is **omitted or flagged `usage_estimated`** —
> numbers are never fabricated. The per-engine rollup marks totals that include any
> estimated value with `*`.

## Config (env overrides)

| Var | Default | Meaning |
| --- | ------- | ------- |
| `AGENT_QUEUE_ROOT` | `./queue` | where the kanban folders live |
| `AGENT_QUEUE_MAX` | `3` | max concurrent agents (override per-run with `run --max N`) |
| `AGENT_QUEUE_ENGINE` | `devin` | default engine when none in frontmatter |
| `AGENT_QUEUE_POLL` | `3` | inbox poll interval (seconds) |
| `AGENT_QUEUE_VERIFY` | _(empty)_ | default auto-QA verify command; per-job `verify:` overrides it |
| `AGENT_QUEUE_STALL_MIN` | `10` | minutes of unchanged log before a worker is `⚠ stalled` |
| `DEVIN_BIN` / `CLAUDE_BIN` / `CODEX_BIN` / `COPILOT_BIN` | autodetected | override CLI binary paths |
| `FLOCK_BIN` / `TIMEOUT_BIN` | autodetected | `flock` (lock hardening) and `timeout`/`gtimeout` (hard timeouts); absent on stock macOS — see notes |

## ⚠️ Safety

Running agents with `yolo: true` means **no approval prompts** — they will edit files,
run shell commands, and commit unattended. Mitigate:

- Prefer **scope-locked** prompt files (e.g. "edit only under `dashboards/tracker-web/`").
- Tell prompts **not to `git push`** — review commits before they leave your machine.
- **Same-repo safety is automatic:** jobs sharing a `cwd` (or `lock:` key) are
  serialized, so two agents never run in one repo at once — even at `--max 2+`.
- Set a `timeout:` on long jobs so a wedged agent can't run forever.
- Watch cost: each job is a full agent session.

### Portability notes

- **macOS** has no `flock`/`timeout`; locking relies on the single run-loop
  (enforced by the second-run refusal) and timeouts use a pure-bash watchdog.
  Install coreutils (`gtimeout`) for hard process-tree kills.
- **Linux** (incl. Gitea CI) uses `flock` + `timeout` for cross-process hardening.

## Roadmap / nice-to-haves

- [x] Per-repo lock to serialize same-repo jobs automatically (`lock:` / cwd).
- [x] Per-job `timeout:` with hard kill (or bash watchdog fallback).
- [x] Stall detection in `status`/`dash`.
- [x] `requeue` failed jobs + `clean`/archive old runs.
- [x] Build/ship lifecycle: `review → testing → shipped` with auto-QA `verify:` gate + manual `ship`.
- [ ] `--push` opt-in policy + commit review gate.
- [ ] Optional notifications (Slack/desktop) on done/failed/stall.
- [ ] Persisted run-loop as a daemon/service with auto-restart.