Configure autonomy and per-stage engine and model

Goal: set until and the gates in ## Autonomy, then give every stage of the cycle its own engine, model and effort with a workflow profile.

Prerequisites

• tech/automation.md (every key)
• The cycle scripts installed in .claude/skills/pair-workflow-cycle/scripts/
• For a profile: the engines it names installed, and pair.config.json at the project root

Steps

How far a run goes

1. Set ## Autonomy

   • In your assistant: edit until, prepare, merge and filter in tech/automation.md.

     ## Autonomy
      
     filter: risk:green
     until: pr
     prepare: always
     merge: always

   • With /pair-assistant (optional, Claude Code): "let green cards go up to merge" shows the diff first, then writes it through record-decision.

2. Check the effective values
   • With pair-cli: node .claude/skills/pair-workflow-cycle/scripts/autonomy-policy.mjs resolve prints each value with its source (argument, adoption, KB default).
   • With /pair-assistant (optional, Claude Code): it echoes the effective gates.
3. Override per run when needed
   • With pair-cli: --until, --prepare, --merge on pair-cli run --card (forwarded to every child card under --parallel).

Engine, model and effort per stage

1. Write the profile in pair.config.json, inline or as a file under a glob.

   • In your assistant:

     {
       "workflowProfiles": {
         "default": "mixed",
         "inline": {
           "mixed": {
             "defaults": { "model": "balanced", "effort": "medium" },
             "modelClasses": { "cheap": "claude-haiku-5-5", "balanced": "claude-sonnet-5-5", "frontier": "claude-opus-5-5" },
             "stages": {
               "prepare": { "model": "cheap", "context": "reuse" },
               "green": { "model": "cheap", "context": "reuse" },
               "validate": { "model": "frontier", "effort": "high" },
               "verify": { "model": "frontier", "effort": "high" }
             }
           }
         }
       }
     }

     Per stage, engine (default, pi, opencode, claude, codex), model (default, an id, cheap / balanced / frontier, by-tier), effort (default, low, medium, high, xhigh, max) and context (fresh, reuse; reuse only into prepare and green). A stage declares only what differs from defaults. With pair-cli, effort reaches claude and codex; for other engines the run warns and marks it ignored in the table.

   • With /pair-assistant (optional, Claude Code): "use profile mixed for the review" shows the edit, then records it as an ADL.

2. Let the model follow the risk tier (optional): set "model": "by-tier" and add to tech/automation.md:

   ## Model Policy
    
   risk:green: cheap
   risk:yellow: balanced
   risk:red: frontier

   An untagged card or a tier the policy omits runs on the engine's default model, never a halt.

3. Print the resolved table

   • With pair-cli: node .claude/skills/pair-workflow-cycle/scripts/workflow-profile.mjs resolve --root . --profile mixed --tier risk:green. The JSON's table has one line per stage with engine, model, effort and context, each with the level that decided it. A run prints the same table before its first dispatch.

4. Pick the profile per run

   • With pair-cli: pair-cli run --card 217 --profile mixed, or --workflow-config ./file.json for an external file used verbatim. Both also work with --root, --parallel and --watch: every child card gets the same flag.
   • In your assistant: /pair-workflow-cycle takes the same as $profile and $workflowConfig.

Cascade, highest first: --workflow-config > --profile > workflowProfiles.default > KB default (the run's engine, its default model, default effort, fresh context). An unknown name or a bad value halts (profile-unresolved, profile-invalid, profile-name-collision), never a silent fallback.

Verify

• autonomy-policy.mjs resolve prints each gate with its source; defaults are until: pr, prepare: always, merge: always: nothing merges and no Draft card is prepared unattended until you change them.
• workflow-profile.mjs resolve prints Profile: mixed, its source and hash, then a line per stage; with no profile it prints Profile: KB default.
• A stage asking context: reuse into validate or verify is refused at load, so the independent checks always run fresh.

Related

• Lifecycle modes
• Automated development
• Configuration
• The delivery cycle in depth