---

name: adhering-execution-standard description: "Defines behavioral standards for autonomous agents and enforces Uninterrupted Flow, Self-Verification, Auth-Gates, and Handoff protocols. PROACTIVELY Use when defining behavioral standards for autonomous agents or enforcing protocols. Internal-only reference for agent behavior." user-invocable: false allowed-tools: Bash, Edit, Read, Write, Glob, Grep

Execution Core Standards

Behavioral Protocols:

• references/observation-points.md - Self-verification and evidence collection
• references/auth-gates.md - Authentication error handling
• references/handoff-protocol.md - Standard handoff format
• references/execution-protocol.md - Universal worker execution steps

Core Behavioral Standards

1. Uninterrupted Flow

Protocol: references/observation-points.md

• Agents execute tasks sequentially
• Verify success programmatically via CLI
• Log results in structured format
• Continue to next task without waiting

2. Self-Verification

Standard Pattern:

Copy**Self-Verification Results:**
✓ [Verification 1 passed]
✓ [Verification 2 passed]

Next: Continue to next task

3. Authentication Gates

Protocol: references/auth-gates.md

1. Recognize auth gate (401, 403, "not authenticated")
2. STOP execution (don't retry in loop)
3. Create HANDOFF.md with exact steps
4. EXIT process
5. Resume after human provides credentials

4. Handoff Protocol

Standard format for pausing execution.

Protocol: references/handoff-protocol.md

Use for:

• Authentication gates
• Critical failures
• Ambiguous requirements
• Missing dependencies

Format:

Copy# HANDOFF Required

**Reason**: [AUTH_GATE | CONFLICT | AMBIGUOUS]

**What Happened**: [Description]

**What You Need to Do**: [Specific action]

**Verification**: [How to confirm fix]

**Next Step**: Restart execution after [action]

Usage in Other Skills

Skills reference execution-core for behavioral standards:

Example from builder-core:

CopyUse execution-core observation-points for self-verification
Use execution-core auth-gates for authentication handling

Example from software-engineering:

CopyApply execution-core verification protocols during TDD
Use execution-core handoff format for blockers

5. Human Interaction Policy (AskUserQuestion)

To ensure Uninterrupted Flow, the following policy applies to human interaction:

• Execution Phase Workers (e.g., Worker Agent): AskUserQuestion is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. Workers must operate autonomously or use the Handoff Protocol if blocked.
• Planning Phase Coordinators (e.g., Director, Orchestrator): AskUserQuestion is ALLOWED for requirements gathering and clarification before execution begins.

This policy ensures that heavy implementation tasks are never interrupted, while initial discovery remains interactive.