Manual HITL Flow
Operator-led harness execution through skill-by-skill boundaries
Manual HITL flow keeps the operator at the workflow boundaries.
It can use the same underlying skills as an AFK run, but the human decides when the next skill has enough evidence to start. The trust model comes from the invoked skills themselves: each one defines what it produces, when it stops, and what the operator should inspect before continuing.
Skill-Level Stops
Manual HITL should not become a separate checklist layered over the harness. The review moments come from the skill being called.
create-spec stops for spec review. create-plan stops with an execution handoff. implement-spec produces validation evidence and a manual review checklist when there is a user-verifiable surface. Debugging and debt resolution stop when the evidence asks for a human decision.
The operating rule is simple: call one skill, inspect the artifact it was designed to produce, then decide whether the next skill has enough evidence to run.
Manual Chain
requirements-grill
-> write-backlog
-> create-spec
-> create-plan
-> implement-spec
-> review-phase
-> optional debugging-phase
-> docs-ingest-phaseThe operator may stop between any two steps. Stopping is part of the model when the next step would require guessing.
Use Manual Flow When
Use manual flow when intent is still forming, requirements have unresolved branches, product judgment matters, runtime behavior depends on a human-observed repro, or a debt item needs inspection before it can be accepted.
Done Signal
A manual run is ready to close when the artifact trail is inspectable enough for the operator to continue, close, or hand the work to another mode with confidence.
That is the boundary with Goal Mode And AFK: manual flow keeps the operator present between skill boundaries, while AFK delegates those boundaries to a bounded goal.