Overview
Goal is one of Qoder CLI CN's autonomous execution styles. When you have a clear completion condition and want Qoder to keep working until it is met, Goal is the best fit. After you set a goal, Qoder breaks it into steps and keeps executing with minimal interruptions, until the goal is achieved or you stop it.
Goal suits tasks with a clear finish line, like "get all the tests green," "finish a refactor until the build passes," or "implement a feature per the requirements and verify it."
Setting a goal
In an interactive session, create a goal with /goal:
- Qoder starts working continuously toward the goal, breaking it into multiple steps when necessary.
- The goal does not change your permission mode; tool approvals during execution follow the current mode. For uninterrupted execution, switch to
autooryolobeforehand. - The interface shows a goal status indicator.
Limiting the maximum turns
Use the --turns parameter to limit the maximum number of conversation turns for the goal. When the limit is reached, the goal pauses automatically and waits for your instruction; use /goal resume to continue:
--turns must be a positive integer; otherwise the parameter is ignored.
Checking goal status
Use /goal status to see the current goal's progress:
- Goal: the goal description.
- Status: Active (in progress) or Paused (paused, including the automatic pause after reaching the turn limit).
- Turns: turns used; shown as "used / limit" if a limit is set.
- Time: time spent on the goal.
/goal status afterward reports that there is no active goal.
Pausing and resuming
When you need to interrupt the goal temporarily to handle something else, pause it with /goal pause:
/goal resume:
Clearing a goal
When a goal is done, or you no longer need it, clear it with /goal clear:
When Qoder judges that the goal has been achieved, it also marks the goal complete and clears it automatically — no manual clearing needed.
Pairing with Plan
Goal works well with Plan: analyze the problem and confirm the approach with Plan first, then enter Goal and let Qoder execute autonomously to completion. If Plan was active before entering Goal, Qoder re-enters the Plan state when resuming the goal, keeping the way of working consistent.
For details on Plan, see Plan Before Executing.
Command cheat sheet
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
/goal <description> [--turns <n>] | Create or update a goal, optionally limiting maximum turns |
/goal status | Check the current goal's status |
/goal pause | Pause the current goal |
/goal resume | Resume a paused goal |
/goal clear | Clear the current goal |