Goose

What it decides by itself, and when it asks you

Mapped from the code in aaif-goose/goose.

In an ordinary goose session, plain code runs a fixed list of steps around the AI model's calls, and a plain text reply with no tool request ends the turn when nothing else is set up. A goal (/goal or /grind), a recipe's checks or required output, or a plugin's stop hook can each cause more work before the turn ends.

• The model stopped; has it delivered the recipe's final output, or must it be told to?

  Decided by: Plain code

  Only for a recipe with a response schema: code looks since your kickoff message for a final-output call that succeeded. If there is one the turn may end; otherwise it adds a model-only message saying to call that tool now, and the agent continues.

  crates/goose/src/agents/final_output_tool.rs:55-95

• If a review pass or check crashed or returned garbage, does the review say so?

  Decided by: Plain code

  On goose review's default path, a failed check or per-file pass adds no findings and a warning on stderr. If the review otherwise completes, it prints the findings that pass the severity floor and exits successfully.

  crates/goose-cli/src/commands/review/orchestrator.rs:133-150

• When a subagent stops, did it complete, fail or get cancelled?

  Decided by: Plain code

  After reloading its session, code checks in a fixed order: a successful final-output call means Completed, even if the run was cancelled or errored afterwards; else a cancelled run is Cancelled; anything else is Failed.

  crates/goose/src/agents/subagent_handler.rs:140-176

• Has the agent taken as many steps as it may without coming back to you?

  Decided by: Plain code

  When this step is reached, code counts the assistant turns kept since your kickoff message; at the budget it ends the turn with a fixed "Would you like me to continue?" message. In an ordinary session the budget is the session's max_turns, else GOOSE_MAX_TURNS, else 1000.

  crates/goose/src/agents/state_machine/ops_maxturns.rs:53-67

Three problems the map found

1. The --max-tool-repetitions flag has no effect

   Already tracked

   goose's help says this flag limits consecutive identical tool calls. At this commit it does not: the command line accepts the value but never passes it to the repetition check, and the agent's standard setup gives that check no limit, so it never refuses a repeated call. goose's tracker has an open issue about how this limit should work, where contributors discuss wiring it up or removing it.

   Read more
   crates/goose-cli/src/cli.rs:126-132crates/goose/src/agents/services.rs:572crates/goose/src/tool_monitor.rs:59-63

2. By default, a failed review check still exits successfully

   No tracker issue found

   On goose review's default path, a check or per-file pass that fails, panics or returns output that cannot be parsed adds no findings and prints a warning on stderr. If the review otherwise completes it exits successfully, with nothing on stdout or in the exit status to mark the failed check.

   Read more
   crates/goose-cli/src/commands/review/orchestrator.rs:124-150crates/goose-cli/src/commands/review/orchestrator.rs:353-389crates/goose-cli/src/commands/review/handler.rs:246-272

3. No code reads a verdict on a /goal

   No tracker issue found

   After /goal, goose says the agent will verify the goal before finishing. That check is left to the model: when code later clears the goal, it reads no verdict from the reply.

   crates/goose/src/agents/state_machine/ops_retry.rs:120-123crates/goose/src/agents/state_machine/ops_retry.rs:183-201crates/goose/src/agents/state_machine/ops_retry.rs:219-221

Not checked: This card was taken from the published map of goose at one commit and covers only decisions shown there; it did not look at code outside the map's scope (goose's core crates, command line, built-in extensions and desktop app) or at the 15 decisions left out of that edition, and no goose code was run to make it.

Mapped by agent-ops-patterns (open source) from aaif-goose/goose at commit cfb67d7. Mapped Nov 2, 2026. Last updated Nov 8, 2026.