Agent skill · software engineering · aradotso
codex-autoresearch-loop
Self-directed iterative research skill for Codex that continuously cycles through modify, verify, retain or discard, and repeat until a measurable goal is reached.
Why this skill is useful
Adds an executable autonomous research loop that continuously optimizes code quality and metrics without user intervention.
What it needs
Requires git installed locally. About 7k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-07-09. 70 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
Codex Autoresearch Skill by ara.so — Daily 2026 Skills collection. Codex Autoresearch is a Codex skill that runs an autonomous modify→verify→keep/revert loop on your codebase. You describe a measurable goal in one sentence; Codex confirms the plan, then iterates unattended — every improvement stacks in git, every failure reverts automatically — until interrupted or a cap is reached. Inspired by Karpathy's autoresearch concept, generalized beyond ML training to any software metric. --- Installation Option A — manual copy into your project: Option B — Codex skill installer: The skill lives at .agents/skills/codex-autoresearch/ inside your project. No config file is required before first use. --- How to Activate Open Codex in your project directory and prefix your goal with $codex-autoresearch: Codex will: 1. Scan the repo and infer scope, metric, verify command, and guard command. 2. Present a confirmation summary — reply go (or correct anything). 3. Run the loop unattended until you interrupt it or the goal is met. You never write config. Codex infers everything. --- Confirmation Flow Before the loop starts Codex always shows what it found and asks you to confirm. Example exchange: Up to five confirmation rounds are possible. After that, Codex proceeds. --- The Loop (internals) The loop runs unbounded unless you say Iterations: N during confirmation. --- Dual-Gate Verification Two commands serve distinct purposes: Gate Purpose Fails means ------ --------- ------------- Verify Did the target metric improve? Change discarded, reverted Guard Did anything else break? Change reworked (up to 2 attempts), then reverted Guard files are never modified by the loop. Example verify + guard pair for a Python coverage run: Example for TypeScript type cleanup: --- Modes Codex maps your sentence to one of seven modes automatically — you never pick a mode explicitly. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills aradotso/codex-autoresearch-loop