Handbook

Autonomy levels

Operator hub for the L0–L8 execution ladder: what each level means, which Forge Platform building blocks participate, and what is implemented today versus vision.

Updated

Policy (unit of delivery, fixed boundaries, human gates) is canonical in the Blueprints handbook. This section is the adoption and reference-architecture surface — scan readiness here, then open a per-level page for building-block wiring.

The ladder carries two finer axes (canonical definitions in Blueprints): maturity grades a–d — Defined, Demonstrated, Repeatable, Operational — on every level, and sub-levels L1.1–L4.3 in the L1–L4 band, each with distinct assay evidence. Claims use the notation L<level>.<sub><grade> plus scope, for example L2.2c in forge-lenses. Per-project observed maturity and scoring: Autonomy maturity framework (Blueprints).

Autonomy ladder L0 to L8 with maturity grades a-d and L1-L4 sub-level bands

Previous flat ladder diagram (autonomy-levels-progression.svg) retained for reference. Sub-level run anatomy: sublevel-run-evidence-flow.svg. Maturity scoring: maturity-score-composition.svg and Autonomy maturity framework (Blueprints).

Worked runs with machine evidence: Bounded execution examples (Blueprints). PoC → Platform migration: PoC to Platform.

How to read a level

Each per-level page follows the same progression:

  1. Unit of autonomous delivery — what the unattended run may change
  2. What stays fixed — architecture, contracts, platform boundaries
  3. Human gate — where a person still decides
  4. Building blocks — which ecosystem elements participate (with handbook links)
  5. Gates and evidence — what must pass before the change counts as done

Higher levels add gates; they never remove lower-level ones.

Implementation readiness

Level Policy Grade Assay / enforcement PoC demonstrated Platform workcell path Architecture
L0 Assisted Defined a N/A (interactive) N/A Cursor + Lenses Wizard L0
L1 Function Defined b Documented + Dark Factory code Yes (Examples 1–2; retro-tags L1.1b, L1.2b) Dark Factory PoC; LCDL patch units L1
L2 Change-set Defined b Documented + code (≥2 files) Yes (Example 3; retro-tag L2.2b) Same PoC stack L2
L3 Use-case slice Defined b Documented + code (layers, py+non-py, E2E) Yes (lenses-production-l3-ci; retro-tag L3.1b) Same PoC stack L3
L4 Feature/component Defined (vision gates) a Vision only No Vision: Forge Campaign L4
L5 Subsystem Defined (vision gates) a Vision only No Vision: Campaign + ADR escalation L5
L6 Product increment Defined (vision gates) a Vision only No Vision: Campaign + Fleet L6
L7 Multi-platform Defined (vision gates) a Vision only No Vision: multi-repo orchestration L7
L8 Autonomous problem solving Defined (vision gates) a Vision only No Vision: mission framing only L8

Status legend: Defined = ladder row and gates documented in Blueprints (grade a). Demonstrated = green PoC run with machine evidence (grade b). Vision = policy table only; no PoC or Platform-native level enforcement yet. Grades c (Repeatable, ≥5 green runs with escalation rate < 40%) and d (Operational) are defined in Blueprints but not yet earned anywhere.

Sub-level index (L1–L4 band)

Sub-levels are named variants of the autonomous unit, each with its own checkable assay evidence. L0 and L5–L8 stay flat.

Sub-level Autonomous unit Status Page
L1.1 Single function against provided tests Demonstrated (retro-tag) L1.1
L1.2 Function + agent-authored unit tests Demonstrated (retro-tag) L1.2
L1.3 Batch of N independent functions in one run Defined L1.3
L2.1 Mechanical multi-file (rename / apply-pattern) Defined L2.1
L2.2 Cross-file defect fix Demonstrated (retro-tag) L2.2
L2.3 Small behavior change with new tests Defined L2.3
L3.1 Slice in sandbox app Demonstrated (retro-tag) L3.1
L3.2 Slice in a production repo on a branch Defined L3.2
L3.3 Slice including data/schema migration Defined L3.3
L3.4 Multiple slices under one campaign Defined L3.4
L4.1 New component, single repo Defined (vision gates) L4.1
L4.2 Cross-repo change-set with submodule bump Defined (vision gates) L4.2
L4.3 Capability with agent-drafted, human-signed ADR Defined (vision gates) L4.3

Wizard vs execution ladder

Forge Lenses Wizard captures planning-time autonomy separately from runtime unattended loops. Names overlap at L0–L3 but serve different layers.

Wizard AutonomyLevel UI title Execution ladder Notes
l0_analyst L0 Analyst L0 Assisted Read-only analysis; no drafts without you
l1_drafter L1 Drafter L1 Function Drafts for review before share
l2_stage_autopilot L2 Stage Autopilot L2 Change-set Multi-step work inside current stage with gates
l3_goal_autopilot L3 Goal Autopilot L3 Use-case slice Goals across stages with checkpoints

Wizard MutationPolicy describes how far downstream automation may edit artifacts. Policies inform prompts; they do not silently apply upstream edits. Persisted session policies should match the execution level you intend for unattended runs.

Wizard domain model: Forge Lenses docs/blueprints/wizard-domain-model.md (repo). Planning mirror: Cost-aware planning.

Level index

Level Name Status Page
L0 Assisted Defined (a) L0 — Assisted
L1 Function Demonstrated (b) L1 — Function
L2 Change-set Demonstrated (b) L2 — Change-set
L3 Use-case slice Demonstrated (b) L3 — Use-case slice
L4 Feature/component Vision (a) L4 — Feature/component
L5 Subsystem w/ local arch evolution Vision (a) L5 — Subsystem
L6 Product increment Vision (a) L6 — Product increment
L7 Multi-cloud / multi-platform Vision (a) L7 — Multi-platform
L8 Autonomous problem solving Vision (a) L8 — Autonomous problem solving

Resource honesty (local-first)

Fully cloud-free autonomy above L1 is not realistic on a ~4GB local model profile. See Respecting resources and autonomy and Blueprints Respecting resources.

Level band Realistic local-first posture
L0–L1 Achievable with deterministic routing + local worker + verify/repair
L2–L3 Often needs ROI-gated escalation to a larger model or human at pivots
L4+ Requires explicit human gates (ADR, go/no-go, strategic checkpoints) regardless of model

Track escalation rate (human loop escalation, not worker-ladder stepping) — see Respecting resources.