Signals
This page answers what each reply does at each stop of the Highway. The intent, spec, and implement stages each end with a four-bullet summary and a next-step line, then stop for the user's signal. The signal is plain text. The host's question tool is kept for questions, not for signals.
Reading a reply
| Signal | Canonical token | Also counts | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green | . | A message that only means proceed, in the user's language, such as go, yes, continue, sim, verde | Proceed: chain the next skill for the same track without asking for a command |
| Red | x | A message that only means stop, such as stop, red, pare, vermelho | Stop |
| Yellow | None | Any other message, an ambiguous one included | Treat it as an instruction to the current skill, then present the summary again |
The words listed are examples, not a closed list: what counts is the meaning of the message. A message that mixes approval with a change, such as "yes, but rename phase 2", is yellow.
After the intent
Next-step line: . para continuar com a spec.
| Signal | Effect on status | Effect on files | What happens next |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green | None. The intent stays draft | None | ot-spec starts for the same track |
| Red | None | Nothing is deleted | The agent stops. The track stays valid in draft and resumes when the user asks for the intent stage again |
| Yellow | None | intent.md is revised as instructed and the index is regenerated | The agent reports any index validation error, otherwise presents the intent summary again |
After the spec
Next-step line: . para implementar.
| Signal | Effect on status | Effect on files | What happens next |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green | spec.md and tasks.md become status: approved. Intent status does not change | Only the approval write, completed before any product edit | ot-implement starts for the same track |
| Red | None. spec.md and tasks.md stay draft | Nothing is deleted | The agent stops. The track resumes when the user asks for the spec stage again |
| Yellow | None | spec.md or tasks.md revised as instructed, index regenerated, structure gate rerun | The agent presents the spec summary again |
Approval covers exactly the version that was presented. A later material change returns both files to draft; see Cycle.
After implement
Next-step line: . para ship (marca a track como concluida). It appears only when every acceptance row is met and no [blocking] review finding remains.
| Signal | Effect on status | Effect on files | What happens next |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green | Intent becomes status: shipped | Index regenerated | The track is done |
| Red | None. Intent status stays as it is | Implemented code is kept. Nothing is undone | The agent stops. Ship stays available when the user asks for it again |
| Yellow | None | The agent fixes or revises as instructed before shipping | The agent presents the implement summary again |
To have an open review finding fixed, answer yellow at this stop. There is no other stop in the cycle for it.
What red never does
Red stops without changing any status, deletes nothing, and undoes no code. It never marks a track dropped; dropping a track is a separate decision the maintainer declares. See Cycle.
Lanes without signals
The Express lane has no signal: the report ends the work. Operational requests, research-only, and assessment-only requests have no signal either; a direct ot-research or ot-assess call reports its result, path, and index outcome without a . line.