Agents that run without you

By the end of this track you will have

1. Step 1One task that runs on its own, reads something real, and reports back without you asking.
2. Step 2Every scheduled task you own assigned to a model tier on purpose, with a written reason next to each one.
3. Step 3A scheduled task that switches itself off, and a way to prove it actually did.
4. Step 4A five-part brief that a cheaper model can execute from cold, without asking you a single thing.
5. Step 5A verification pass run by something that did not do the work, and a report that is allowed to say failed.

The steps

Each one ends with a check you run yourself. The box is yours to tick when it passes.

1. 1
   Step 1.Your first scheduled task

   20 minutesOpen to everyone

   Done means

   Three manual runs are logged and the first scheduled run comes back the same shape as all three. If the scheduled run came back thinner than the manual ones, the prompt was leaning on the session you wrote it in.

   The check passed
2. 2
   Step 2.Picking the cheapest model that passes

   15 minutes

   Done means

   You compared those two outputs line by line. Same decision, same numbers, same shape means the downgrade passed and you write the reason in the table. Anything else and it goes back up one tier, with a note saying which part it got wrong.

   The check passed
3. 3
   Step 3.Every monitor needs an end condition

   12 minutes

   Done means

   The task you just closed reports enabled: false, and its next run time is empty. If it still shows a next run, it is still going to run. Whatever its prompt says about being complete and taking no action.

   The check passed
4. 4
   Step 4.Briefing a cheaper model

   20 minutes

   Done means

   It came back with the DONE MEANS check actually run and its result quoted. Not the word done. The number, the status code, the lines. If it returned done without the result, your check was not literal enough to fail.

   The check passed
5. 5
   Step 5.The executor never grades its own homework

   15 minutes

   Done means

   You break something on purpose and run the verifier at it. Delete the row, flip the flag, revoke the key. It must come back FAIL, with the raw result quoted underneath it. A verifier that returns PASS on broken work is reading the story, not the system.

   The check passed