Common Workflows

Use a goal for a long task, plan mode when you want to review steps before code changes, and compaction when the conversation is getting large.

Work on a long task with `/goal`

Goals let Cook keep working over multiple rounds. Describe the result you want, then check progress with /goal status.

/goal Move the settings page to the new component system
/goal status
/goal pause
/goal resume

You can set a positive token budget with --budget, start from a plan file with --plan path, or use the current plan-mode episode with --from-plan:

/goal Update the API client --budget 500000
/goal Update the API client --plan docs/migration-plan.md
/goal Update the API client --from-plan

--from-plan reads the current episode file under the session's plans/ directory; when no episode file exists, it uses the legacy session plan.md. A plan source skips the internal planner and becomes the verifier's baseline. You can also use /goal_batch to run main-agent rounds through a configured provider's asynchronous Batch API:

/goal_batch Update the API client --budget 500000
/goal_batch Update the API client --from-plan --base-url https://batch-api.example.com/v1

Batch mode requires a selected Chat Completions model configured with supports_batch_api = true and a provider API key. It shares /goal plan and budget options; --base-url is required for providers without the OpenAI default endpoint. Goal mode must be enabled. Use /goal status, /goal pause, or /goal resume to manage a run, and /goal clear to clear a finished or failed goal before starting another. The background-workflows setting selects the host-owned or legacy goal driver; see Configuration, Plan Mode, and Slash Commands for details.

Review a plan before coding

Tell Cook to plan first, or run /plan to switch the current session to plan mode. Cook will inspect the work and write a plan before making code changes. Review it, then approve it to continue.

/plan
/plan Add retries to the payment client
/view-plan

Use /view-plan to reopen the current plan. /show-plan and /plan-view are aliases. Plan mode is also available with --no-plan to turn it off for a session. See Plan Mode.

Make room with `/compact`

When a session uses much of its context, run /compact to shorten older conversation details and make room for the next steps. Add a note if Cook should keep something in view:

/compact
/compact keep the migration decisions and test results

Before compaction, use /flush to save useful information to memory when memory is enabled. Cook also compacts automatically when context use reaches its configured limit. See Session Management and Memory.

Continue a session later

Cook saves sessions automatically. Use /resume in the terminal app, or cook --continue in a terminal to pick up your latest session in the current folder. Use cook --resume <session-id-or-title> to select a specific one. The desktop app lists your recent sessions in the sidebar.

See Session Management for forks, exports, and other session actions.