Repo-local Autopilot

Install the bundled Claude autopilot files into a target repository's local .claude/ directory.

Bundle rules

• Keep the skill self-contained so it can install and initialize from a fresh workspace clone of this repo.
• Do not depend on ~/.claude/, a sibling cmux checkout, or any external template path at install time.
• When syncing from another repository, copy the behavior into this skill's bundled templates/ and scripts/ files before shipping.

What this installs

Running the installer writes these repo-local files into the target repository:

• .claude/hooks/autopilot-keep-running.sh
• .claude/hooks/session-start.sh
• .claude/commands/autopilot_reset.md
• .claude/settings.json patched to wire the repo-local hooks

The install is repo-local by design. It does not depend on ~/.claude/ and should not install or update global Claude settings.

Default target

If you do not pass a target path, the installer uses the current working directory.

Explicit target repo

Use --target-repo /absolute/or/relative/path to install into another repository.

Installer entrypoint

Run the installer from the copy of this skill bundle you actually have available.

Examples:

python3 skills/autopilot/scripts/install_repo_local_autopilot.py

If you copied the skill bundle somewhere else first, run that copied installer path instead:

python3 /path/to/autopilot/scripts/install_repo_local_autopilot.py --target-repo /path/to/repo

Runtime dependencies

The installed hooks require:

• jq
• shasum or sha256sum for idle-state hashing

The installer performs this preflight and should fail clearly when a required command is missing.

Installed runtime behavior

After install, the bundle behaves like this:

• session-start.sh persists Claude's session_id to /tmp/claude-current-session-id and exposes CLAUDE_SESSION_ID.
• autopilot-keep-running.sh must run first in the Stop hook chain and manages session-scoped files under /tmp/claude-autopilot-*.
• Idle detection fingerprints git state and releases autopilot after CLAUDE_AUTOPILOT_IDLE_THRESHOLD unchanged turns. The default is 3.
• Late-session monitoring uses CLAUDE_AUTOPILOT_MONITORING_THRESHOLD and CLAUDE_AUTOPILOT_DELAY to shift from active work into slower polling guidance.
• At max turns - 2, the hook temporarily yields so downstream review hooks can run before the last two turns.
• If CLAUDE_AUTOPILOT_STOP_FILE exists, the hook releases immediately so external wrappers can stop the loop cleanly.

Installed settings behavior

The installer safely updates .claude/settings.json to:

• append a repo-local SessionStart hook pointing to "$CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR"/.claude/hooks/session-start.sh
• prepend a repo-local Stop hook pointing to "$CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR"/.claude/hooks/autopilot-keep-running.sh
• preserve unrelated hooks such as bun-check.sh and codex-review.sh
• avoid duplicate autopilot entries on re-run
• set default env values only when missing:
  • AUTOPILOT_KEEP_RUNNING_DISABLED=0
  • CLAUDE_AUTOPILOT_MAX_TURNS=20

Reset and stop controls

After installation, use the repo-local command:

• /autopilot_reset to reset the current session turn counter
• /autopilot_reset stop to stop autopilot on the next turn
• /autopilot_reset status to inspect the current session
• /autopilot_reset status-all to inspect all tracked sessions

That reset control is installed into the target repo as .claude/commands/autopilot_reset.md and should clear turn, stop, blocked, completed, idle, and state files when resetting a session.

Validation checklist

After install, verify:

1. The repo contains the installed .claude/hooks/ and .claude/commands/ files.
2. .claude/settings.json points to repo-local hook paths.
3. Re-running the installer does not duplicate hook entries.
4. The hook scripts are executable.
5. Unrelated existing hooks remain intact.
6. Autopilot runtime files appear under /tmp/claude-autopilot-* when the hooks run, including turn and idle/state tracking files during active sessions.
7. Invalid target .claude/settings.json files fail with a clear error instead of being overwritten.
8. The bundle still installs correctly when this repo is copied into a fresh workspace with no external skill checkout present.

See references/devsh-testing.md for a remote sandbox validation workflow.