ZTE Progression Skill

Guide teams through the three levels of agentic coding: In-Loop, Out-Loop, and Zero-Touch Engineering.

When to Use

• Assessing current agentic maturity level
• Planning progression to higher automation
• Identifying blockers to ZTE adoption
• Building confidence for autonomous operation

Core Concepts

Three Levels

Level	Presence KPI	Description
In-Loop	Constant	Interactive prompting
Out-Loop	2 (prompt + review)	AFK agents with review
Zero-Touch	1 (prompt only)	Full automation

Progression Requirements

In-Loop -> Out-Loop:

• Workflows succeed on first attempt
• Tests catch issues reliably
• Similar tasks repeat frequently

Out-Loop -> ZTE:

• 90%+ success rate
• Review catches nothing new
• Tests provide safety net

Assessment Workflow

Step 1: Identify Current Level

Search for agentic workflow indicators:

Look for:
- Manual prompting patterns (In-Loop)
- Automated workflows with review (Out-Loop)
- Fully automated shipping (ZTE)

Step 2: Analyze Success Metrics

Review KPI data if available:

Check @agentic-kpis.md or equivalent:
- Attempt counts
- Success streaks
- Review catch rates

Step 3: Identify Blockers

Common blockers to progression:

Blocker	Mitigation
Low test coverage	Improve tests before progressing
Inconsistent success	Analyze failures, improve prompts
Review catches issues	Tests need to catch these first
No rollback capability	Add before enabling ZTE

Step 4: Recommend Next Steps

Based on current level, recommend:

At In-Loop:

• Start with Out-Loop for chores
• Build workflow automation
• Establish review process

At Out-Loop:

• Track review catch rate
• Build confidence with simple tasks
• Consider ZTE for high-confidence areas

Near ZTE:

• Enable for chores first
• Expand progressively
• Monitor continuously

Key Memory References

• @zte-progression.md - Three levels definition
• @zte-confidence-building.md - Building ZTE confidence
• @agentic-kpis.md - KPI tracking
• @composable-primitives.md - Workflow building blocks

Output Format

Provide assessment:

## ZTE Assessment

**Current Level:** [In-Loop | Out-Loop | ZTE]
**Problem Classes Assessed:** [chores, bugs, features]

### Indicators Found
- [Evidence of current level]

### Blockers to Progression
- [Identified blockers]

### Recommendations
1. [Specific next step]
2. [Specific next step]

### Target Timeline
- [Realistic progression timeline]

Anti-Patterns to Identify

• Skipping levels (Out-Loop before tests exist)
• All-or-nothing thinking (must ZTE everything)
• Ignoring failure signals (pushing forward despite issues)
• Review theater (reviewing without catching anything)

Version History

• v1.0.0 (2025-12-26): Initial release

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Last Updated

Date: 2025-12-26 Model: claude-opus-4-5-20251101