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codex-goals

Patterns and anti-patterns for using OpenAI Codex Goals — the persistent objectives feature introduced in Codex 0.128.0. Use this skill whenever writing, reviewing, or debugging a `/goal` invocation, deciding whether a task should be a Goal at all, drafting a research Goal that needs an evidence ledger, or diagnosing a Goal that completed against the wrong surface. Triggers on `/goal`, "Codex Goal", "Codex goals", "persistent objective", "evidence-based completion", "iteration policy", "blocked stop condition", or any user message describing a multi-turn Codex task with a defined finish line. Trigger even if the user doesn't explicitly mention Goals — if they're typing "/goal" or asking Codex to "keep going until X", this skill applies.

skills/.experimental/codex-goals/SKILL.md

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# OpenAI Codex Goals Best Practices

Reference for writing and managing Codex Goals — the persistent objective feature introduced in Codex 0.128.0. "Best practices" here means the patterns and anti-patterns that determine whether a Goal completes against the right evidence vs. silently against the wrong surface. Contains 31 rules across 8 categories, ordered by how much they affect whether a Goal completes correctly. Derived from the official OpenAI cookbook article ["Using Goals in Codex"](https://developers.openai.com/cookbook/examples/codex/using_goals_in_codex).

## When to Apply

Reference these guidelines when:
- Deciding whether a task warrants a `/goal` or a normal prompt
- Drafting or strengthening a `/goal` invocation
- Reviewing a Goal someone else wrote before activating it
- Debugging a Goal that completed against the wrong verification surface
- Setting up a research Goal where exact proof may not be available
- Managing Goal lifecycle (pause, resume, clear) across thread sessions
- Writing the iteration policy or blocked stop condition for a long-running Goal