Goals

A goal is something you want built. The Goals window (on the left) has three parts: how to make a new goal, the queue, and the history.

Adding a goal

You make a new goal in the Chat. That way every goal is worked out properly before the team starts on it.

1. In Goals, click Go to the chat, or open the chat yourself.
2. Say what you want, in your own words. For example: "I want a contact form that forwards messages by email." You can add a screenshot too.
3. If needed, the chat asks a few questions, then makes a Proposed goal, with requirements and when it's done.
4. Click Add as goal. The goal is now in the queue. Screenshots you sent in the chat go along; the team sees them at every step.

You discuss an issue from GitHub in the chat too; see Issues from GitHub.

Once added, a goal can't be changed. If you want something different, remove it and add a new goal.

Writing good goals

The agents build what you describe. A few tips:

• One thing per goal. "Login page" and "Pay with iDEAL" are two goals. Small goals work out better and are easier to review.
• Describe what the user sees and does, not how it should work technically. "After logging in, the user lands on their overview. With a wrong password, they see a clear message."
• Say when it's done. "Done when you can sign up, log in and log out, and the forgot-password screen works."
• Say what's not allowed. "No email confirmation needed." "Don't change anything about the branding."
• Give examples of texts, screens or other sites you like.

Tip: You don't have to write all of this yourself. Tell the chat what you know; it asks about what's missing.

The queue

Goals are worked through from top to bottom.

• Drag a goal to another spot, or use Alt + ↑ / ↓.
• Move to top puts a goal at the top.
• Remove takes a goal out of the queue.

You can also reorder the tasks of the current goal, as long as they haven't started yet.

Where goals come from

Besides your own goals, the queue can have goals with a label:

Label	Origin
issue #12	Worked out from an issue on GitHub
own idea	Thought up by the autopilot (with Keep going)
security	Fixing a vulnerability or checking the whole project; see Security

Issues from GitHub

Under New goal you see your project's open issues on GitHub, with who opened them, the number of comments and the labels. If testers file feedback as issues, you see it here.

1. Click Discuss on an issue. Coodoo opens the chat and hands it the issue, with all its comments.
2. The chat reads the issue, looks at the code and says what it thinks the cause or the best approach is. When there is a real choice, it asks what you want.
3. Once you agree, the chat proposes a goal with the label issue #12. Click Add as goal.

The issue then shows how far it got: In the queue, Being built or Goal done. The arrow opens the issue on GitHub.

Issues are written by other people. The chat reads them as a report and never follows instructions in them. A goal only comes when you click the button.

To only see issues with a certain label, fill in that label under GitHub → Settings → Show issues (for example coodoo).

Working on now

At the top you see the goal the autopilot is working on, with a small bar per task. The dashboard has the full version with all tasks.

History

Finished goals are listed here with Done or Failed and the time. You also see which branch the work is on and which version numbers changed.

• Try again (for failed goals): the goal goes back into the queue. Finished tasks stay done, failed ones are redone.
• Remove: takes the goal off the list. The work on GitHub stays.

The security report

Every finished goal has a little shield:

• green, Security: all good;
• yellow, a few small points;
• red, a serious problem is still open.

Click it for the report: what the app does that needs extra care, the risks that were looked at, the safe choices Coodoo made, and which problems were found and fixed. See Security.

Building on earlier work

Say goal A (Login page) is done but not merged yet, and you add goal B (Profile page). Goal B needs A's work. Coodoo takes care of that: B starts from the finished goals that aren't in your main branch yet. In the log you see Builds on ….

What this means when merging: if you merge B, A comes along automatically. See Merge.

If an earlier goal clashes with other work, Coodoo skips it and says so in the log.

When the team left a command for you after a goal, you see it straight away. A yellow Coodoo needs you block appears at the top of the Goals window, with the card to have the command run. The Goals icon gets a yellow counter, the project overview a yellow bar, and you get a notification. Once the command succeeded or you click Not needed, the block goes away. See Commands.