v1.0.4 — Guard: Prevent Regressions While Optimizing

What's New in v1.0.4

Guard — Optional Regression Prevention

When optimizing a metric (e.g., benchmark time), the loop can break existing behavior. Guard is an optional safety net — a command that must ALWAYS pass for a change to be kept.

Contributed by @pronskiy (JetBrains) in PR #7

Usage

```
/autoresearch
Goal: Reduce API response time to under 100ms
Metric: p95 response time in ms (lower is better)
Verify: npm run bench:api | grep "p95"
Guard: npm test
Scope: src/api/**/*.ts
```

How It Works

• Verify = "Did the metric improve?" (the goal)
• Guard = "Did anything else break?" (the safety net)

If the metric improves but the guard fails:

1. Revert the change
2. Read guard output to understand what broke
3. Rework the optimization to avoid the regression (max 2 attempts)
4. If still failing → discard and move on

Guard/test files are NEVER modified. The optimization must adapt to the tests, not the other way around.

When to Use Guard

Scenario	Verify	Guard
Reduce bundle size	`npm run build | grep size`	`npm test`
Optimize Lighthouse	`npx lighthouse --output json`	`npm test`
Reduce LOC (refactoring)	`wc -l src/**/*.ts`	`npm test && npm run typecheck`
Improve benchmark time	`npm run bench`	`npm test`
Increase coverage	`jest --coverage`	(no guard needed)

Guard is optional — if not specified, the loop works exactly as before. Fully backward compatible.

Plan Wizard Integration

`/autoresearch:plan` now asks about Guard during setup:

• Suggests test command as guard when metric is performance/bundle/lighthouse
• Suggests "No guard needed" when metric IS tests (coverage)
• Validates guard passes on current codebase before proceeding
• Includes Guard in the generated config output

Results Log Updated

TSV log now includes a `guard` column:

```tsv
iteration commit metric delta guard status description
0 a1b2c3d 85.2 0.0 pass baseline initial state
4 - 88.9 +1.8 fail discard inline hot-path (guard: 3 tests broke)
5 c3d4e5f 88.3 +1.2 pass keep refactored with preserved interface
```

Pull Requests

PR	Author	Title
#7	@pronskiy (JetBrains)	Core Guard implementation
#8	@uditgoenka	Version fix, README docs, plan wizard integration

Files Changed

File	Change
`SKILL.md`	Guard in setup phase + loop pseudocode, domain table with Guard column, v1.0.4
`references/autonomous-loop-protocol.md`	Phase 5.5 (Guard), rework logic, updated decide pseudocode
`references/results-logging.md`	Guard column in TSV format + examples
`references/plan-workflow.md`	Phase 4.5 (Define Guard), guard in config output
`README.md`	Guard section, commands table, version badge, credit

Installation

```bash
git clone https://github.com/uditgoenka/autoresearch.git
cp -r autoresearch/skills/autoresearch ~/.claude/skills/autoresearch
```

Full Changelog: v1.0.3...v1.0.4