AGENTS Instructions

goose is an AI agent framework in Rust with CLI and Electron desktop interfaces.

Setup

source bin/activate-hermit
cargo build

Commands

Build

cargo build                   # debug
cargo build --release         # release  
just release-binary           # release + openapi

Test

cargo test                   # all tests
cargo test -p goose          # specific crate
cargo test --package goose --test mcp_integration_test
just record-mcp-tests        # record MCP

Lint/Format

cargo fmt
cargo clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings

UI

just generate-openapi        # after server changes
just run-ui                  # start desktop
cd ui/desktop && pnpm test   # test UI

Git

git commit -s                # required for DCO sign-off

Structure

crates/
├── goose              # core logic
├── goose-acp-macros   # ACP proc macros
├── goose-cli          # CLI entry
├── goose-server       # backend (binary: goosed)
├── goose-mcp          # MCP extensions
├── goose-test         # test utilities
└── goose-test-support # test helpers

evals/open-model-gym/  # benchmarking / evals
ui/desktop/            # Electron app

Development Loop

# 1. source bin/activate-hermit
# 2. Make changes
# 3. cargo fmt

Run these only if the user has asked you to build/test your changes:

# 1. cargo build
# 2. cargo test -p <crate>
# 3. cargo clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings
# 4. [if server] just generate-openapi

Rules

Test: Prefer tests/ folder, e.g. crates/goose/tests/ Test: When adding features, update goose-self-test.yaml, rebuild, then run goose run --recipe goose-self-test.yaml to validate Error: Use anyhow::Result Provider: Implement Provider trait see providers/base.rs MCP: Extensions in crates/goose-mcp/ Server: Changes need just generate-openapi

Code Quality

Comments: Write self-documenting code - prefer clear names over comments Comments: Never add comments that restate what code does Comments: Only comment for complex algorithms, non-obvious business logic, or "why" not "what" Simplicity: Don't make things optional that don't need to be - the compiler will enforce Simplicity: Booleans should default to false, not be optional Errors: Don't add error context that doesn't add useful information (e.g., .context("Failed to X") when error already says it failed) Simplicity: Avoid overly defensive code - trust Rust's type system Logging: Clean up existing logs, don't add more unless for errors or security events

Ink / Terminal UI (ui/text)

Ink renders React to a fixed character grid — not a browser. Content that exceeds a Box's dimensions is NOT clipped; it visually overflows into neighboring cells and breaks the layout.

Ink-Text: Never use wrap="wrap" inside a fixed-height Box — wrapped text can exceed the Box height and bleed into adjacent components. Use wrap="truncate" and pre-truncate the string to fit the available character budget (lines × width). Ink-Layout: When changing card/cell dimensions, always recalculate how much content fits. Account for borders (2 chars), padding, margins, and sibling elements when computing the remaining space for dynamic text. Ink-Overflow: Ink has no overflow: hidden. The only way to prevent overflow is to ensure content never exceeds the container size — truncate text, limit list items, or cap height. Ink-FlexGrow: Avoid flexGrow={1} on text containers inside fixed-height cards — the text will try to fill available space but Ink won't clip it if it exceeds the boundary. Ink-HeightBudget: When computing how many rows/items fit vertically, count EVERY line used by headers, footers, margins, borders, and scroll indicators. Under-reserving vertical space (e.g., height - 8 when chrome actually uses 16 lines) causes Ink to squeeze out margins between items, making borders collapse. Always audit the actual line count. Ink-TrailingMargin: Don't apply marginBottom to the last item in a list — it wastes a line and can push content out of the container. Use conditional margins or container gap.

Never

Never: Edit ui/desktop/openapi.json manually Never: Edit Cargo.toml use cargo add Never: Skip cargo fmt Never: Merge without running clippy Never: Comment self-evident operations (// Initialize, // Return result), getters/setters, constructors, or standard Rust idioms

Entry Points

CLI: crates/goose-cli/src/main.rs
Server: crates/goose-server/src/main.rs
UI: ui/desktop/src/main.ts
Agent: crates/goose/src/agents/agent.rs

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