Goal.md, a goal-specification file for autonomous coding agents

In plain words

Goal.md is a goal-specification file format designed for autonomous coding agents. It enables developers to define clear objectives and requirements that AI agents can understand and act upon during code generation and modification tasks. The format provides a structured way to communicate coding goals, making it easier for autonomous tools to interpret developer intent and produce targeted results. It's intended for teams and individuals working with AI-assisted development workflows.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

Give an AI agent a number to make go up and a loop to do it in. Then go to sleep. One prompt. Any agent. Paste this into Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, or any coding agent: Read github.com/jmilinovich/goal-md — read the template and examples. Then write me a GOAL.md for this repo and start working on it. Karpathy's autoresearch proved the formula: agent + fitness function + loop = overnight breakthroughs. But autoresearch only works when you already have a scalar metric. Loss goes down, paper gets better. Most software isn't like that. You have to construct the metric before you can optimize it. GOAL.md is the pattern for doing that. One file you drop into a repo that turns a coding agent into…from github.com

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