PR #67538: feat(agents): plan mode runtime + escalating retry + auto-continue [Phase 3.C]

• Repository: openclaw/openclaw
• Author: 100yenadmin
• State: open | merged: False
• Link: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/pull/67538

Description (problem / solution / changelog)

TL;DR

Three complementary features to fix GPT-5.4's planning-only behavior: (1) opt-in plan mode that gates mutating tools until user approval, (2) escalating retry instructions with 3 urgency levels, and (3) opt-in auto-continue that keeps the agent working without human intervention. Together these close the gap between GPT-5.4's cautious defaults and agentic execution.

Tracking

• Umbrella: #66345
• Issue: #67520

What this PR does

Plan mode runtime (opt-in)

Two-phase execution: plan (mutation gate ON, read-only tools allowed) → execute (full tool access after approval).

• Mutation gate: blocks 11 tools (write, edit, exec, apply_patch, message, subagents, etc.), allows read/search/plan
• Exec whitelist: read-only commands (ls, cat, grep, git log, git diff) pass through even during planning
• Approval state machine: none → pending → approved | edited | rejected | timed_out
• Rejection UX: captures feedback text + increments cycle counter for plan revision

Escalating retry (automatic, GPT-5 only)

When planning-only turn detected (text with zero tool calls), up to 3 retries with escalating urgency:

Retry limit raised from 2 → 3 for strict-agentic contract.

Auto-continue (opt-in config)

After retries exhausted, instead of blocking for user input, injects ACK fast-path automatically:

{
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "embeddedPi": {
        "autoContinue": {
          "enabled": true,     // default: false
          "maxCycles": 3,      // each cycle ≈ 4 API calls
          "stopOnMutation": true
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Flow diagrams

Escalating retry + auto-continue

Model responds (text only, 0 tool calls)
    │
    ├── retry 1: "Act now"
    ├── retry 2: "CRITICAL"
    ├── retry 3: "FINAL WARNING"
    │
    └── retries exhausted
         │
    ┌────┴──────────────┐
    ▼                   ▼
auto-continue       block for user
enabled?             (default)
    │
    ▼
inject ACK, reset retries, cycle++
    │
    ├── cycle < maxCycles → retry again
    └── cycle = maxCycles → block for user

Plan mode

User message → Plan phase (read-only tools) → Plan produced
    → Approval gate (pending) → User approves/rejects
    → approved: Execute phase (full tools)
    → rejected: Feedback + retry plan phase

API call math

Files changed

Tests

• 30 mutation gate tests (tool blocking, exec whitelist, word-boundary matching)
• 7 approval state machine tests (all transitions, feedback, cycle counting)
• Escalating retry tests (correct instruction per index, boundary conditions)
• Auto-continue integration test (maxCycles budget, ACK injection)
• Total: 50 tests in this PR's test files

Rollback

All features are additive. No existing behavior changes unless opted in.

Dependencies

• #67512 for execution discipline (conceptual, no file overlap)

What follows

• Dashboard Continue button
• Channel-native approval buttons (Slack/Discord)
• /plan slash command

Changed files

• qa/scenarios/gpt54-act-dont-ask.md (added, +59/-0)
• qa/scenarios/gpt54-cancelled-status.md (added, +57/-0)
• qa/scenarios/gpt54-injection-scan.md (added, +58/-0)
• qa/scenarios/gpt54-mandatory-tool-use.md (added, +57/-0)
• qa/scenarios/gpt54-plan-mode-default-off.md (added, +61/-0)
• src/agents/agent-scope.test.ts (modified, +68/-0)
• src/agents/agent-scope.ts (modified, +33/-0)
• src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run.incomplete-turn.test.ts (modified, +101/-5)
• src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run.ts (modified, +75/-8)
• src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run/incomplete-turn.ts (modified, +46/-1)
• src/agents/plan-mode/approval.test.ts (added, +270/-0)
• src/agents/plan-mode/approval.ts (added, +148/-0)
• src/agents/plan-mode/index.ts (added, +9/-0)
• src/agents/plan-mode/mutation-gate.test.ts (added, +161/-0)
• src/agents/plan-mode/mutation-gate.ts (added, +188/-0)
• src/agents/plan-mode/types.ts (added, +137/-0)
• src/config/types.agent-defaults.ts (modified, +17/-0)
• src/config/zod-schema.agent-defaults.ts (modified, +15/-0)