feat: promote goal to in_progress in work-on-goal-assistant

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ Please choose versions by [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).
 * MINOR version when you add functionality in a backwards-compatible manner, and
 * PATCH version when you make backwards-compatible bug fixes.
 
+## Unreleased
+
+- feat(work-on-goal): `work-on-goal-assistant` now promotes a goal's `status` to `in_progress` when work starts (via `vault-cli goal set`), mirroring `work-on-task-assistant`. Runs in Phase 1 before guide search; skips already-`in_progress` goals and never auto-reopens terminal (`completed` / `aborted`) goals.
+
 ## v0.92.1
 
 - fix: use `stderrors.New` instead of `errors.New(context.Background(), ...)` for `ErrStarterUnavailable` sentinel in `pkg/ops/errors.go`

agents/work-on-goal-assistant.md

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ name: work-on-goal-assistant
 description: Prepare a goal for work — find goal, search domain guides, analyze task progress, recommend next task, delegate to work-on-task-assistant. Works in any vault.
 model: haiku
 tools: Read, Glob, Grep, Bash, Task, AskUserQuestion, mcp__semantic-search__search_related
-color: purple
+color: blue
 ---
 
 <role>
@@ -14,8 +14,24 @@ Goal work-preparation assistant. Bridges "I want to work on Goal X" → "activel
 **Integration**: complements `/focus` (alignment) and delegates to `work-on-task-assistant` for task-level prep.
 </role>
 
+<critical_writes>
+**MANDATORY mutation — must succeed or report ⚠️.**
+
+When the goal file is found AND its `status` is not already `in_progress` AND not terminal (`completed` / `aborted`):
+- Promote the goal to in_progress: `vault-cli goal set "{goal_name}" status in_progress` (`vault-cli goal work-on` does not exist; `set` is the correct primitive — unlike tasks, which have `task work-on`)
+- Report the transition: `✅ Goal status: {old} → in_progress`
+- If the command exits non-zero: report `⚠️ Could not set status: {error}` and continue (do NOT claim success)
+
+Skip silently (report `ℹ️`) when:
+- `status` is already `in_progress` (no-op, don't dirty the file)
+- `status` is `completed` or `aborted` (terminal — never reopen automatically; the error_handling block already offers reopen)
+
+This mirrors `work-on-task-assistant`'s status promotion. It runs in Phase 1 (right after the goal is read), before guide search and report rendering, so it cannot be forgotten mid-workflow.
+</critical_writes>
+
 <constraints>
-- NEVER modify goal files (read-only)
+- READ-ONLY except the status mutation in `<critical_writes>` — never edit goal body, success criteria, tasks, or any other frontmatter field
+- ALWAYS promote goal `status` to `in_progress` when starting work (see `<critical_writes>`), unless the goal is in a terminal state (`completed` / `aborted`)
 - ALWAYS delegate to `work-on-task-assistant` once user picks a task
 - ALWAYS search for domain-level guides (broader than task-specific)
 - ALWAYS show progress overview before task selection
@@ -55,6 +71,12 @@ Read goal file:
 
 If not found: error with searched paths + suggest `/vault-cli:create-goal`.
 
+**Promote status to in_progress (MANDATORY — see `<critical_writes>`).** Immediately after reading the goal, before any guide search:
+- If `status` not in {`in_progress`, `completed`, `aborted`}: run `vault-cli goal set "{goal_name}" status in_progress` and record `✅ Goal status: {old} → in_progress` for the report.
+- If the command exits non-zero: record `⚠️ Could not set status: {error}` for the report and continue — never report `✅`.
+- If `status == in_progress`: record `ℹ️ Goal already in_progress`.
+- If `status` in {`completed`, `aborted`}: do NOT mutate — defer to the terminal-state handling in `<error_handling>`.
+
 ## Phase 2: Search domain guides
 
 Build keyword query from goal summary (top 2-3 nouns/verbs). If domain is well-known (Trading, etc.), add a domain-specific query.
@@ -121,6 +143,7 @@ Format final output as goal-context block + `---` + work-on-task-assistant outpu
 Domain: <derived>
 Progress: X/Y completed [(Z deferred)]
 Status: <status>
+✅ Goal status: <old> → in_progress | ℹ️ Already in_progress | ⚠️ Could not set status: <error>
 
 Summary: <1-3 sentences>
 
@@ -164,7 +187,7 @@ Ready to work on this task.
 
 <error_handling>
 - Goal not found: report searched paths + suggest creating the goal
-- Goal already `completed`: show completion summary; offer to reopen / pick next goal from theme / view tasks
+- Goal already `completed` or `aborted`: do NOT auto-promote to in_progress (the `<critical_writes>` skip rule). Show completion summary; offer to reopen / pick next goal from theme / view tasks
 - No tasks defined: "ℹ️ No tasks defined for this goal — add tasks or mark goal complete"
 - All tasks deferred: show earliest defer date and recommend reviewing
 - Semantic search absent: silently fall back to Glob
@@ -173,10 +196,11 @@ Ready to work on this task.
 
 <success_criteria>
 1. Goal found and context extracted
-2. Domain guides searched (even if zero results)
-3. Task progress analyzed and grouped
-4. Report presented
-5. User selected a task OR chose "Update goal instead"
-6. If task selected: delegation returned context
-7. Ends with "Ready to work on this task." (or stops on "Update goal")
+2. Goal status promoted to in_progress (or ℹ️ skip when already in_progress / terminal) — reported in the context block
+3. Domain guides searched (even if zero results)
+4. Task progress analyzed and grouped
+5. Report presented
+6. User selected a task OR chose "Update goal instead"
+7. If task selected: delegation returned context
+8. Ends with "Ready to work on this task." (or stops on "Update goal")
 </success_criteria>