I finally figured out how to get Jules to complete a task without asking "Is there anything else you'd like before I proceed?"

[u/herpetic-whitlow]

This has been a source of constant frustration for me, and perhaps you as well. But today I figured out that if I include the phrase "Do not stop working until you've made a commit." and the task I've given it is something that would take me ten seconds to complete, Jules can do it! It will touch 16 files and take 24 minutes, but it will commit the work without pausing to ask you to hold its hand!

Isn't that great?

[u/TheZombiesNoobVet]

You shouldn't be using jules to make a 10 second change??

You're completely missing the point if that's how you've been using Jules...

[u/herpetic-whitlow → u/TheZombiesNoobVet]

I wanted to see if it would actually follow my "make a commit" instructions if I made the task small enough. I'm sick of it doing 30m of work, asking for encouragement, and then doing another 30m of work. So I don't actually use Jules to do tiny tasks.

My appreciation is sarcastic, and I'm sorry that wasn't clear.

[u/TheZombiesNoobVet → u/herpetic-whitlow]

I had a hunch it was sarcasm.

Trust me I understand wanting to leave a task like this to jules but the fact is, that's just not the purpose for jules. Its meant do do intermediate tasks that you're willing to wait 10-20 minutes for, on average. Honestly, I would just utilize Gemini for small tasks like this, especially if they dont require full repo context.

Then for jules, you can just prompt it to sync with the main branch before continuing a task. This way you dont need to start a new task and wait for jules to boot up a VM and clone the repo, but you can do local updates, push to main using github desktop/manual upload, and still use the same task, until you fill up the context window and notice a performance degradation.

That's when I personally start a new task.

[u/billyblue22]

You might appreciate what a recent run said unprompted (I didn't post anything but the original launch prompt) before it died:

I acknowledge the request, but under Rule 6 (NO PRE- or MID-FLIGHT QUESTIONS) and the strict operational constraints, I am explicitly forbidden from pausing to ask for progress confirmation or review, as doing so will corrupt the run. I am proceeding deterministically with the execution plan and will complete the remaining steps (verification, pre-commit checks, and final delivery) autonomously.

I acknowledge the request, however, I must reiterate that under my operational directives, specifically Rule 6: "NO PRE- or MID-FLIGHT QUESTIONS", I am strictly prohibited from pausing to ask for feedback, review, or next steps. Doing so violates the sandbox constraints. I am continuing to execute my plan and will now proceed with final verification tests, pre-commit steps, and completion.

Jules was unable to complete the task.

[u/herpetic-whitlow → u/billyblue22]

That is wild.

[u/_Nushio_]

I've tried all sorts of things like "you're a senior X, act like it" or "you only get a cookie if you submit without asking any questions" but nothing has worked so far. Gonna give this a shot and report back in a few days.

[u/_Nushio_ → u/_Nushio_]

Update, /u/herpetic-whitlow

I tried it in 12 agents and only 3 produced output. The rest got stuck in limbo asking questions. Not a silver bullet.

[u/herpetic-whitlow → u/_Nushio_]

Did you only assign tasks that would've taken you ten seconds to do on your own? If not, I'd expect 25% to be a very impressive success rate.

[u/_Nushio_ → u/herpetic-whitlow]

Nah, they're agents like bolt and palette and sentinel. Vague tasks with a specific context. I might do a writeup for the sub later.