Sisyphus: Executor

Sisyphus is the default agent. When you open a conversation, you're talking to Sisyphus. It handles most tasks directly and delegates to specialist agents when needed.

What Sisyphus Does

• Answers questions about your codebase
• Makes code changes: from one-liners to multi-file features
• Routes to specialists: delegates to the right agent for the job
• Verifies its work: runs build, tests, and diagnostics after changes

Smart Routing

Sisyphus doesn't do everything itself. When a task calls for specialized capabilities, it delegates:

You: "Add password reset to my auth system"

Sisyphus:
  1. Fires explore agents to find existing auth code
  2. Delegates implementation to category agents:
     - reset-token model → quick
     - reset email sending → deep
     - reset route + handler → deep
     - tests → deep (with tdd skill)
  3. Verifies build, diagnostics, tests
  4. Done

Specialist Agents

Agent	When Sisyphus delegates to it
explore	Searching the codebase, finding patterns, locating files
Oracle	Architecture decisions, hard debugging (after 2+ failed attempts)
librarian	Looking up documentation, API references, library usage
Category agents	Implementation work (see Categories)

The Entry Point for Everything

Sisyphus is your starting point for every interaction:

"Fix the login bug"
→ Sisyphus explores, diagnoses, fixes

"What does this middleware do?"
→ Sisyphus answers directly

"Refactor the user service"
→ Sisyphus delegates to category agents

/start-work "Build a new API"
→ Sisyphus hands off to Prometheus → Atlas pipeline

When Sisyphus Handles Things Directly

Most of the time, Sisyphus handles your request without the full pipeline:

• Small changes: Add a comment, rename a variable, fix a typo
• Bug fixes: Reproduce, diagnose, fix, verify
• Questions: "What does this function do?", "Where is the auth middleware?"
• Single-feature additions: "Add password reset" (see Add a Feature)

When Sisyphus Escalates

Sisyphus automatically escalates in two situations:

1. To Oracle (after 2+ failed fix attempts)

If Sisyphus tries to fix something and fails twice, it consults Oracle for a fresh perspective.

Sisyphus tries fix #1 → tests fail
Sisyphus tries fix #2 → tests fail
Sisyphus consults Oracle → Oracle analyzes the problem
Sisyphus applies Oracle's recommendation → tests pass

You can also request Oracle directly:

"Consult Oracle: why does our WebSocket keep disconnecting under load?"

2. To the Pipeline (when you use /start-work)

When you invoke /start-work, Sisyphus steps aside and the Prometheus → Atlas pipeline takes over. Sisyphus still does the implementation work, but under Atlas's orchestration.

Skills

Sisyphus can load skills that modify its behavior for specific tasks. Skills are loaded via the load_skills parameter:

"Add password reset with TDD"
→ Sisyphus loads the tdd skill and follows red-green-refactor

See the Skills Ecosystem for available skills and how to create your own.

See Also

• Oracle: Consultant — When and how Oracle gets involved
• Category Agents — What each category is optimized for
• Add a Feature — Direct Sisyphus workflow
• Debug a Bug — Sisyphus + Oracle for hard bugs