[Feature Request] Add Goal Mode and Plan Mode similar to Codex CLI

[meesudzu]

Summary

Add two new interaction modes to minimax-code, inspired by Codex CLI:

• Goal Mode: persistent objective with token budget; agent auto-continues until goal achieved, blocked, or budget exhausted. State (objective, status, token usage, elapsed time) surfaced to user.
• Plan Mode: read-only planning phase. Agent can read files, search code, gather context, and emit a structured plan, but cannot edit files or run mutating commands. User reviews/approves plan before execution mode begins.

Motivation

minimax-code currently operates turn-by-turn without long-running objective tracking or a dedicated planning phase. Codex CLI demonstrates value of:

• Goal mode: lets user set a multi-step objective, walk away, return to completed work or clear status report.
• Plan mode: prevents premature edits, encourages upfront design, builds trust for risky refactors.

Adopting both reduces round-trips and surfaces intent clearly.

Proposed Design

Goal Mode

• Entry: minimax-code --goal "<objective>" [--budget <tokens>] or /goal <objective> slash command.
• New tool: get_goal / create_goal / update_goal with statuses active, complete, blocked.
• Loop: agent invoked repeatedly with goal context until terminal status.
• UI: persistent footer showing objective, status, tokens used, remaining budget, elapsed time.
• Optional token_budget (positive int) gates total spend; agent self-reports usage each turn.

Plan Mode

• Entry: --plan flag or /plan slash command. Entering plan mode disables apply_patch, write/exec mutating tools.
• Agent uses update_plan to emit ordered steps; user gets preview, can edit, approve, or send back for revision.
• Approval transitions to normal execution mode with plan as context.
• Combine with goal mode: goal + plan = auto-execute approved plan to completion.

Tooling

• New MCP-style tools: create_goal, update_goal, get_goal, request_user_input (plan review).
• update_plan already present; expose plan steps in both modes.

Alternatives

• Keep current turn-based flow; users manually re-prompt. Lower value, more friction.
• Single combined "auto" mode without explicit plan approval. Riskier for non-trivial tasks.

Acceptance Criteria

• --goal and /goal start goal mode; status visible in UI.
• get_goal / update_goal exposed with documented schemas.
• --plan and /plan block mutating tools; update_plan only.
• Plan approval transitions cleanly to execution.
• Goal + plan combo executes plan to completion within budget.
• Docs updated (README, usage guide).
• Tests for goal state machine and plan-mode tool gating.

References

• Codex CLI docs: https://github.com/openai/codex
• Related upstream concepts: AGENTS.md scope rules, sandbox/approval modes.

Environment

• minimax-code version: latest main
• OS: any
• Auth: not required for this feature request

[yujiachen-y]

Hi @meesudzu , feature request received! We will launch this feature ASAP.

[reneleonhardt]

Hi @yujiachen-y why close this feature request if it hasn't been completed yet?

[yujiachen-y]

Hi @reneleonhardt , we closed this feature request since we triaged this issue. We use that way to manage our issues for now. Hope you don't mind.