Prevent removed goal subcommands from replacing goals

The simplified /goal surface only supports setting a condition and clearing it. Removed subcommand names such as status were still valid free-form objectives, so a user trying the old query flow could overwrite the real goal with a goal named status and make the desktop state look stuck in progress.

Constraint: /goal should stay as /goal <condition> and /goal clear for the prelaunch simplified UX

Rejected: Reintroduce /goal status | it expands the command surface the product direction intentionally removed

Confidence: high

Scope-risk: narrow

Directive: Do not add pseudo subcommands back to the desktop picker unless the CLI command surface is deliberately expanded again

Tested: bun test src/commands/goal/goal.test.tsx src/goals/goalState.test.ts src/goals/goalEvaluator.test.ts src/server/__tests__/ws-memory-events.test.ts

Tested: cd desktop && bun run test -- --run src/components/chat/composerUtils.test.ts src/__tests__/pages.test.tsx src/stores/chatStore.test.ts src/components/chat/MessageList.test.tsx

desktop/src/__tests__/pages.test.tsx

@@ -169,8 +169,8 @@ describe('Content-only pages render without errors', () => {
     })
 
     expect(await screen.findAllByText('/goal')).toHaveLength(2)
-    expect(screen.getByText('[status|pause|resume|complete|clear|--tokens <budget>|<objective>]')).toBeInTheDocument()
+    expect(screen.getByText('[<condition> | clear]')).toBeInTheDocument()
-    expect(screen.getByText('Create or manage an autonomous completion goal')).toBeInTheDocument()
+    expect(screen.getByText('Set a completion goal')).toBeInTheDocument()
     expect(screen.queryByText('/goal status')).not.toBeInTheDocument()
     expect(screen.queryByText('/goal --tokens')).not.toBeInTheDocument()
   })

desktop/src/components/chat/composerUtils.test.ts

@@ -75,8 +75,8 @@ describe('composerUtils', () => {
       expect.arrayContaining([
         {
           name: 'goal',
-          description: 'Create or manage an autonomous completion goal',
+          description: 'Set a completion goal',
-          argumentHint: '[status|pause|resume|complete|clear|--tokens <budget>|<objective>]',
+          argumentHint: '[<condition> | clear]',
         },
       ]),
     )
@@ -89,8 +89,8 @@ describe('composerUtils', () => {
       commands.map((command) => command.name),
     ).toEqual(['goal'])
     expect(commands[0]).toMatchObject({
-      description: 'Create or manage an autonomous completion goal',
+      description: 'Set a completion goal',
-      argumentHint: '[status|pause|resume|complete|clear|--tokens <budget>|<objective>]',
+      argumentHint: '[<condition> | clear]',
     })
     expect(mergeSlashCommands([]).map((command) => command.name)).not.toContain('goal status')
     expect(mergeSlashCommands([]).map((command) => command.name)).not.toContain('goal --tokens')

desktop/src/components/chat/composerUtils.ts

@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ export const FALLBACK_SLASH_COMMANDS = [
   { name: 'clear', description: 'Clear conversation history' },
   {
     name: 'goal',
-    description: 'Create or manage an autonomous completion goal',
+    description: 'Set a completion goal',
-    argumentHint: '[status|pause|resume|complete|clear|--tokens <budget>|<objective>]',
+    argumentHint: '[<condition> | clear]',
   },
   { name: 'review', description: 'Review code changes' },
   { name: 'commit', description: 'Create a git commit' },

src/commands/goal/goal.test.tsx

@@ -79,6 +79,20 @@ describe('/goal command', () => {
     expect(result.options?.shouldQuery).toBeUndefined()
   })
 
+  test('does not treat removed subcommands as replacement goals', async () => {
+    switchSession(`goal-command-${crypto.randomUUID()}` as SessionId)
+
+    const created = await runGoal('ship the smoke test')
+    expect(created.result).toBe('Goal set: ship the smoke test')
+
+    const status = await runGoal('status')
+    expect(status.result).toBe('Usage: /goal <condition> | clear')
+    expect(status.options?.shouldQuery).toBeUndefined()
+
+    const cleared = await runGoal('clear')
+    expect(cleared.result).toBe('Goal cleared: ship the smoke test')
+  })
+
   test('hydrates completed goal state from persisted slash command history', async () => {
     switchSession(`goal-command-${crypto.randomUUID()}` as SessionId)
 

src/commands/goal/index.ts

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ const goal = {
   type: 'local-jsx',
   supportsNonInteractive: true,
   name: 'goal',
-  description: 'Set a completion goal that keeps the session working until it is met',
+  description: 'Set a completion goal',
   argumentHint: '[<condition> | clear]',
   load: () => import('./goal.js'),
 } satisfies Command

src/goals/goalState.test.ts

@@ -23,6 +23,11 @@ describe('goalState', () => {
     })
     expect(parseGoalCommand('clear')).toEqual({ type: 'clear' })
     expect(() => parseGoalCommand('')).toThrow('Usage: /goal <condition> | clear')
+    expect(() => parseGoalCommand('status')).toThrow('Usage: /goal <condition> | clear')
+    expect(() => parseGoalCommand('pause')).toThrow('Usage: /goal <condition> | clear')
+    expect(() => parseGoalCommand('resume')).toThrow('Usage: /goal <condition> | clear')
+    expect(() => parseGoalCommand('complete')).toThrow('Usage: /goal <condition> | clear')
+    expect(() => parseGoalCommand('--tokens 100 ship it')).toThrow('Usage: /goal <condition> | clear')
   })
 
   test('stores and formats the current thread goal', () => {

src/goals/goalState.ts

@@ -25,11 +25,15 @@ export type ParsedGoalCommand =
   | { type: 'set'; objective: string }
 
 const goalsByThread = new Map<string, ThreadGoal>()
+const RESERVED_GOAL_ARGS = new Set(['status', 'pause', 'resume', 'complete'])
 
 export function parseGoalCommand(args: string): ParsedGoalCommand {
   const trimmed = args.trim()
   if (!trimmed) throw new Error('Usage: /goal <condition> | clear')
   if (trimmed === 'clear') return { type: 'clear' }
+  if (RESERVED_GOAL_ARGS.has(trimmed) || trimmed.startsWith('--tokens')) {
+    throw new Error('Usage: /goal <condition> | clear')
+  }
   return { type: 'set', objective: trimmed }
 }