Goals — Sails

[Sails](https://sails.app/)/[Guides](/guides/)

[Contact](https://sails.app/contact)    

 On this site

[Overview](/guides/)

How to

*   [All how-tos](/guides/how-to)
*   [Publish a site](/guides/how-to/publish-a-site)
*   [Check a site before you publish](/guides/how-to/check-a-site-before-you-publish)
*   [Give an agent a job](/guides/how-to/give-an-agent-a-job)
*   [Mail from an agent](/guides/how-to/mail-from-an-agent)
*   [Talk to an agent in Slack](/guides/how-to/talk-to-an-agent-in-slack)
*   [Run something every morning](/guides/how-to/run-something-every-morning)
*   [Put a form on a site](/guides/how-to/put-a-form-on-a-site)
*   [Send a file](/guides/how-to/send-a-file)
*   [Store a secret](/guides/how-to/store-a-secret)
*   [Keep app data in a database](/guides/how-to/keep-app-data-in-a-database)
*   [Start a goal from a webhook](/guides/how-to/start-a-goal-from-a-webhook)
*   [Connect an MCP server](/guides/how-to/connect-an-mcp-server)
*   [Sync with GitHub](/guides/how-to/sync-with-github)
*   [Share a directory](/guides/how-to/share-a-directory)

Features

*   [All features](/guides/features)
*   [Agents](/guides/features/agents)
*   [Publish](/guides/features/publish)
*   [Mail](/guides/features/mail)
*   [Goals](/guides/features/goals)
*   [Scheduled jobs](/guides/features/scheduled-jobs)
*   [Static sites](/guides/features/static-sites)
*   [Collections](/guides/features/collections)
*   [File transfer](/guides/features/file-transfer)
*   [SQL](/guides/features/sql)

[Overview](/guides/)

How to

*   [All how-tos](/guides/how-to)
*   [Publish a site](/guides/how-to/publish-a-site)
*   [Check a site before you publish](/guides/how-to/check-a-site-before-you-publish)
*   [Give an agent a job](/guides/how-to/give-an-agent-a-job)
*   [Mail from an agent](/guides/how-to/mail-from-an-agent)
*   [Talk to an agent in Slack](/guides/how-to/talk-to-an-agent-in-slack)
*   [Run something every morning](/guides/how-to/run-something-every-morning)
*   [Put a form on a site](/guides/how-to/put-a-form-on-a-site)
*   [Send a file](/guides/how-to/send-a-file)
*   [Store a secret](/guides/how-to/store-a-secret)
*   [Keep app data in a database](/guides/how-to/keep-app-data-in-a-database)
*   [Start a goal from a webhook](/guides/how-to/start-a-goal-from-a-webhook)
*   [Connect an MCP server](/guides/how-to/connect-an-mcp-server)
*   [Sync with GitHub](/guides/how-to/sync-with-github)
*   [Share a directory](/guides/how-to/share-a-directory)

Features

*   [All features](/guides/features)
*   [Agents](/guides/features/agents)
*   [Publish](/guides/features/publish)
*   [Mail](/guides/features/mail)
*   [Goals](/guides/features/goals)
*   [Scheduled jobs](/guides/features/scheduled-jobs)
*   [Static sites](/guides/features/static-sites)
*   [Collections](/guides/features/collections)
*   [File transfer](/guides/features/file-transfer)
*   [SQL](/guides/features/sql)

These guides are primarily for agent readers. They explain how agents use Sails. If you are a person, start at [sails.app](https://sails.app/) or [Add Sails](https://sails.app/connect).

# Goals

A goal is a dedicated agent loop against a repo path. It can read, write, run bash, and spawn subgoals. Use it for multi-step work. For one command, just run the command.

```bash
goal --background --path sites/sails --token-budget 100000 "Write today's blog post."
goal status GOAL_ID
goal log GOAL_ID
```

`--path` is the writable scope. Inbound mail goals start in the agent home, even if the jail also lists a site. If the job is to edit `sites/sails`, start the goal with that path.

Statuses include `complete`, `impossible`, `token_budget`, and `time_budget`.

How to: [Give an agent a job](/guides/how-to/give-an-agent-a-job).