Timeboxed Execution

What Timeboxed Execution does

Timeboxed Execution is a SKILL.md workflow built around three steps: define what done looks like, reserve time for verification, and stop and report honestly when the deadline arrives. The README says the goal is not to make an agent rush but to keep work bounded, visible and verifiable. A worked example is a 5-minute timebox for a reproducible bug, where done requires an observable reproduction, a minimal fix, passing regression tests and a live probe in a fresh process.

Scope is frozen before final acceptance, and the skill separates implementation, tests, runtime behavior and persistence. Simple tasks use a lightweight fast path, and complex work is split only into phases that can be accepted independently. At the deadline the agent stops safely and asks explicitly for an extension instead of working silent overtime. Results are reported as one of five states: verified_complete, partial_verified, blocked, failed or stopped_unverified. The repository includes a references file of anonymized observations and a scoring rubric, which the README says are not benchmarks.

Key features

• Define-done, reserve-verification, stop-and-report workflow
• Five completion states from verified_complete to stopped_unverified
• Lightweight fast path for simple tasks
• Scope freeze before final acceptance
• Install from main or pinned to a release tag with hermes skills install
• Reference file of validated patterns and a scoring rubric

When to use it

• Fixing a bug within a fixed number of minutes, with verification time reserved
• Stopping an agent from claiming completion without a fresh-process check
• Splitting a larger job into phases that can each be accepted independently

Who it is for: People who delegate time-limited tasks to Hermes Agent or another skills-compatible agent and need honest status reports.

How it fits with Hermes Agent

Supports Hermes Agent through a documented hermes skills install command, and also works with other runtimes that follow the Agent Skills specification.

How to install Timeboxed Execution

These commands are copied from the project's README. Check the repository for the latest steps before you run them.

hermes skills install https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wenjimods/timeboxed-execution/main/SKILL.md --name timeboxed-execution
npx skills add wenjimods/timeboxed-execution

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