Evolution strategy and boundaries
Define candidate selection, execution scope, and verification requirements separately for standalone Evolver. Resident operation and task queues owns process operation, queues, shutdown, and recovery. This page determines what a flow may select and affect.
Configure three decisions
| Decision | Content | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| What to select | Relative repair, optimization, innovation, and exploration weights | Strategy |
| Where to change | Allowed repositories, forbidden paths, file and line limits | Change boundaries |
| How to prove results | Baseline, checks, output, and recovery records | Review and validation |
Example: stabilize after a regression
A project develops regressions after an interface change. Choose EVOLVE_STRATEGY=harden in the service environment to favor stability and optimization, then identify the repository and forbidden directories. Preserve a baseline, bound changes, and accept against the regression trigger and project checks.
Weights do not guarantee a category on each iteration. Zero innovation weight in repair-only does not replace diff review. Task scoring via TASK_STRATEGY is separate from evolution-intent selection via EVOLVE_STRATEGY.
Verify the effect
- Use
evolver cycle capabilities --jsonto establish supported stages. - Check the running process's actual environment and configuration sources; restart after changes.
- Compare candidate category, signals, and selection records with the task.
- Inspect actual directory and change limits in the diff, then verify results.
Selection records explain why a candidate was chosen; workspace diffs show actual changes. Retain both. A configuration accepted without execution results does not establish effective behavior.
Application and recovery boundaries
Desktop manages its embedded Evolver settings. Independent CLI variables do not replace Desktop settings or configure its scheduled tasks and long-term goals.
The run and solidify compatibility commands do not preserve the original execution lifecycle. A bare run returns migration guidance without a one-shot execution; run --loop starts resident autoexec, while solidify performs no cycle, review, validation, or publication. Select and authorize evolver cycle, evolver review, and evolver publish separately through the linked workflows rather than treating a recognized command name as a completed action.
EVOLVER_ROLLBACK_MODE does not provide execution recovery. Legacy keys do not replace path limits or recovery records. Pause through the operation flow, retain completed artifacts, then reconcile recovery scope through Change boundaries.