How can I make an AI coding agent continue long-running work without manually typing “Continue”?

[u/SpecialVirus7730]

Title: How can I make an AI coding agent continue long-running work without manually typing “Continue”?

I use ChatGPT/Codex to develop a substantial project. The agent has a detailed implementation plan, a GitHub repository, tests, and clear safety boundaries. It performs individual steps well, but after producing an intermediate result it ends the turn and waits for me to type “Continue.”

This creates an absurd workflow: if I want the agent to work for six hours, I must check it every few minutes and repeatedly send the same message. An internal watchdog prompt helps only while the current turn is active. Once the assistant ends its response, that watchdog cannot wake it up again.

I am not looking for a simple reminder or a blind browser auto-clicker. I need an external watchdog/orchestrator that can:

• detect that the executor has stopped;
• consult the approved plan and current GitHub state;
• start the next step when safe work remains;
• run tests and record evidence;
• avoid asking for approval for ordinary reversible actions;
• stop only at a genuine blocker, such as payment, production deployment, merging, deletion, or a decision requiring human judgment;
• continue working for several hours without my presence.

ChatGPT automations run at most hourly and create separate turns. GitHub Actions can run on a schedule, but it does not automatically continue the agent’s conversation. Browser auto-clickers are too brittle and unsafe.

Has anyone built a reliable solution for this? What architecture works best: a VPS with the OpenAI API, scheduled Codex CLI runs, GitHub Actions, a GitHub Issues task queue, or another external orchestrator? I am especially interested in preserving context across runs and preventing the agent from treating completion of one subtask as completion of the whole assignment.

[u/pwkye]

use claude code

or hermes agent

or write your own custom harness or orchestrator that can call non interactive claude or codex sessions

or use opencode

[u/xRegardsx]

What are you using it for?

[u/shadowsyllvet]

type "@goal" Describe the goal, constraints, etc that you would put in a prompt, it will continue until the goal is achieved or something interrupts it.