Rapid OS v3.1.0 Release Notes
Release Version: 3.1.0
Artifact Schema Version: 1 (BehavioralRuleset versions 1 and 2; 2 is the default)
Python Requirement: Python >=3.10 (3.10, 3.11, 3.12, and 3.13 verified in CI)
1. Overview
Rapid OS v3.1.0 adds the intent layer ("porcelain") on top of the v3 governance engine ("plumbing"). The plumbing (rapid spec, rapid run, rapid evidence, rapid eval…) is unchanged; the porcelain verbs (rapid start, rapid next, rapid check, rapid task, rapid attach, rapid finish, rapid approve, rapid status, rapid abort) drive a governed run on top of it, and /rapid-<mode> shortcuts teach each coding harness to follow that loop.
What does not change: Rapid OS does not invoke agents, does not use an LLM as a judge, and never approves a human gate. The plumbing runs nothing; the porcelain runs only the test_command of .rapid-os/config.json or the argv given to rapid check, creates a worktree only with rapid start --worktree, and uses read-only git commands to record the run's changes.
2. What's Included in v3.1.0
Porcelain layer
rapid start <mode>,rapid next,rapid check,rapid task,rapid attach,rapid finish,rapid approve,rapid statusandrapid abort.- A pure Conductor (
next_action) that asks theBehavioralEvaluatorwhat is missing and returns aNextAction;.rapid-os/session.jsonremembers the active run. - Evidence producers
rapid:check,rapid:start,rapid:finishandrapid:attach. See orchestration architecture.
Five engineering modes
- Playbooks in
templates/modes/forfeature,bugfix,refactor,hardeningandresearch. bugfix: baseline before the red test andrapid check --expect failonT001.refactor: blocked when passing tests drop below the baseline.hardening: isolated git worktree withrapid start --worktree.research:rapid attach, no mandatory tests.
Behavioral ruleset v2
expectation: "fail"evidence produces areproduction.<task>assertion and does not count as a failing task or as gate evidence (RAPID1320).- Review evidence produced by a
harness:*producer cannot close a human gate.
Shortcuts
rapid shortcuts install|list|removeandrapid init --shortcutsgenerate eight shortcuts (rapid-feature,rapid-bugfix,rapid-refactor,rapid-hardening,rapid-research,rapid-next,rapid-status,rapid-approve) for Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity, Cursor and VS Code fromtemplates/shortcuts/. Idempotent, with.bakbackups (RAPID1311–RAPID1318).- A
RAPID1321warning flags harness selections that leave the same shortcut in two folders one tool reads. In--json,warningsis a list of{code, message, ...}objects. See the shortcuts guide.
Claude Code hooks
rapid hook stop|pre-tool, installed withrapid shortcuts install --hooksorrapid init --hooks: keep the agent working until a person is needed and deny reserved commands (rapid approve,rapid abort,rapid run gate,rapid evidence add) and edits inside.rapid-os/(RAPID1337–RAPID1339).
Hardened human approval
rapid approverequires a TTY, refusesCLAUDE_CODE_CHILD_SESSION=1and refuses when any ancestor process is Claude Code (RAPID1310;RAPID1319inrapid doctorwhen the ancestry cannot be read). Without arguments it lists pending human gates;--waive(waivable gates only) and--rejecttake a mandatory--reason(RAPID1330–RAPID1336).
Fixes
rapid finishno longer fails in text mode, no longer attributes pre-existing untracked files to the run, and exits by verdict on a run that already ended.- Runs without a baseline gate and isolated runs can leave
prepared; expected failures atrapid startandrapid approveare reported with a RAPID code instead of a traceback.
Documentation and portal
- Shortcuts are the main flow; the v3 commands are the advanced mode. New pages: shortcuts guide and orchestration architecture. Product boundaries state exactly what is executed. The unused default Docusaurus template
site/was removed.
3. New CLI Surface
rapid start (<mode> [--spec-file <path>|-] [--spec <id>] [--harness <id>] [--resume] [--worktree] [--json])
rapid next ([--json])
rapid check ([--task <id>] [--gate <id>] [--expect fail] [--json] -- <command>)
rapid task (start | done | skip)
rapid attach (<path> --label <text> [--task <id>])
rapid finish ([--json])
rapid approve ([<gate>] [--reviewer <name>] [--waive | --reject] [--reason <text>])
rapid status ([--json])
rapid abort ([--reason <text>])
rapid shortcuts (install | list | remove) [--harness <id>] [--dry-run] [--hooks] [--json]
rapid hook (stop | pre-tool)
rapid init (... [--shortcuts] [--hooks])
4. Compatibility & Upgrade Notes
- v3 commands and flags are unchanged. Existing scripts that call
rapid spec,rapid run,rapid evidence,rapid eval,rapid validateand the legacy v2 commands keep working without modification. - JSON output only gains optional fields. New fields (
workspace_path,start_untracked,action.spec_template,warningsinrapid shortcuts --json) are omitted when unused. - Ruleset v2 is the default for
rapid eval run;--ruleset 1remains available. - v1 reports stay valid. A persisted
EvaluationReportis replayed with the ruleset it was written with. - No schema or digest changes. Specs, contracts,
RunState,RunEvidenceandEvaluationReportkeepschema_version = 1and their digests; there is nothing to migrate in specs, runs, evidence or evals. - Package version is
3.1.0; all v3 JSON schemas remain atschema_version = 1. The governance core still uses only the Python standard library; optional integrations such as remote skills use Node.js/npxand need network access.
5. Known Limits
- Human approval is best-effort, not cryptographic. The ancestry check does not see a process that detaches from its parent (double fork,
setsid,nohup … &), a renamedclaude.exeor a reused pid; a TTY can be emulated; and the reviewer identity is the one declared (--reviewerorgit config user.name). The rule is unchanged: a person approves, in their own terminal. - Ancestry detection covers Claude Code only. Codex and Cursor are not detected because their process names are not confirmed.
- Hooks exist only for Claude Code, and the command analysis they perform is best-effort: it cannot stop a command built at runtime.
- Duplicate shortcuts across tools. Cursor and VS Code also read
.claude/skillsand.agents/skills; their documentation does not say how same-named skills in different folders are shown, hence theRAPID1321warning.
6. How to Upgrade
See De 3.0 a 3.1. In short:
rapid --version # Rapid OS 3.1.0
rapid shortcuts install # regenerate the shortcuts in your project (add --hooks for Claude Code)
Add .rapid-os/session.json and .rapid-os/scratch/ to .gitignore, and set test_command in .rapid-os/config.json.