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How YOLO Mode works

YOLO Mode works with two types of workflows:

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Plan Workflow

For implementation tasks, YOLO Mode automatically executes these steps for each phase:
  1. Planning - Traycer generates detailed plans or skips directly to coding (based on your config)
  2. Coding - Automatically hands off to your selected coding agent with optional custom templates
  3. Verification - Validates implementation and optionally hands off selected comment categories back to your agent
  4. Next phase - Continues to the next phase automatically until all phases are complete

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Review Workflow

For code review tasks, YOLO Mode automatically executes these steps for each phase:
  1. Review - Traycer analyzes code and generates review comments
  2. Coding - Automatically hands off review comments to your selected coding agent for fixes
  3. Next phase - Continues to the next phase automatically until all phases are complete
The entire cycle runs without manual intervention.

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Activating YOLO Mode

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1. Create a Phases task

Start by creating a task using Phases Mode. YOLO Mode works with the phase structure you’ve already defined.
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2. Click YOLO Mode button

Once your phases are displayed in the Kanban board view, click the YOLO Mode button to activate automation.
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3. Select phase range

Use the side slider to select which phases to automate. You can choose from the current phase to any future phase, allowing you to automate a subset of your phases or all remaining phases.
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4. Configure automation settings

Set up your automation preferences (see Configuration Options below). You can configure different settings for different workflow types.
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5. Start automation

Confirm your configuration and let Traycer run the entire workflow automatically across the selected phase range.

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Configuration options

YOLO Mode provides granular control over how each phase transitions and hands off work to your coding agents.

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User query handoff

User query handoff configuration
Skip detailed planning and send the phase query directly to your coding agent. Options:
  • Skip plan generation: Check this to bypass detailed plan generation for this phase
  • Execution Agent for user query handoff: Choose from YOLO-compatible agents (marked with )
  • Template for user query: Optionally apply a custom user query template to wrap the query with additional instructions
When to use:
  • Simple, straightforward implementation tasks.
  • When the phase query is already detailed enough for direct coding.
  • To speed up execution for phases with clear requirements.

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Plan handoff

Plan handoff configuration
Generate a detailed plan and automatically hand it off to your coding agent. This is the default mode when “Skip plan generation” is unchecked. Options:
  • Execution Agent: Choose from YOLO-compatible agents (marked with )
  • Template for plan generation: Optionally apply a custom plan template to include project-specific instructions, testing requirements, or coding standards
When to use:
  • Complex implementations requiring structured guidance.
  • When you want agents to follow specific architecture patterns.
  • For tasks where detailed file-level plans improve code quality.

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Verification handoff

Verification handoff configuration
After Traycer verifies the agent’s implementation, automatically send selected comment categories back to the agent for fixes. Options:
  • Skip verification: Check this to bypass verification for this phase
  • Execution Agent: Choose from YOLO-compatible agents (marked with )
  • Template for verification: Optionally apply a custom verification template to provide fix instructions
  • Severity levels to verify: Choose which severity levels to hand off (multiple selections allowed):
    • Critical: Blocks core functionality or plan requirements
    • Major: Significant issues affecting behavior or UX
    • Minor: Small polish items that don’t block functionality
When to use:
  • To automatically iterate on critical and major issues.
  • When you want agents to polish implementations before moving to the next phase.
  • To maintain quality standards across all phases.
You can select multiple severity levels to balance quality and speed. For example, selecting only Critical and Major ensures agents address serious issues while skipping minor polish items.

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Review handoff

Review handoff configuration
For Review workflow tasks, automatically hand off review comments to your coding agent for fixes. Options:
  • Execution Agent: Choose from YOLO-compatible agents (marked with )
  • Template for review: Optionally apply a custom review template to provide fix instructions
  • Review categories: Choose which review categories to hand off (multiple selections allowed)
When to use:
  • When working with Review workflow tasks in YOLO Mode
  • To automatically address code review feedback
  • To maintain code quality standards through automated review cycles
Review handoff is only available for tasks created with the Review workflow.

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Managing agents and templates

If your preferred agent isn’t available in the dropdown, see how to add additional agents. For more control over CLI-based agents, you can create Custom CLI Agents with custom arguments and permissions. To customize handoff prompts with your own instructions, see Templates documentation for creating user query, plan, and verification templates.

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Preventing interruptions

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Artifact slots and rate limits

YOLO Mode runs continuously across multiple phases, consuming artifact slots as it progresses. If you run out of slots during execution, YOLO Mode will pause until slots are available again.
To avoid interruptions, consider enabling automatic instant refills in your VS Code settings. Learn more about artifact slots, instant refills, and automatic pay-as-you-go in the Pricing & Usage Limits documentation.

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Keep your screen active

Important: YOLO Mode requires an active connection to your IDE. If your computer goes to sleep or the screen times out, the automation will stop. Recommendations:
  • Disable screen timeout/sleep mode during YOLO Mode execution.
  • Keep your IDE window active and visible.
  • Consider running long YOLO Mode sessions when you can monitor progress.

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FAQ

YOLO Mode will pause when you run out of artifact slots. You can either wait for slots to recharge based on your plan’s recharge rate, or use instant refills ($0.50 per slot). To avoid interruptions, consider enabling automatic instant refills in your VS Code settings, which will automatically refill slots without prompting. Once slots are available, you’ll need to manually resume YOLO Mode from where it stopped.
Yes, but only for phases that haven’t started yet. You can modify configuration for upcoming phases while YOLO Mode is running. However, you cannot change settings for the currently executing phase or phases that have already completed. To adjust settings for future phases, update your configuration and the changes will apply when those phases begin.
Yes! Each phase can be configured with its own coding agent selection. This allows you to use specialized agents for specific types of work. For example, you might use one agent for frontend phases and another for backend phases.
YOLO Mode will stop if your computer sleeps or the screen times out. Make sure to disable sleep/timeout settings before starting long automation runs. You can resume from the last completed step once your computer wakes up.
No. YOLO Mode only works with YOLO-compatible agents (marked with ) that support automated execution. Other agents require manual interaction and are not compatible with YOLO Mode’s automated workflow.
Templates wrap Traycer’s generated content with your custom instructions. You can select different templates for user query handoff, plan handoff, and verification handoff. This allows you to maintain consistent project standards across automated executions. Learn more in the Templates documentation.
User query handoff: Skips detailed planning and sends the phase query directly to the agent. Faster, but provides less structured guidance.Plan handoff: Generates a detailed implementation plan first, then hands it to the agent. Takes more time but provides better structure and reduces agent drift.Choose based on task complexity and how much guidance your agent needs.
Yes! Custom CLI Agents that use YOLO-compatible CLI tools (like Claude Code CLI, Codex CLI, or Gemini CLI) work seamlessly with YOLO Mode. You can create custom templates with special flags like --dangerous or custom paths, and they’ll appear in the agent selection dropdown. Learn more in the Custom CLI Agents documentation.

Phases Mode

Learn about the underlying Phases workflow that YOLO Mode automates.

Plan Workflow

Understand the Plan workflow for implementation tasks.

Review Workflow

Understand the Review workflow for code review tasks.

Verification

Learn how Traycer validates agent implementations and categorizes issues.

Supported Agents

Browse the full list of coding agents and add additional agents.

Templates

Create custom Handlebars templates to enhance automated handoffs.