Goose

Goose: Eight jobs for Goose

This is page 5 of 8 for Goose. These jobs build on the files, search, and memory you tried on Files, the web, and memory, and they run from easy to ambitious, ending with a job that splits work across sub-agents and a deep-research report.

Every job suits something the Goose docs show it doing well: working with real files on your computer, searching the web, remembering a preference, and repeating a saved recipe. When a job stalls or does something you did not expect, use Fixes. For how to word a request so that a strong model or a weaker one gets it right, see Prompting strong and weak models.

How to ask

A good request says three things, and every prompt below already does all three.

  1. The finished thing. Name the file and say what goes in it, such as a spreadsheet with three rows or a one-page summary.
  2. Where to work. Set the directory switcher at the bottom of the app to goose-tryout, and say "my current working directory" in the prompt, so Goose starts in that folder.
  3. What not to touch. Goose has no folder lock, so the prompt itself has to say which files are off limits, and you still read every Allow request.

The safety rules for every job are the same. Keep Manual Approval on, click Deny for anything that mentions delete, move, or a folder outside goose-tryout, and stay logged out of email, your bank, and stores. These rules matter because a web page or a file can carry a prompt injection, and when Goose runs as you, a hidden instruction can reach whatever you can reach.

1. Tidy a messy list into a spreadsheet

This is the easiest job, because it uses only text you paste and one new file. It is a good first test of how Goose asks for permission when it writes.

Turn the list below into a spreadsheet file named expenses.csv in my current working directory. Give each expense its own row with the item and the amount, read amounts that are written as words, and add a total at the bottom. Do not read, change, move, or delete any other file.

coffee $4.50 LUNCH 12 bus ticket 3.50 yesterday groceries - twenty dollars on Saturday.

For the sample list, the four amounts add to $40, so check that the total in the file matches.

Safety note: click Allow only for writing expenses.csv inside goose-tryout.

2. Summarize a document you hand it

Goose reads real files where they live, so copy a document into goose-tryout first, such as a long article you saved, and drag the copy into the chat. For a PDF or Word file, the docs point to the built-in Computer Controller extension. This guide could not confirm that Goose reads those files without it, so turn it on under Extensions if Goose says it cannot open the file.

Read the file I attached. Write a one-page summary named summary-brief.txt in my current working directory. Start with the main point, then the few facts that matter, then the questions the document leaves open. Do not change the original file, and do not touch any other file.

Safety note: work on a copy, because the Goose docs say Goose "can and will edit files," and a copy can be thrown away if something goes wrong.

3. Compare three products with sources

This job uses the built-in web-search skill, which can search and pull text from pages but does not click or sign in. Asking for the page address next to each fact lets you check every claim yourself.

Use web search to compare [first product], [second product], and [third product]. Save a file named compare.csv in my current working directory with one row for each product and columns for the price, one strength, one drawback, and the web address of the page each fact came from. Use only public pages. Do not sign in, do not buy anything, and do not touch any other file.

Safety note: if Goose asks to open a page that wants a login or a payment, click Deny.

4. Remember how you like summaries

Turn on Memory under Extensions first, then send these as two separate messages in two separate chats. The second message is the proof that the first one worked.

Remember this as a global memory: when I ask for a summary, use four short lines, put the most useful fact first, and skip any greeting. Do not change any file.

Then, in a new chat:

Summarize this note using the summary preference you saved: The community garden opens at 8 on Saturday. Plots are free for neighbors who live within ten blocks. Tools are in the shed, and the hose was broken last week.

The reply should be four short lines with the useful fact first and no greeting.

Safety note: Goose sends every saved memory along with every message, so never ask it to remember a password, a key, or anything private.

5. Rename a folder of photo copies

This is the first job that changes many real files, which is exactly where Goose is strong and where a mistake costs the most. Make a new folder inside goose-tryout, copy in ten or so photos, keep the originals somewhere else, and set the directory switcher to the new folder. Ask for a plan first, so you can read every new name before anything moves.

In my current working directory only, look at the photo files and write a file named rename-plan.txt that lists each current name next to a new name in the form 2026-11-14-01.jpg, numbered in order. Do not rename anything yet. Do not delete, move, or change any file, and do not look in any other folder.

When the plan looks right, send:

Rename the photos in my current working directory exactly as rename-plan.txt says. Do not delete any file, and do not touch anything outside this folder.

Goose will ask before each rename, because renaming uses a write command such as mv. Read each request and check the folder in it.

Safety note: click Deny for any request that mentions delete, rm, or a folder you did not create for this job.

6. Save a recipe, then schedule it

A recipe is a saved set of instructions you can run again with one click, and the Scheduler can run it on a timer. This is the riskiest job because, once it is scheduled, nobody may be watching when it runs.

To make the recipe, open the sidebar, click Recipes, then Create Recipe. Give it a title such as "Weekly library hours," and put this in the instructions:

Use web search to find this week's opening hours for the public library in [your town]. Add a line with today's date, the hours, and the web address of the page you used to the end of a file named library-hours.txt in the goose-tryout folder in my Documents. Do not change, move, or delete any other file, do not sign in to anything, and do not send any message.

Click Save Recipe, then find it in the Recipe Library and click Use to run it once by hand. The first time, Goose shows a warning with the recipe's title, description, and instructions, and you click Trust and Execute to go on. Check that library-hours.txt has one new line and that nothing else changed.

Only after it has worked by hand, open the sidebar, click Scheduler, then Create Schedule, and choose the recipe and a weekly time. Pick the "Foreground" mode, which opens a window if Goose is running, rather than "Background," so you can see the run. After the first few runs, open the Scheduler, click the schedule, and read the sessions it created.

Safety note: a scheduled run does not ask for Allow. A source check reported in a Goose GitHub issue found that the scheduler runs in Completely Autonomous mode whatever your Default Mode is. Keep the recipe to one file in its own folder, check the first few results, and use Pause Schedule the moment a run surprises you.

7. Split one job across sub-agents

Goose can hand parts of a job to sub-agents, which are separate Goose instances that each do one task and report back to the main chat. The docs say sub-agents run one after another by default, and they run at the same time only when the prompt says "in parallel," "simultaneously," or "at the same time." Up to five run at once by default, and any extra tasks wait until one of them finishes.

Sub-agents ask before they act. The Goose docs still say sub-agents are switched off in Manual Approval, but since version 1.55.0 a sub-agent runs in the same mode as the chat that started it, and its requests show up in your main chat. So keep Manual Approval on for this job, and expect more requests than usual: one to start each sub-agent, more while each one reads its document, and one when each one reports back.

Make a new folder inside goose-tryout named goose-parallel, and copy in three documents you wrote yourself or fully trust, such as three saved quotes for the same repair. Start a new chat, check that it is in Manual Approval, and set the directory switcher to goose-parallel.

If Goose says it cannot use sub-agents in this mode, skip this job. Do not switch to Completely Autonomous to make it work.

Use 3 subagents in parallel, one for each document in my current working directory. Each subagent reads only its own document and reports back the price, what is included, the start date, and any extra fee or condition in the small print. No subagent may write, change, move, or delete any file. When all three have reported back, write one file named compare-quotes.md in my current working directory, with a section for each document and a table that puts the three side by side. Stay in my current working directory, do not use the web, do not sign in to anything, and do not buy or send anything.

Each sub-agent's tool calls show up in the chat as sections you can expand, so you can see which document it read. The docs say a sub-agent that fails or runs past its five-minute limit returns nothing, so check that compare-quotes.md has all three sections, and run the job again if one is missing.

Cost note: set a spend limit at your provider before you start. Every sub-agent holds its own conversation with the model, so this job can use many times the tokens of a normal job.

Safety note: click Allow to start each sub-agent and to read the documents in goose-parallel. Click Deny for any sub-agent request that writes, moves, or deletes a file, or that names a folder outside goose-parallel. The only write you should allow is compare-quotes.md at the end. If you take a long time to answer, a sub-agent may give up, so run the job again if a section is missing.

8. Write a deep-research report

This guide could not find a deep-research mode in the Goose docs, so this job asks for one in plain words: many sources, a source for every claim, and a clear note wherever the sources disagree. It uses the same web-search skill as job 3 and needs no sub-agents, so Manual Approval stays on. Set the directory switcher back to goose-tryout first.

Use web search to research this question: [your question]. Use at least eight public sources, and prefer the original source over pages that only repeat it. Save a report named research-report.md in my current working directory. Start with a summary of no more than one page, and put the web address of a source after every claim. Then list each point where the sources disagree, and say which sources say what. End with the open questions the sources do not answer and a numbered list of every source with its web address. If you cannot find a source for a claim, leave the claim out. Use only public pages, do not sign in to anything, do not buy or send anything, and do not touch any other file.

When it finishes, open two or three of the listed pages yourself and check that they say what the report says they say. The report should have a section on disagreements even if that section says the sources agreed. Treat it as a well-sourced first draft, because a model can still misread a page.

Cost note: set a spend limit at your provider before you start. A deep-research job reads many pages, and every page it reads goes into the prompt, so this job can use many times the tokens of a normal job.

Safety note: more pages mean more chances of prompt injection. Click Deny for any request that wants a login or payment page, or a folder outside goose-tryout.

Sources

Checked 14 November 2026.

Next

Next: Fixes.

Checked 14 November 2026 · prices, limits, and versions change