Default factory start to live mode

src/cli/fleet.test.ts

@@ -121,6 +121,14 @@ describe('fleet CLI parsing', () => {
     })
   })
 
+  it('defaults factory start to live mode', () => {
+    expect(parseFleetCommand(['start'])).toEqual({
+      kind: 'factory',
+      action: 'start',
+      mode: 'live',
+    })
+  })
+
   it('rejects the removed nested factory namespace', () => {
     expect(() => parseFleetCommand(['factory', 'run-once'])).toThrow(/Unknown factory command: factory/)
   })
@@ -158,7 +166,8 @@ describe('fleet CLI runtime', () => {
     expect(errors.text()).toBe('')
     expect(output.text()).toContain('usage: factory <command> [options]')
     expect(output.text()).toContain('run-once')
-    expect(output.text()).toContain('start --mode live')
+    expect(output.text()).toContain('start')
+    expect(output.text()).toContain('default: ./factory.config.json')
     expect(output.text()).toContain('fleet <command>')
     expect(output.text()).not.toContain('usage: fleet')
   })
@@ -599,8 +608,6 @@ describe('fleet CLI runtime', () => {
 
       const code = await runFleetCli([
         'start',
-        '--mode',
-        'live',
         '--config',
         configPath,
       ], {
@@ -672,6 +679,41 @@ describe('fleet CLI runtime', () => {
     }
   })
 
+  it('uses ./factory.config.json by default for factory commands', async () => {
+    const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'fleet-cli-default-config-'))
+    const previousCwd = process.cwd()
+    try {
+      await writeConfig(root)
+      process.chdir(root)
+      const factory = {
+        start: vi.fn(async () => {}),
+        stop: vi.fn(async () => {}),
+        runLoop: vi.fn(async () => []),
+        runOnce: vi.fn(),
+        status: vi.fn(),
+        triageIssue: vi.fn(),
+        dispatch: vi.fn(),
+        on: vi.fn(),
+        dispose: vi.fn(),
+      } as unknown as Factory
+      const code = await runFleetCli(['start'], {
+        fleet: new FakeFleetClient(),
+        mount: new FakeMountClient(),
+        createFactory: vi.fn(() => factory),
+        ensureLocalMount: vi.fn(async () => {}),
+        waitForStopSignal: vi.fn(async () => undefined),
+        stdout: buffer(),
+        stderr: buffer(),
+      })
+
+      expect(code).toBe(0)
+      expect(factory.start).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ mode: 'live' })
+    } finally {
+      process.chdir(previousCwd)
+      await rm(root, { recursive: true, force: true })
+    }
+  })
+
   it('factory start exits cleanly on SIGTERM after the signal handler stops the factory once', async () => {
     const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'fleet-cli-start-sigterm-'))
     try {

src/cli/fleet.ts

@@ -444,8 +444,8 @@ function evaluateFactoryCanary(
   }
 }
 
-function parseFactoryStartFlags(args: Array<string | undefined>): { mode?: 'live' } {
-  let mode: 'live' | undefined
+function parseFactoryStartFlags(args: Array<string | undefined>): { mode: 'live' } {
+  let mode: 'live' = 'live'
   const flags = args.filter((arg): arg is string => Boolean(arg))
   for (let index = 0; index < flags.length; index += 1) {
     const flag = flags[index]
@@ -461,8 +461,8 @@ function parseFactoryStartFlags(args: Array<string | undefined>): { mode?: 'live
 }
 
 async function loadConfig(path?: string): Promise<LoadedConfig> {
-  if (!path) throw new Error('factory commands require --config <path>')
-  const raw = JSON.parse(await readFile(path, 'utf8')) as unknown
+  const configPath = path ?? resolve(process.cwd(), 'factory.config.json')
+  const raw = JSON.parse(await readFile(configPath, 'utf8')) as unknown
   const record = asRecord(raw)
   return {
     config: FactoryConfigSchema.parse(record.factoryConfig ?? record),
@@ -736,7 +736,7 @@ function helpText(): string {
 
 Commands:
   run-once              Run one discovery -> triage -> dispatch cycle
-  start --mode live     Run the live factory daemon
+  start                 Run the live factory daemon
   status                Print current factory status as JSON
   loop                  Run the bounded loop configured in factory.config.json
   loop-status           Print heartbeat/liveness status for the loop
@@ -749,7 +749,7 @@ Commands:
   fleet <command>       Low-level fleet commands: spawn, roster, release
 
 Options:
-  --config <path>       Factory config JSON path
+  --config <path>       Factory config JSON path (default: ./factory.config.json)
   --dry-run             Discover and triage without writes or agent spawns
   --backend <backend>   Fleet backend: internal or relay
   -h, --help            Show this help

src/orchestrator/factory.test.ts

@@ -1999,7 +1999,7 @@ describe('FactoryLoop', () => {
     const fleet = new FakeFleetClient()
     const factory = createFactory(config(), { mount, fleet, triage: new StaticTriage() })
 
-    await factory.start()
+    await factory.start({ mode: 'backfill-and-subscribe' })
 
     expect(fleet.spawns).toEqual([])
     expect(factory.status().inFlight).toEqual([])
@@ -3296,7 +3296,7 @@ describe('FactoryLoop', () => {
     const fleet = new FakeFleetClient()
     const factory = createFactory(config(), { mount, fleet, triage: new StaticTriage() })
 
-    await factory.start()
+    await factory.start({ mode: 'backfill-and-subscribe' })
 
     expect(fleet.spawns.map((spawn) => spawn.name)).toEqual(['ar-11-impl-pear', 'ar-11-review'])
     expect(factory.status().inFlight.map((issue) => issue.key)).toEqual(['AR-11'])
@@ -3647,7 +3647,7 @@ describe('FactoryLoop', () => {
       },
     })
 
-    await factory.start()
+    await factory.start({ mode: 'backfill-and-subscribe' })
     expect(mount.activeSubscriptions).toBe(1)
     await expect(factory.stop()).resolves.toBeUndefined()
 
@@ -3727,7 +3727,7 @@ describe('FactoryLoop', () => {
       }
     })
 
-    await factory.start()
+    await factory.start({ mode: 'backfill-and-subscribe' })
 
     expect(fleet.spawns.map((spawn) => spawn.name)).toEqual(['ar-15-impl-pear', 'ar-15-review'])
     expect(factory.status().inFlight.map((issue) => issue.key)).toEqual(['AR-15'])
@@ -3741,7 +3741,7 @@ describe('FactoryLoop', () => {
     const fleet = new FakeFleetClient()
     const factory = createFactory(config(), { mount, fleet, triage: new StaticTriage() })
 
-    await Promise.all([factory.start(), factory.start()])
+    await Promise.all([factory.start({ mode: 'backfill-and-subscribe' }), factory.start({ mode: 'backfill-and-subscribe' })])
 
     expect(mount.subscribeCount).toBe(1)
     expect(fleet.spawns.map((spawn) => spawn.name)).toEqual(['ar-12-impl-pear', 'ar-12-review'])
@@ -3753,7 +3753,7 @@ describe('FactoryLoop', () => {
     const fleet = new FakeFleetClient()
     const factory = createFactory(config(), { mount, fleet, triage: new StaticTriage() })
 
-    await factory.start()
+    await factory.start({ mode: 'backfill-and-subscribe' })
     mount.emit(changeEvent(issuePath(17), 'event-duplicate-1'))
     mount.emit(changeEvent(issuePath(17), 'event-duplicate-2'))
     await flush()
@@ -4869,7 +4869,7 @@ describe('FactoryLoop', () => {
     const factory = createFactory(config(), { mount, fleet, triage: new StaticTriage() })
     const errors: unknown[] = []
     factory.on('error', (payload) => errors.push(payload))
-    await factory.start()
+    await factory.start({ mode: 'backfill-and-subscribe' })
 
     const decision = await factory.triageIssue(parseLinearIssue(issuePath(8), issueFile(8)))
     await factory.dispatch(decision)
@@ -5413,7 +5413,7 @@ describe('FactoryLoop', () => {
         },
       })
 
-      await factory.start()
+      await factory.start({ mode: 'backfill-and-subscribe' })
       expect(factory.status().inFlight.map((issue) => issue.key)).toEqual(['AR-243'])
 
       await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(0)
@@ -7346,7 +7346,7 @@ describe('FactoryLoop', () => {
       stateStore: state,
     })
 
-    await factory.start()
+    await factory.start({ mode: 'backfill-and-subscribe' })
 
     expect(factory.status().counters.slackWatchersRearmed).toBeUndefined()
     expect(slack.roots).toEqual([])

src/orchestrator/factory.ts

@@ -392,7 +392,7 @@ export class FactoryLoop implements Factory {
 
     this.#wireFleetEvents()
 
-    if (opts.mode === 'live') {
+    if ((opts.mode ?? 'live') === 'live') {
       this.#started = true
       try {
         await this.#startLiveSubscription(opts.liveSubscription)