diff --git a/src/agent/mod.rs b/src/agent/mod.rs
index 39e52b5..a0f605e 100644
--- a/src/agent/mod.rs
+++ b/src/agent/mod.rs
@@ -185,7 +185,6 @@ pub struct Agent {
     pub changed: Arc<tokio::sync::Notify>,
 }
 
-
 impl Agent {
     pub fn new(
         client: ApiClient,
@@ -241,9 +240,46 @@ impl Agent {
         agent
     }
 
+    /// Create a lightweight agent forked from this one's context.
+    ///
+    /// The forked agent shares the same conversation prefix (system prompt,
+    /// personality, journal, entries) for KV cache sharing. The caller
+    /// appends the subconscious prompt as a user message and runs the turn.
+    pub fn fork(&self, tools: Vec<tools::Tool>) -> Self {
+        let tokenizer = tiktoken_rs::cl100k_base()
+            .expect("failed to load cl100k_base tokenizer");
+
+        Self {
+            client: self.client.clone(),
+            tools,
+            last_prompt_tokens: 0,
+            reasoning_effort: "none".to_string(),
+            temperature: self.temperature,
+            top_p: self.top_p,
+            top_k: self.top_k,
+            activities: Vec::new(),
+            next_activity_id: 0,
+            pending_yield: false,
+            pending_model_switch: None,
+            pending_dmn_pause: false,
+            conversation_log: None,
+            tokenizer,
+            context: self.context.clone(),
+            shared_context: context::shared_context_state(),
+            app_config: self.app_config.clone(),
+            prompt_file: self.prompt_file.clone(),
+            session_id: self.session_id.clone(),
+            generation: 0,
+            memory_scoring_in_flight: false,
+            memory_scores: Vec::new(),
+            active_tools: tools::shared_active_tools(),
+            changed: Arc::new(tokio::sync::Notify::new()),
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Assemble the full message list for the API call from typed sources.
     /// System prompt + personality context + journal + conversation messages.
-    fn assemble_api_messages(&self) -> Vec<Message> {
+    pub fn assemble_api_messages(&self) -> Vec<Message> {
         let mut msgs = Vec::new();
         msgs.push(Message::system(&self.context.system_prompt));
         let ctx = self.context.render_context_message();
diff --git a/src/agent/oneshot.rs b/src/agent/oneshot.rs
index b09e5ec..6250dd4 100644
--- a/src/agent/oneshot.rs
+++ b/src/agent/oneshot.rs
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
-// oneshot.rs — One-shot agent execution
+// oneshot.rs — Autonomous agent execution
 //
-// Runs an agent definition (from agents/*.agent files) through the API:
-// build prompt → call LLM with tools → return result. Agents apply
-// changes via tool calls during the LLM call — no action parsing needed.
+// AutoAgent: wraps an Agent with a multi-step prompt sequence and an
+// async run() method. Used for both oneshot CLI agents (from .agent
+// files) and subconscious agents forked from the conscious agent.
 //
-// This is distinct from the interactive agent loop in agent/mod.rs:
-// oneshot agents run a fixed prompt sequence and exit, while the
-// interactive agent has a turn loop with streaming and TUI.
+// Also contains the legacy run_one_agent() pipeline and process
+// management for spawned agent subprocesses.
 
 use crate::store::{self, Store};
 use crate::subconscious::{defs, prompts};
@@ -18,6 +17,7 @@ use std::sync::OnceLock;
 use super::api::ApiClient;
 use super::api::types::*;
 use super::tools::{self as agent_tools};
+use super::Agent;
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // API client — shared across oneshot agent runs
@@ -35,6 +35,259 @@ fn get_client() -> Result<&'static ApiClient, String> {
     }))
 }
 
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// AutoAgent — multi-step autonomous agent
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+pub struct AutoStep {
+    pub prompt: String,
+    pub phase: String,
+}
+
+/// An autonomous agent that runs a sequence of prompts with tool dispatch.
+///
+/// For oneshot agents: created from the global API client with prompts
+/// from .agent files. Messages start empty.
+///
+/// For subconscious agents: created from a forked Agent whose context
+/// provides the conversation prefix for KV cache sharing. Messages
+/// start from the agent's assembled context.
+pub struct AutoAgent {
+    pub name: String,
+    client: ApiClient,
+    tools: Vec<agent_tools::Tool>,
+    messages: Vec<Message>,
+    steps: Vec<AutoStep>,
+    next_step: usize,
+    sampling: super::api::SamplingParams,
+    priority: i32,
+    // Observable status
+    pub current_phase: String,
+    pub turn: usize,
+}
+
+impl AutoAgent {
+    /// Create from the global API client with no initial context.
+    /// Used by oneshot CLI agents.
+    pub fn new(
+        name: String,
+        tools: Vec<agent_tools::Tool>,
+        steps: Vec<AutoStep>,
+        temperature: f32,
+        priority: i32,
+    ) -> Result<Self, String> {
+        let client = get_client()?.clone();
+        let phase = steps.first().map(|s| s.phase.clone()).unwrap_or_default();
+        Ok(Self {
+            name,
+            client,
+            tools,
+            messages: Vec::new(),
+            steps,
+            next_step: 0,
+            sampling: super::api::SamplingParams {
+                temperature,
+                top_p: 0.95,
+                top_k: 20,
+            },
+            priority,
+            current_phase: phase,
+            turn: 0,
+        })
+    }
+
+    /// Fork from an existing agent for subconscious use. Clones the
+    /// agent's context (system + personality + journal + entries) so
+    /// the API sees the same token prefix → KV cache sharing.
+    pub fn from_agent(
+        name: String,
+        agent: &Agent,
+        tools: Vec<agent_tools::Tool>,
+        steps: Vec<AutoStep>,
+        priority: i32,
+    ) -> Self {
+        let forked = agent.fork(tools);
+        let phase = steps.first().map(|s| s.phase.clone()).unwrap_or_default();
+        Self {
+            name,
+            client: forked.client_clone(),
+            tools: forked.tools.clone(),
+            messages: forked.assemble_api_messages(),
+            steps,
+            next_step: 0,
+            sampling: super::api::SamplingParams {
+                temperature: forked.temperature,
+                top_p: forked.top_p,
+                top_k: forked.top_k,
+            },
+            priority,
+            current_phase: phase,
+            turn: 0,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Run all steps to completion. Returns the final text response.
+    pub async fn run(
+        &mut self,
+        bail_fn: Option<&(dyn Fn(usize) -> Result<(), String> + Sync)>,
+        log: &dyn Fn(&str),
+    ) -> Result<String, String> {
+        // Inject first step prompt
+        if self.next_step < self.steps.len() {
+            self.messages.push(Message::user(&self.steps[self.next_step].prompt));
+            self.next_step += 1;
+        }
+
+        let reasoning = crate::config::get().api_reasoning.clone();
+        let max_turns = 50 * self.steps.len().max(1);
+
+        for _ in 0..max_turns {
+            self.turn += 1;
+            log(&format!("\n=== TURN {} ({} messages) ===\n",
+                self.turn, self.messages.len()));
+
+            // API call with retries
+            let (msg, usage_opt) = self.api_call_with_retry(&reasoning, log).await?;
+
+            if let Some(u) = &usage_opt {
+                log(&format!("tokens: {} prompt + {} completion",
+                    u.prompt_tokens, u.completion_tokens));
+            }
+
+            let has_content = msg.content.is_some();
+            let has_tools = msg.tool_calls.as_ref().is_some_and(|tc| !tc.is_empty());
+
+            if has_tools {
+                self.dispatch_tools(&msg, log).await;
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            // Text-only response — step complete
+            let text = msg.content_text().to_string();
+            if text.is_empty() && !has_content {
+                log("empty response, retrying");
+                self.messages.push(Message::user(
+                    "[system] Your previous response was empty. \
+                     Please respond with text or use a tool."
+                ));
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            log(&format!("\n=== RESPONSE ===\n\n{}", text));
+
+            // More steps? Check bail, inject next prompt.
+            if self.next_step < self.steps.len() {
+                if let Some(ref check) = bail_fn {
+                    check(self.next_step)?;
+                }
+                self.current_phase = self.steps[self.next_step].phase.clone();
+                self.messages.push(Message::assistant(&text));
+                self.messages.push(Message::user(&self.steps[self.next_step].prompt));
+                self.next_step += 1;
+                log(&format!("\n=== STEP {}/{} ===\n",
+                    self.next_step, self.steps.len()));
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            return Ok(text);
+        }
+
+        Err(format!("{}: exceeded {} tool turns", self.name, max_turns))
+    }
+
+    async fn api_call_with_retry(
+        &self,
+        reasoning: &str,
+        log: &dyn Fn(&str),
+    ) -> Result<(Message, Option<Usage>), String> {
+        let mut last_err = None;
+        for attempt in 0..5 {
+            match self.client.chat_completion_stream_temp(
+                &self.messages,
+                &self.tools,
+                reasoning,
+                self.sampling,
+                Some(self.priority),
+            ).await {
+                Ok((msg, usage)) => {
+                    if let Some(ref e) = last_err {
+                        log(&format!("succeeded after retry (previous error: {})", e));
+                    }
+                    return Ok((msg, usage));
+                }
+                Err(e) => {
+                    let err_str = e.to_string();
+                    let is_transient = err_str.contains("IncompleteMessage")
+                        || err_str.contains("connection closed")
+                        || err_str.contains("connection reset")
+                        || err_str.contains("timed out")
+                        || err_str.contains("Connection refused");
+                    if is_transient && attempt < 4 {
+                        log(&format!("transient error (attempt {}): {}, retrying...",
+                            attempt + 1, err_str));
+                        tokio::time::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_secs(2 << attempt)).await;
+                        last_err = Some(e);
+                        continue;
+                    }
+                    let msg_bytes: usize = self.messages.iter()
+                        .map(|m| m.content_text().len())
+                        .sum();
+                    return Err(format!(
+                        "{}: API error on turn {} (~{}KB, {} messages, {} attempts): {}",
+                        self.name, self.turn, msg_bytes / 1024,
+                        self.messages.len(), attempt + 1, e));
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        unreachable!()
+    }
+
+    async fn dispatch_tools(&mut self, msg: &Message, log: &dyn Fn(&str)) {
+        // Push sanitized assistant message with tool calls
+        let mut sanitized = msg.clone();
+        if let Some(ref mut calls) = sanitized.tool_calls {
+            for call in calls {
+                if serde_json::from_str::<serde_json::Value>(&call.function.arguments).is_err() {
+                    log(&format!("sanitizing malformed args for {}: {}",
+                        call.function.name, &call.function.arguments));
+                    call.function.arguments = "{}".to_string();
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        self.messages.push(sanitized);
+
+        for call in msg.tool_calls.as_ref().unwrap() {
+            log(&format!("\nTOOL CALL: {}({})",
+                call.function.name, &call.function.arguments));
+
+            let args: serde_json::Value = match serde_json::from_str(&call.function.arguments) {
+                Ok(v) => v,
+                Err(_) => {
+                    log(&format!("malformed tool call args: {}", &call.function.arguments));
+                    self.messages.push(Message::tool_result(
+                        &call.id,
+                        "Error: your tool call had malformed JSON arguments. \
+                         Please retry with valid JSON.",
+                    ));
+                    continue;
+                }
+            };
+
+            let output = agent_tools::dispatch(&call.function.name, &args).await;
+
+            if std::env::var("POC_AGENT_VERBOSE").is_ok() {
+                log(&format!("TOOL RESULT ({} chars):\n{}", output.len(), output));
+            } else {
+                let preview: String = output.lines().next()
+                    .unwrap_or("").chars().take(100).collect();
+                log(&format!("Result: {}", preview));
+            }
+
+            self.messages.push(Message::tool_result(&call.id, &output));
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Agent execution
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -176,14 +429,11 @@ pub fn run_one_agent(
 }
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-// Multi-step API turn loop
+// Compatibility wrappers — delegate to AutoAgent
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 /// Run agent prompts through the API with tool support.
-/// For multi-step agents, each prompt is injected as a new user message
-/// after the previous step's tool loop completes. The conversation
-/// context carries forward naturally between steps.
-/// Returns the final text response after all steps complete.
+/// Convenience wrapper around AutoAgent for existing callers.
 pub async fn call_api_with_tools(
     agent: &str,
     prompts: &[String],
@@ -194,159 +444,26 @@ pub async fn call_api_with_tools(
     bail_fn: Option<&(dyn Fn(usize) -> Result<(), String> + Sync)>,
     log: &dyn Fn(&str),
 ) -> Result<String, String> {
-    let client = get_client()?;
+    let steps: Vec<AutoStep> = prompts.iter().zip(
+        phases.iter().map(String::as_str)
+            .chain(std::iter::repeat(""))
+    ).map(|(prompt, phase)| AutoStep {
+        prompt: prompt.clone(),
+        phase: phase.to_string(),
+    }).collect();
 
-    let first_phase = phases.first().map(|s| s.as_str()).unwrap_or("");
-    let _provenance = std::cell::RefCell::new(
-        if first_phase.is_empty() { format!("agent:{}", agent) }
-        else { format!("agent:{}:{}", agent, first_phase) }
-    );
-
-    let mut messages = vec![Message::user(&prompts[0])];
-    let mut next_prompt_idx = 1;
-    let reasoning = crate::config::get().api_reasoning.clone();
-
-    let max_turns = 50 * prompts.len();
-    for turn in 0..max_turns {
-        log(&format!("\n=== TURN {} ({} messages) ===\n", turn, messages.len()));
-
-        let mut last_err = None;
-        let mut msg_opt = None;
-        let mut usage_opt = None;
-        for attempt in 0..5 {
-            let sampling = super::api::SamplingParams {
-                temperature: temperature.unwrap_or(0.6),
-                top_p: 0.95,
-                top_k: 20,
-            };
-            match client.chat_completion_stream_temp(
-                &messages,
-                tools,
-                &reasoning,
-                sampling,
-                Some(priority),
-            ).await {
-                Ok((msg, usage)) => {
-                    msg_opt = Some(msg);
-                    usage_opt = usage;
-                    break;
-                }
-                Err(e) => {
-                    let err_str = e.to_string();
-                    let is_transient = err_str.contains("IncompleteMessage")
-                        || err_str.contains("connection closed")
-                        || err_str.contains("connection reset")
-                        || err_str.contains("timed out")
-                        || err_str.contains("Connection refused");
-                    if is_transient && attempt < 4 {
-                        log(&format!("transient error (attempt {}): {}, retrying...",
-                            attempt + 1, err_str));
-                        tokio::time::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_secs(2 << attempt)).await;
-                        last_err = Some(e);
-                        continue;
-                    }
-                    let msg_bytes: usize = messages.iter()
-                        .map(|m| m.content_text().len())
-                        .sum();
-                    return Err(format!(
-                        "API error on turn {} (~{}KB payload, {} messages, {} attempts): {}",
-                        turn, msg_bytes / 1024, messages.len(), attempt + 1, e));
-                }
-            }
-        }
-        let msg = msg_opt.unwrap();
-        if let Some(ref e) = last_err {
-            log(&format!("succeeded after retry (previous error: {})", e));
-        }
-
-        if let Some(u) = &usage_opt {
-            log(&format!("tokens: {} prompt + {} completion",
-                u.prompt_tokens, u.completion_tokens));
-        }
-
-        let has_content = msg.content.is_some();
-        let has_tools = msg.tool_calls.as_ref().is_some_and(|tc| !tc.is_empty());
-
-        if has_tools {
-            let mut sanitized = msg.clone();
-            if let Some(ref mut calls) = sanitized.tool_calls {
-                for call in calls {
-                    if serde_json::from_str::<serde_json::Value>(&call.function.arguments).is_err() {
-                        log(&format!("sanitizing malformed args for {}: {}",
-                            call.function.name, &call.function.arguments));
-                        call.function.arguments = "{}".to_string();
-                    }
-                }
-            }
-            messages.push(sanitized);
-
-            for call in msg.tool_calls.as_ref().unwrap() {
-                log(&format!("\nTOOL CALL: {}({})",
-                    call.function.name,
-                    &call.function.arguments));
-
-                let args: serde_json::Value = match serde_json::from_str(&call.function.arguments) {
-                    Ok(v) => v,
-                    Err(_) => {
-                        log(&format!("malformed tool call args: {}", &call.function.arguments));
-                        messages.push(Message::tool_result(
-                            &call.id,
-                            "Error: your tool call had malformed JSON arguments. Please retry with valid JSON.",
-                        ));
-                        continue;
-                    }
-                };
-
-                let output = agent_tools::dispatch(&call.function.name, &args).await;
-
-                if std::env::var("POC_AGENT_VERBOSE").is_ok() {
-                    log(&format!("TOOL RESULT ({} chars):\n{}", output.len(), output));
-                } else {
-                    let preview: String = output.lines().next().unwrap_or("").chars().take(100).collect();
-                    log(&format!("Result: {}", preview));
-                }
-
-                messages.push(Message::tool_result(&call.id, &output));
-            }
-            continue;
-        }
-
-        // Text-only response — step complete
-        let text = msg.content_text().to_string();
-        if text.is_empty() && !has_content {
-            log("empty response, retrying");
-            messages.push(Message::user(
-                "[system] Your previous response was empty. Please respond with text or use a tool."
-            ));
-            continue;
-        }
-
-        log(&format!("\n=== RESPONSE ===\n\n{}", text));
-
-        // If there are more prompts, check bail condition and inject the next one
-        if next_prompt_idx < prompts.len() {
-            if let Some(ref check) = bail_fn {
-                check(next_prompt_idx)?;
-            }
-            if let Some(phase) = phases.get(next_prompt_idx) {
-                *_provenance.borrow_mut() = format!("agent:{}:{}", agent, phase);
-            }
-            messages.push(Message::assistant(&text));
-            let next = &prompts[next_prompt_idx];
-            next_prompt_idx += 1;
-            log(&format!("\n=== STEP {}/{} ===\n", next_prompt_idx, prompts.len()));
-            messages.push(Message::user(next));
-            continue;
-        }
-
-        return Ok(text);
-    }
-
-    Err(format!("agent exceeded {} tool turns", max_turns))
+    let mut auto = AutoAgent::new(
+        agent.to_string(),
+        tools.to_vec(),
+        steps,
+        temperature.unwrap_or(0.6),
+        priority,
+    )?;
+    auto.run(bail_fn, log).await
 }
 
-/// Synchronous wrapper — runs the async function on a dedicated thread
-/// with its own tokio runtime. Safe to call from any context.
+/// Synchronous wrapper — runs on a dedicated thread with its own
+/// tokio runtime. Safe to call from any context.
 pub fn call_api_with_tools_sync(
     agent: &str,
     prompts: &[String],
@@ -364,7 +481,7 @@ pub fn call_api_with_tools_sync(
                 .build()
                 .map_err(|e| format!("tokio runtime: {}", e))?;
             rt.block_on(
-                    call_api_with_tools(agent, prompts, phases, temperature, priority, tools, bail_fn, log)
+                call_api_with_tools(agent, prompts, phases, temperature, priority, tools, bail_fn, log)
             )
         }).join().unwrap()
     })