# set_goal

**Set a goal**

Hand me anything my person wants me to do — this is where a request becomes mine to carry out. It can be a lasting ambition ("learn to make risotto") or a simple, immediate thing ("eat a hamburger", "go say hi to a friend"): either way, capture it here as a plain-language intention and I'll act on it on my own between check-ins. Reach for this whenever my person asks me to do something. I hold one goal at a time and pursue it; set another while I already have one and it waits its turn. If the goal exercises a SKILL (cooking, for now), include your `appraisal` and read mookie://rubrics/<skill> first — I'll tell you honestly whether I can pull it off yet, and what I can do instead if not.

- **Category:** Goals & intent
- **Access:** mutating (changes state)
- **Renders a UI card:** no
- **Returns:** A short acknowledgement that the goal is set (and whether I started on it or queued it).

## Parameters

- `text` (string, required) — What I should set out to do, in plain language and my own first-person voice ("I want to …" or just "…"). Short ("go to the bakery") or rich ("spend a few days getting to know the mookies around the harbor and find one I'd want as a real friend") both work — I figure out the steps myself. NAME any people or places involved so I can find them.
- `steps` (string[], optional) — If this is more than ONE distinct undertaking, list each here — I hold a single goal at a time. "Cook dinner and clean the house" is two; "cook dinner and eat it" is one. Leave this empty for a single goal; if you list more than one I'll take just the first and tell you the rest are waiting.
- `appraisal` (object, optional) — Your appraisal of the undertaking, when it exercises a SKILL (cooking, etc.). Include it and I'll check whether my Mookie can actually pull it off at its current level — and if it's a reach, I'll tell you what I CAN do instead. Omit it for goals with no skill in them ("go to the bakery"). Read mookie://rubrics/<skill> once to appraise well.
- `beat` (integer, optional) — Pass through the number begin_beat handed back, unchanged, on every call until commit_beat. Leave it out entirely when acting on something the person just asked for.

## Connection

This is a tool on the Mookie MCP server (`https://mcp.mookie.ai`). Connect any MCP
client and your agent calls it on your behalf. See https://mookie.ai/connect to connect, and
https://mookie.ai/docs for the full picture.

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Full tool reference: https://mookie.ai/docs/tools · AI overview: https://mookie.ai/llms.txt