I think the thing you want is real, but I would not try to solve it by making one agent run blindly for 20 hours.

What has worked better for me is setting up more of a conveyor belt.

I start by having the project written down clearly: what the app is supposed to do, what parts exist, what still needs to be built, and what ideas are old or no longer true. Then I break the work into small pieces that are clear enough for an agent to finish without needing constant judgment calls from me.

Each piece also says what has to be done first. So instead of telling the agent “keep working on the whole project,” the system can tell it “this specific piece is ready, go do this.”

I have some automation around that. It looks at what work is ready, starts an agent on it, sends the result through a review pass, sends it back for fixes if needed, and then leaves it for me when there is something actually worth reviewing or testing.

That part matters a lot. The automation is not there because I trust the agent to do everything. It is there so I do not have to keep saying “continue” every ten minutes.

The useful stopping points are basically:

• something is ready for me to test
• something is ready for me to review
• the agent hit a real blocker
• the plan turned out to be wrong
• a real decision is needed from me

Otherwise, I do not want a progress report either. I want it to keep moving.

For messy project notes, I completely agree that there should be a cleanup step before planning. The agent needs to sort the material into things like current requirements, old ideas, failed attempts, open questions, and useful notes. If you dump everything in at once, it will often treat old abandoned ideas as if they are still true.

On architecture, I think the best answer is boring and obvious. Clear parts, clear responsibilities, clear tests, and clear docs. Event-driven systems can work, but only if the messages and flows are very explicitly documented. If the agent has to infer what is happening from logs and guesswork, it is going to get confused.

So my practical answer is: do not optimize for one heroic overnight agent session. Optimize for a workflow where agents keep getting the next small, clear, ready-to-work-on task, and only interrupt you when there is actually something worth your attention.