/whats-next
Read the plan and progress docs laid down by /scaffold, and tell the user what to do next. Respond in English by default (keep technical identifiers in English).
The docs are the only source of truth. Don't walk the codebase to answer this question; only spot-check code when the docs contradict each other and need cross-checking.
Step 1: Read the progress files
docs/PLAN.md — Overall Roadmap, each Phase's status (title with ✅ = done), Spec Indexdocs/Progress.md — the top-half "## Progress Overview" module status table (pending/doing/done) + the bottom-half changelog ("## Changelog", newest first, read the 2-3 most recent entries); older months are archived in docs/archive/Progress-YYYY-MM.md — only read those when tracing history- The latest design spec — the latest
docs/superpowers/specs/<date>-<topic>-design.md pointed to by the Spec Index (if the index doesn't have it, Glob that directory and take the newest by date) — cross-check against Progress.md to judge whether it's already implemented
docs/DECISIONS.md — newest first, read the 2-3 most recent entries: any decision in the same domain as the next step must go into "Watch-outs"docs/MEETINGS.md — only look at the latest section's "Action Items": entries that are unchecked and don't appear in any plan go into part 4 of the outputdocs/REQUIREMENTS.md's "Goal Ledger" — entries with status open, listed one by one in part 5 of the output
ARCHITECTURE.md / DEPLOYMENT.md are design and deployment docs, not progress — don't read them; REQUIREMENTS.md's "Phased Roadmap" is only read when step 2's third row matches; its "Goal Ledger" is always read per item 6 above.
Step 2: Locate the next step (check in order, stop at the first match)
| State |
Next step |
| The latest spec is not yet implemented (Progress has no matching implementation record) |
Use ultracode (Workflow multi-agent orchestration) to implement directly from that spec; if it's unclear whether the spec has been approved by the user, ask first before starting |
| All specs are implemented (or there isn't one yet), and PLAN.md still has a Phase not marked ✅ |
Run superpowers:brainstorming for the next Phase to produce a design spec (write it to docs/superpowers/specs/), then go straight to ultracode implementation once approved — skip writing-plans; register the spec in the Spec Index |
PLAN.md's Overall Roadmap is still <!-- TBD --> |
First read REQUIREMENTS.md's "Phased Roadmap" as input, then use superpowers:brainstorming to define the phased roadmap |
| All Phases are ✅ |
The project is complete per plan; suggest a retrospective or starting a new Phase |
Step 3: Output contract (five parts, in order)
- Where you are — one or two sentences: what was most recently completed, citing the date of Progress's latest entry
- Next step — task name + the first concrete action (down to the file/command level) + source (which file, which section)
- Watch-outs — decisions already made / pitfalls relevant to the next step, sourced from: DECISIONS.md's most recent entries + the Progress changelog, with citations; if this batch touched UI and Progress has no ui-sweep record, note here that a follow-up interaction regression scan is recommended (omit and don't push if not applicable); omit this section if none
- Meeting action items not yet in any plan — unchecked action items from MEETINGS.md's latest section that haven't made it into any plan, prompting the user to decide where they go; items already logged in the Goal Ledger are not repeated here; omit this section if none
- Unsettled goals — entries in REQUIREMENTS.md's Goal Ledger with status
open, listed one by one, with any pinned to the top if they've been outstanding for more than 7 days; only list Goal Ledger entries; omit this section if none
End by asking the user: start now?
Edge cases
docs/PLAN.md or docs/Progress.md doesn't exist → this isn't a /scaffold project. State which file is missing, suggest running /scaffold first, and don't guess the next step- Progress (overview table or changelog) contradicts the spec's implementation status (says done but no implementation record, or vice versa) → explicitly point out the contradiction and both sides' sources, suggest cross-checking before proceeding, don't silently pick one
- DECISIONS.md or MEETINGS.md doesn't exist → don't error, just skip the corresponding step (older projects may not have them)
- REQUIREMENTS.md doesn't exist, or has no Goal Ledger section → skip part 5, don't error (common for existing/legacy projects)
1---2name: whats-next-23description: Determine and report what to do next for a /scaffold project. Triggers when the user says "what's next / what do I do now / whats next / where am I", and the project root has docs/PLAN.md.4---56# /whats-next78Read the plan and progress docs laid down by /scaffold, and tell the user what to do next. **Respond in English by default** (keep technical identifiers in English).910**The docs are the only source of truth.** Don't walk the codebase to answer this question; only spot-check code when the docs contradict each other and need cross-checking.1112## Step 1: Read the progress files13141. `docs/PLAN.md` — Overall Roadmap, each Phase's status (title with ✅ = done), Spec Index152. `docs/Progress.md` — the top-half "## Progress Overview" module status table (pending/doing/done) + the bottom-half changelog ("## Changelog", **newest first**, read the 2-3 most recent entries); older months are archived in `docs/archive/Progress-YYYY-MM.md` — only read those when tracing history163. The latest design spec — the latest `docs/superpowers/specs/<date>-<topic>-design.md` pointed to by the Spec Index (if the index doesn't have it, Glob that directory and take the newest by date) — cross-check against Progress.md to judge whether it's already implemented174. `docs/DECISIONS.md` — **newest first**, read the 2-3 most recent entries: any decision in the same domain as the next step must go into "Watch-outs"185. `docs/MEETINGS.md` — only look at the **latest section**'s "Action Items": entries that are unchecked and don't appear in any plan go into part 4 of the output196. `docs/REQUIREMENTS.md`'s "Goal Ledger" — entries with status `open`, listed one by one in part 5 of the output2021ARCHITECTURE.md / DEPLOYMENT.md are design and deployment docs, not progress — don't read them; REQUIREMENTS.md's "Phased Roadmap" is only read when step 2's third row matches; its "Goal Ledger" is always read per item 6 above.2223## Step 2: Locate the next step (check in order, stop at the first match)2425| State | Next step |26|---|---|27| The latest spec is not yet implemented (Progress has no matching implementation record) | Use ultracode (Workflow multi-agent orchestration) to implement directly from that spec; if it's unclear whether the spec has been approved by the user, ask first before starting |28| All specs are implemented (or there isn't one yet), and PLAN.md still has a Phase not marked ✅ | Run superpowers:brainstorming for the next Phase to produce a design spec (write it to `docs/superpowers/specs/`), then go straight to ultracode implementation once approved — skip writing-plans; register the spec in the Spec Index |29| PLAN.md's Overall Roadmap is still `<!-- TBD -->` | First read REQUIREMENTS.md's "Phased Roadmap" as input, then use superpowers:brainstorming to define the phased roadmap |30| All Phases are ✅ | The project is complete per plan; suggest a retrospective or starting a new Phase |3132## Step 3: Output contract (five parts, in order)33341. **Where you are** — one or two sentences: what was most recently completed, citing the date of Progress's latest entry352. **Next step** — task name + the first concrete action (down to the file/command level) + source (which file, which section)363. **Watch-outs** — decisions already made / pitfalls relevant to the next step, sourced from: DECISIONS.md's most recent entries + the Progress changelog, with citations; if this batch touched UI and Progress has no ui-sweep record, note here that a follow-up interaction regression scan is recommended (omit and don't push if not applicable); omit this section if none374. **Meeting action items not yet in any plan** — unchecked action items from MEETINGS.md's latest section that haven't made it into any plan, prompting the user to decide where they go; items already logged in the Goal Ledger are not repeated here; omit this section if none385. **Unsettled goals** — entries in REQUIREMENTS.md's Goal Ledger with status `open`, listed one by one, with any pinned to the top if they've been outstanding for more than 7 days; only list Goal Ledger entries; omit this section if none3940End by asking the user: start now?4142## Edge cases4344- `docs/PLAN.md` or `docs/Progress.md` doesn't exist → this isn't a /scaffold project. State which file is missing, suggest running `/scaffold` first, and don't guess the next step45- Progress (overview table or changelog) contradicts the spec's implementation status (says done but no implementation record, or vice versa) → explicitly point out the contradiction and both sides' sources, suggest cross-checking before proceeding, don't silently pick one46- DECISIONS.md or MEETINGS.md doesn't exist → don't error, just skip the corresponding step (older projects may not have them)47- REQUIREMENTS.md doesn't exist, or has no Goal Ledger section → skip part 5, don't error (common for existing/legacy projects)
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