Executing Plans

Executing Plans (Linear with Checkpoints)

Execute the plan task by task. Pause after every 3 tasks for human review.

Workflow File Resolution

Resolve which workflow file to execute:

1. If the user specified a filename → use that file
2. Else, glob for canonical workflows in docs/plans/*-workflow.md:
   • One match → use it automatically
   • Multiple matches → if one is clearly the newest revision for the same semantic slug, prefer it; otherwise list them and ask the user to pick
3. If no canonical matches, glob for legacy hotl-workflow*.md in project root:
   • One match → use it automatically
   • Multiple matches → list them and ask the user to pick
4. No matches → stop and ask the user to create or name a workflow file

Branch/Worktree Preflight

After resolving the workflow file, run this preflight before executing any steps:

1. Is this a git repo with at least one commit?
   - No  → log "Skipping branch setup (no git history)" → proceed to step execution
   - Yes → continue

2. Check for uncommitted changes
   - First, exclude HOTL-owned transient artifacts from the dirty check:
     • docs/plans/*-workflow.md (canonical workflow files)
     • hotl-workflow-*.md (legacy workflow files)
     • docs/designs/*.md (canonical design docs from brainstorming)
     • docs/plans/*-design.md, docs/plans/*-plan.md (legacy design docs from brainstorming)
     • .hotl/ (runtime state, reports, cache)
   - If only HOTL artifacts are dirty → treat as clean, continue
   - If non-HOTL dirty files exist:
     • If dirty_worktree: allow in workflow frontmatter → proceed without prompting
     • Otherwise → HARD-FAIL. Tell the user which non-HOTL files are dirty. Offer choices:
       a. Clean up manually, then re-run
       b. Stash manually, then re-run
       c. Explicitly approve HOTL to stash and continue
   - Clean → continue

3. Determine branch name
   - If branch: field exists in workflow frontmatter → use it
   - Otherwise → derive `hotl/<slug>` from the workflow filename
     • Canonical: strip `YYYY-MM-DD-` prefix and `-workflow.md` suffix from `docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>-workflow.md`
     • Legacy: strip `hotl-workflow-` prefix and `.md` suffix from `hotl-workflow-<slug>.md`

4. Capture authoring origin
   - Record the current branch name (if any) and current `HEAD` commit as the workflow's authoring origin
   - If the current branch is neither `main` nor `master`, and the workflow frontmatter does not already set `branch:` or `worktree:`, PAUSE and ask:
     a. Continue on the current branch in this checkout
        → set `branch: <current-branch>` and `worktree: false`
     b. Use HOTL's isolated execution branch/worktree (recommended)
        → leave `worktree: true` and let HOTL derive `hotl/<slug>` unless the user wants a custom branch name
     c. Use a custom execution branch
        → set `branch: <user-branch>` and keep worktree isolation unless the user explicitly opts out
   - Explain clearly: the authoring checkout and the execution checkout can differ. HOTL can execute in a separate worktree while leaving the current checkout untouched

5. Determine isolation mode
   - If `worktree: host` in frontmatter → stay on the current checkout's current feature branch exactly as provided by the host tool; reject `main` and `master`
   - If `worktree: false` in frontmatter → stay in the current checkout and use a dedicated branch there
   - If the current checkout is already a named linked git worktree, and the workflow frontmatter does not set `branch:` or `worktree:`, use host mode automatically to avoid stacking another worktree
   - Otherwise → use an isolated git worktree by default

6. Check if the target branch/worktree already exists locally
   - Current helper behavior: existing branch/worktree collisions are a hard stop, not an interactive reuse/recreate flow
   - If the helper reports an existing branch/worktree conflict, stop and ask the user whether to reuse manually, delete+recreate manually, or abort
   - Does not exist → create (no prompt)

7. Resolve the execution root with `scripts/hotl-prepare-execution-root.sh <workflow-file> --executor-mode <mode>`
   - The helper returns JSON with: `branch`, `repo_root`, `execution_root`, `workflow_path`, `source_workflow_path`, `source_branch`, `source_head`, `worktree_path`
   - By default it creates a linked git worktree for the branch, copies the current workflow into that worktree, and returns that worktree as `execution_root`
   - If `worktree: false` in frontmatter → create/switch to the dedicated branch in the current checkout and return the repo root as `execution_root`
   - If `worktree: host` in frontmatter → keep the current branch and return the current checkout as `execution_root`; if `branch:` is set, it must match the current branch
   - If `branch:` matches the currently checked-out branch while worktree isolation is still enabled, the helper must STOP with a clear message telling the user to set `worktree: false` or `worktree: host` for same-branch continuity
8. Change into `execution_root`
   - Every later git command, runtime call, Codex helper call, and review command for this run MUST execute from that directory

Rules:

• No auto-stash. Hidden state mutation weakens governance.
• Existing branch/worktree collisions do not currently auto-prompt; treat them as a stop-and-ask condition until interactive reuse/recreate is implemented.
• Non-git repos skip entirely — HOTL works without git ceremony.
• Run HOTL structural lint (scripts/document-lint.sh) automatically on the workflow file before any git mutation or step execution. If lint fails, STOP and show all errors. If lint passes, continue silently.

Typed Verification

The verify field supports 4 types. A scalar string is shorthand for type: shell. If verify is a list, ALL checks must pass.

• type: shell — run command, check exit code, capture stdout/stderr
• type: browser — use browser tooling with url+check; if unavailable, downgrade to type: human-review with check text as prompt
• type: human-review — hotl-rt step N verify returns a human review required: ... block reason and pauses the run; show the prompt, wait for approval, then persist it with hotl-rt gate N approved|rejected --mode human (never auto-approve)
• type: artifact — check path exists, evaluate assert (kind: exists | contains | matches-glob) For matches-glob, path must be the directory and value must be a filename glob only; values like src/* are invalid and should be authored as path: src

Execution State Persistence

All state persistence is handled by the hotl-rt shared runtime (runtime/hotl-rt). This executor calls hotl-rt for all state transitions:

• hotl-rt init <workflow-file> --executor-mode executing-plans ... — at run start
• hotl-rt step N start --run-id <run-id> — before each step
• hotl-rt step N verify --run-id <run-id> — after each step's action
• hotl-rt step N retry --run-id <run-id> / hotl-rt step N block --reason "..." --run-id <run-id> — on failure
• hotl-rt gate N approved|rejected --run-id <run-id> — at gate steps
• hotl-rt finalize --json --run-id <run-id> — at run completion

The runtime owns .hotl/state/<run-id>.json and .hotl/reports/<run-id>.md. Agents do not manage these files directly. Runtime calls happen before the corresponding chat or progress UI update.

Use the same HOTL runtime and script path resolution order defined in skills/loop-execution/SKILL.md. Do not assume runtime/ or scripts/ exist in the user's project checkout.

To resume an interrupted executing-plans run, use the host tool's native resume entry point.

• Codex: ask me to use $hotl:resuming on the workflow file
• Claude Code: /hotl:resume <workflow-file>

Process

1. Resolve and read the workflow (see above)
2. Run Branch/Worktree Preflight (see above), capture its JSON result, and change into execution_root
3. Run hotl-rt init <workflow-file> --executor-mode executing-plans --repo-root <repo-root> --execution-root <execution-root> --source-workflow-path <source-workflow-path> --source-branch <source-branch|null> --source-head <source-head|null> --worktree-path <worktree-path|null> --branch <branch> to initialize state and report
4. Capture the run id from stdout, then pass --run-id <run-id> (or set HOTL_RUN_ID=<run-id>) on every later runtime/helper call for this run
5. Execute tasks in order, 3 at a time:
   • hotl-rt step N start --run-id <run-id> before each step
   • Execute the action
   • hotl-rt step N verify --run-id <run-id> to run typed verification
   • If verify reports human review required: ..., pause and do not continue until hotl-rt gate N approved|rejected --mode human --run-id <run-id> succeeds
   • On failure: hotl-rt step N retry --run-id <run-id> or hotl-rt step N block --reason "..." --run-id <run-id>
   • On gate: hotl-rt gate N approved|rejected --run-id <run-id>
6. After each batch: run review checkpoint (see below), then show what was done, ask "Continue to next batch?"
7. On failure: stop and report — never silently skip a failed step
8. When complete: run final review checkpoint (see below), invoke hotl:verification-before-completion, then hotl-rt finalize --json --run-id <run-id>, render the final summary via scripts/render-execution-summary.sh, and if git isolation was used (or the user asks what to do next) invoke hotl:finishing-a-development-branch with the same run_id

Review Checkpoints

Record git rev-parse HEAD as the review base before starting each batch.

After Each Batch

After all steps in the batch have passed verification:

1. Invoke requesting-code-review to dispatch the code-reviewer agent
   • Review type: checkpoint
   • Review base: the recorded pre-batch HEAD
   • Steps reviewed: the batch step numbers
2. When findings return, invoke receiving-code-review
   • Follow Verify → Evaluate → Respond → Implement
3. Resolve all BLOCK findings before proceeding to the next batch

Before Final Completion

A final review is required unless the most recent review already covers all current changes and no code changed afterward.

1. Invoke requesting-code-review with review type: final
   • Review base: branch point or last review base, whichever is more recent
2. When findings return, invoke receiving-code-review
3. Resolve all BLOCK findings before finalizing
4. If fixes after the last review changed scope, constraints, or risk_level, request a scoped follow-up review before completing

Review happens after step verification, before verification-before-completion, before hotl-rt finalize.

Use this over loop-execution when you want explicit human checkpoints at every stage rather than auto-approve.

Reporting

Execution report output must conform to docs/contracts/execution-report-output.md. This is the canonical reporting contract from skills/loop-execution/SKILL.md. Live step visibility follows the same rules as skills/loop-execution/SKILL.md — per-step chat logs on all platforms, deterministic renderer for final summary.