danmcinerney Use the request and shared handoff contract. Inputs are an endgoal, starting workspace or artifacts, output directory and optional N, criteria, constraints, domains and scoped model/effort choices. Resolve context once. This skill coordinates in the caller through the component workflows below.
Bounds
N is the maximum number of attempted cycles in this run, including the first PoC and failed cycles; default to 3 and state it. Require a positive integer. A cycle consumes one attempt when its starting checkpoint is written. A paused cycle resumes the same attempt. Run through N unless the caller stops, a stated resource bound is reached, required capability or authorization is missing, or the caller explicitly chose stop-on-goal. Reaching the goal alone does not shorten the requested run; remaining cycles may improve robustness or confirm that no justified change is available.
Every full cycle uses 6 fresh children: brainstorm, research, design, implementation and analysis through orch-work, plus testing through orch-review. The run uses at most 6N children. Caller resource limits may further bound work.
Run
- Establish or resume the checkpoint, state the resolved N and bounds, and preserve the initial accepted baseline. Each cycle starts from the last accepted state. The first cycle scopes the smallest working PoC; later cycles use the accumulated decisions and observations, including failed candidates.
- Start the cycle checkpoint. Invoke brainstorm-research with the request, baseline and prior observations. Pass its result to design-increment.
- Create an isolated candidate from the baseline and invoke implement-increment with the design. Freeze its returned state and pass the baseline, candidate and evaluation plan to test-increment.
- Invoke analyze-iteration with all cycle evidence, including any failures or gaps. Check its recommendation, record adopt/retain and the exact accepted state, and pass its observations into the next cycle. Checkpoint each returned stage. Apply the failure/resumption rules below if a stage cannot complete.
- Stop at the resolved bound or a declared early-stop condition and return the result below. Further work requires a new or extended caller request.
Composition: brainstorm-research → design-increment → implement-increment → test-increment → analyze-iteration. The first component calls two leaves; testing delegates one independent reviewer. No additional final review or repair loop is part of this workflow.
Failure and resumption
On a failed stage, retain its evidence and mark dependent stages unexecuted. If available, run the scheduled analysis child on the partial handoff; otherwise record the missing analysis and retain the baseline. A completed failed attempt still counts. Continue only if another bounded cycle can make progress; a persistent capability or authorization block ends the run with an explicit gap. Corrections are proposed in a later cycle, within N.
If design finds no justified change, mark implementation and testing inapplicable, analyze that evidence, and record retain. The attempt still counts and the normal early-stop rules apply.
To resume, read the checkpoint and verify the recorded state/artifact identities and remaining bounds. Continue the first unfinished stage of that same attempt, reusing valid completed work. If an interrupted child has no completed handoff, record its consumed call and remaining child budget before a replacement; all calls still count toward 6N. If inputs changed, mark affected downstream evidence stale and report that the caller must supply a new or extended run to repeat completed stages. Resuming does not silently increase N or the child budget.
Return
Return the exact final accepted state and how to use it, the initial-to-final change and evidence summary, completed/attempted counts, decisions, remaining gaps and checkpoint path. Keep retained candidates available as evidence. If the caller requested integration into an existing checkout, verify it still matches the preserved starting state before applying the chosen changes; report a conflict rather than overwrite newer work.