Roadmap Cartographer
Roadmap Cartographer turns existing project context into exactly one primary artifact:
- a roadmap when context is sufficient;
- a readiness report when context is insufficient.
It does not orchestrate the rest of Compound Engineering. It does not update Compound Master state, review documents, invoke brainstorm/plan/work skills, commit changes, open PRs, or touch Jira.
Load References
- Load
references/safety.mdbefore beginning the workflow. - Load
references/context-readiness.mdbefore deciding whether roadmap generation is safe. - Load
references/artifact-templates.mdbefore writing either primary artifact.
Non-Negotiable Rules
- Generate exactly one primary artifact per run: either a roadmap or a readiness report.
- Do not generate a draft roadmap when context is insufficient.
- Do not create auxiliary primary artifacts such as separate source inventories. Include necessary source inventory inside the single primary artifact.
- Do not convert uncertainty into roadmap scope. Record uncertainty as a blocker, user decision, risk, or readiness gap.
- Use repo-relative paths in generated documents.
- Source roadmap items from discovered context. If a claim is inferred, label it as an inference and include confidence.
- Ask one blocking question only when the answer determines whether roadmap generation is safe and cannot be inferred from available docs.
- Keep human-facing roadmap names semantic. Internal IDs such as
RDM-001are for artifact traceability, not release text.
Sources To Scan
Match scan depth to the initiative. Prefer existing context over broad exploration.
- Repo instructions:
AGENTS.md,CLAUDE.mdonly as compatibility fallback. - Product docs:
STRATEGY.md,README.md,docs/,specs/,architecture/,adr/,docs/adr/. - Execution docs: PRDs, feature specs, API contracts, schemas, migrations, runbooks, roadmaps, plans, brainstorms.
- Tooling and delivery docs: package/build/test configs, branch conventions, CI, releases, Jira, and PR conventions.
Workflow
Step 1 - Context Scan
Collect the source inventory and summarize what each source contributes. Keep this scan targeted to the initiative.
Step 2 - Context Sufficiency Decision
Load references/context-readiness.md. Decide whether the minimum context is sufficiently covered.
If context is insufficient, create the readiness report from references/artifact-templates.md and stop.
If context is sufficient, continue to roadmap generation.
Step 3 - Roadmap Generation
Load references/artifact-templates.md. Create the next roadmap path:
docs/roadmaps/YYYY-MM-DD-NNN-<initiative-slug>-roadmap.md
Map roadmap items in dependency order. For each item, include outcome, why now, scope boundary, dependencies, risk, expected brainstorm path, expected plan path, and suggested package granularity.
Step 4 - Closeout
Return a visible closeout with exactly one primary artifact classification:
artifact_kind: roadmap | readiness-report
artifact_path: docs/...
blockers: <No blockers / concise blockers>
recommended_next_action: <exact next action>
When artifact_kind is roadmap, the recommended next action should be review by the caller's document-review role or the next Compound Master step.
When artifact_kind is readiness-report, the recommended next action must include an exact next prompt that helps the user produce the missing context.
Output Ownership
Cartographer owns the canonical roadmap and readiness report shapes. Callers such as krt-compound-master consume the artifact path and kind, update their own state, review roadmaps, and decide whether to continue or stop.