Ferrox Plan Phase

Default flow: Research (if needed) → Plan → Verify → Done

Research-only mode (--research-phase <N>): Spawn ferrox-phase-researcher for phase N, write RESEARCH.md, then exit before the planner runs. Useful for cross-phase research, doc review before committing to a planning approach, and correction-without-replanning loops where iterating on research alone is dramatically cheaper than re-spawning the planner. Replaces the deleted research-phase command (#3042).

Research-only modifiers:

• No flag — when RESEARCH.md already exists, auto-uses it: emits a one-line notice and exits cleanly, no prompt.
• --research — force-refresh: re-spawn the researcher unconditionally, no prompt. Bypasses the existing-RESEARCH.md auto-use path.
• --view — view-only: print existing RESEARCH.md to stdout. Does not spawn the researcher. Cheapest mode for the correction-without-replanning loop. If no RESEARCH.md exists yet, errors with a hint to drop --view.

Orchestrator role: Parse arguments, validate phase, research domain (unless skipped), spawn ferrox-planner, verify with ferrox-plan-checker, iterate until pass or max iterations, present results.

Planning ends with a parallelism recommendation. Once the plans exist the shape of the phase is knowable, so step 13f runs scripts/parallelism-verdict.cjs and reports which execution mode fits, recommendation first, with the measures that back it. It reports and never acts: /ferrox-execute-phase owns the backend decision, its availability check and its refusal.

Flags:

• --research — Force re-research even if RESEARCH.md exists
• --skip-research — Skip research, go straight to planning
• --gaps — Gap closure mode (reads VERIFICATION.md, skips research)
• --skip-verify — Skip verification loop
• --prd <file> — Use a PRD/acceptance criteria file instead of discuss-phase. Parses requirements into CONTEXT.md automatically. Skips discuss-phase entirely.
• --ingest <path-or-glob> — Use one or more ADR files instead of discuss-phase. Parses locked decisions + scope fences into CONTEXT.md automatically. Skips discuss-phase entirely.
• --ingest-format <auto|nygard|madr|narrative> — Optional ADR parser format override (auto default).
• --reviews — Replan incorporating cross-AI review feedback from REVIEWS.md (produced by /ferrox-review)
• --text — Use plain-text numbered lists instead of TUI menus (required for /rc remote sessions)
• --mvp — Vertical MVP mode. Planner organizes tasks as feature slices (UI→API→DB) instead of horizontal layers. On Phase 1 of a new project, also emits SKELETON.md (Walking Skeleton). Can be persisted on a phase via **Mode:** mvp in ROADMAP.md.

Normalize phase input in step 2 before any directory lookups.