Phase 5 Execute

Phase Execute Skill

Role: DUMB TASK RUNNER that executes tasks from TASK-*.toon files sequentially.

Execution Pattern: Locate current task → Execute steps → Mark progress → Next task

Phase Handled: execute

CRITICAL: Use manage-* scripts via Bash for plan file updates (Edit/Write tools trigger permission prompts on .plan/ directories).

Standards (Load On-Demand)

Workflow

Read standards/workflow.md

Contains: Task execution pattern, phase transition, auto-continue behavior

Operations

Read standards/operations.md

Contains: Delegation patterns for builds, quality checks, PR creation

Execution Loop

Step 0: Get Routing Context (Once at start)

Get current phase, skill routing, and progress in a single call:

python3 .plan/execute-script.py pm-workflow:plan-marshall:manage-lifecycle get-routing-context \
  --plan-id {plan_id}

Returns:

status: success
plan_id: {plan_id}
current_phase: 5-execute
skill: pm-workflow:phase-5-execute
skill_description: Execute phase skill for task implementation
total_phases: 4
completed_phases: 2
phases:
- init: complete
- refine: complete
- execute: in_progress
- finalize: pending

Use current_phase for logging, skill for dynamic routing, and completed_phases/total_phases for progress display.

Step 0.1: Read Commit Strategy (Once at start)

Cache the commit strategy for the entire execute loop:

python3 .plan/execute-script.py plan-marshall:manage-plan-marshall-config:plan-marshall-config \
  plan phase-5-execute get --trace-plan-id {plan_id}

Extract commit_strategy from output. Valid values: per_deliverable, per_plan, none.

Step 0.5: Log Phase Start (Once per phase)

At the start of execute or finalize phase:

python3 .plan/execute-script.py plan-marshall:manage-logging:manage-log \
  work {plan_id} INFO "[STATUS] (pm-workflow:phase-5-execute) Starting {phase} phase"

For each task in current phase:

Step 1: Locate Task with Context

python3 .plan/execute-script.py pm-workflow:manage-tasks:manage-tasks next \
  --plan-id {plan_id} \
  --include-context

Returns next task with status pending or in_progress, including embedded goal context (title, body) for immediate use without additional script calls.

Step 2: Execute Steps

For each step in task's steps[] array:

1. Parse the step text
2. Execute the action (delegate if specified)
3. Mark step complete via manage-tasks:step-done

Step 3: Mark Step Complete

python3 .plan/execute-script.py pm-workflow:manage-tasks:manage-tasks step-done \
  --plan-id {plan_id} \
  --task {task_number} \
  --step {step_number}

Step 3.5: Log Task Completion

After each task completes:

python3 .plan/execute-script.py plan-marshall:manage-logging:manage-log \
  work {plan_id} INFO "[OUTCOME] (pm-workflow:phase-5-execute) Completed {task_id}: {task_title} ({steps_completed} steps)"

Step 3.6: Conditional Per-Deliverable Commit

If commit_strategy == per_deliverable (cached from Step 0.1):

1. Check dependency chain: Does any other pending/in-progress task have depends_on pointing to the just-completed task?

   • YES → Skip commit (a downstream task still needs to run)
   • NO → This is the chain tail (all tasks for this deliverable are done) → Commit

2. Commit (only when chain tail):

   Skill: pm-workflow:workflow-integration-git
   Parameters:
     - message: conventional commit derived from task title
     - push: false
     - create-pr: false
   

3. Log commit outcome:

   python3 .plan/execute-script.py plan-marshall:manage-logging:manage-log \
     work {plan_id} INFO "[OUTCOME] (pm-workflow:phase-5-execute) Per-deliverable commit: {task_id} ({commit_hash})"
   

If commit_strategy is per_plan or none → Skip this step entirely.

Step 4: Next Task or Phase

• If more tasks in phase → Continue to next task
• If phase complete → Log phase outcome and auto-transition to next phase
• If all phases complete → Mark plan complete

Step 5: Log Phase Completion (When phase completes)

python3 .plan/execute-script.py plan-marshall:manage-logging:manage-log \
  work {plan_id} INFO "[STATUS] (pm-workflow:phase-5-execute) Completed {phase} phase: {tasks_completed} tasks"

Delegation

When checklist items specify delegation, invoke the appropriate agent/skill:

Auto-Continue Behavior

Execute continuously without user prompts except:

• Error blocks progress
• Decision genuinely required
• User explicitly requested confirmation

Do NOT prompt for:

• Phase transitions
• Task transitions
• Routine confirmations

Phase Transition

When transitioning from execute phase to verify:

python3 .plan/execute-script.py pm-workflow:plan-marshall:manage-lifecycle transition \
  --plan-id {plan_id} \
  --completed 5-execute

This automatically updates status.toon and moves to the next phase.

Error Handling

On any error, first log the error to work-log:

python3 .plan/execute-script.py plan-marshall:manage-logging:manage-log \
  work {plan_id} ERROR "[ERROR] (pm-workflow:phase-5-execute) {task_id} failed - {error_type}: {error_context}"

Script Failure (Lessons-Learned Capture)

ON SCRIPT FAILURE: When any script execution fails (exit != 0):

1. Log error to work-log (see above)
2. Capture error context (script path, exit code, stderr)
3. Continue with normal error recovery (retry, fail task, etc.)

Other Errors

Integration

Command Integration

• /plan-marshall action=execute - Primary entry point invoking this skill

Related Skills

• phase-4-plan - Creates tasks from deliverables (previous phase)
• phase-6-verify - Quality verification (next phase)
• phase-7-finalize - Shipping workflow (commit, PR)