Spec Driven Lifecycle

Spec-Driven Lifecycle

Coordinate the complete story lifecycle from Backlog through Released, enforcing quality gates at every transition and invoking specialized skills at the right time.

Context files are THE LAW: tech-stack.md, source-tree.md, dependencies.md, coding-standards.md, architecture-constraints.md, anti-patterns.md

If ambiguous or conflicts detected: HALT and use AskUserQuestion

Execution Model

This skill expands inline. After invocation, execute Phase State Initialization immediately. Do not wait passively, ask permission, or offer execution options.

Self-Check (if ANY box is true = VIOLATION):

• Stopping to ask about token budget
• Stopping to offer execution options
• Waiting passively for results
• Asking "should I execute this?"

IF any box checked: EXECUTION MODEL VIOLATION. Go directly to Phase State Initialization now.

Anti-Skip Enforcement Contract

This skill enforces 4 independent anti-skip layers. ALL FOUR must fail for a step to be skipped:

1. Fresh-context subagent execution - Subagents run in isolated context without accumulated bias
2. Binary CLI gates - Compiled Rust in src/commands/phase.rs, cannot be forged by LLM
3. Hook enforcement - Shell scripts in .claude/hooks/ run outside LLM control
4. Step registry + artifact verification - .claude/hooks/phase-steps-registry.json tracks every mandatory step

Execute-Verify-Gate Pattern: Every mandatory step in every phase file has three parts:

• EXECUTE: The exact action to perform
• VERIFY: How to confirm the action happened (Glob, Grep, exit code, Task result)
• RECORD: CLI command to record completion (devforgeai-validate phase-record)

Token Optimization Bias is PROHIBITED. Do not skip, compress, or shortcut any step. Every phase step exists because a previous failure proved it necessary. (Reference: RCA-001, RCA-002)

Parameter Extraction

Extract parameters from conversation context. See references/parameter-extraction.md for the extraction algorithm.

Command Integration

Phase State Initialization [MANDATORY FIRST]

devforgeai-validate phase-init ${STORY_ID} --project-root=.

Iteration counter: iteration_count = 1, max_iterations = 5. If resuming, read from phase-state.json.

Note: For Sprint Planning and Audit Deferrals modes, use a synthetic ID (e.g., SPRINT-{name} or AUDIT-{timestamp}) if no story ID is available.

Mode Router [MANDATORY - AFTER Phase State Initialization]

Detect operating mode from conversation context markers. Mode determines which phases execute.

Priority order: Sprint > Audit > Story > Default (first match wins)

1. IF "**Operation:** plan-sprint" found in conversation:
   MODE = "sprint-planning"
   PHASE_SEQUENCE = [01, 03S, 08]
   Display: "Mode: Sprint Planning"

2. ELSE IF "**Command:** audit-deferrals" found in conversation:
   MODE = "audit-deferrals"
   PHASE_SEQUENCE = [01, 03A, 04A, 08]
   Display: "Mode: Audit Deferrals"

3. ELSE IF "**Story ID:** STORY-NNN" found in conversation:
   MODE = "story-management"
   PHASE_SEQUENCE = [01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08]
   Display: "Mode: Story Management"

4. ELSE:
   MODE = "default"
   Read references/mode-detection.md for inference logic.
   IF inference fails:
     HALT with AskUserQuestion:
       Question: "Cannot determine operating mode. What would you like to do?"
       Header: "Mode"
       Options:
         - label: "Orchestrate a story"
           description: "Manage story lifecycle (dev -> QA -> release)"
         - label: "Plan a sprint"
           description: "Create a sprint with story selection"
         - label: "Audit deferrals"
           description: "Audit deferred work in completed stories"
       multiSelect: false

See references/mode-detection.md for complete detection algorithm and edge cases.

Phase Orchestration Loop

FOR phase_id in PHASE_SEQUENCE:

    1. ENTRY GATE: devforgeai-validate phase-check ${STORY_ID} --from={prev} --to={phase_id}
       IF exit != 0: HALT

    2. LOAD: Read(file_path="phases/{phase_files[phase_id]}")

    3. EXECUTE: Follow every step in the phase file (EXECUTE-VERIFY-GATE triplets)
       - Each step's EXECUTE instruction tells you exactly what to do
       - Each step's VERIFY instruction tells you how to confirm it happened
       - Each step's RECORD instruction tells you what CLI command to call

    4. RECORD: devforgeai-validate phase-record ${STORY_ID} --phase={phase_id} --subagent={name}

    5. EXIT GATE: devforgeai-validate phase-complete ${STORY_ID} --phase={phase_id} --checkpoint-passed
       IF exit != 0: HALT

Story Management Mode Phases (01-08)

Sprint Planning Mode Phases (01, 03S, 08)

Audit Deferrals Mode Phases (01, 03A, 04A, 08)

Sprint Retrospective Mode Phases (01, 03R, 08)

Required Subagents Per Phase

Deviation Protocol: Any skip requires explicit user consent via AskUserQuestion. See references/troubleshooting.md.

Workflow States

Stories progress through 11 sequential states:

Backlog -> Architecture -> Ready for Dev -> In Development -> Dev Complete ->
QA In Progress -> [QA Approved | QA Failed] -> Releasing -> Released

See references/workflow-states.md for complete state definitions. See references/state-transitions.md for valid transitions, prerequisites, and quality gate requirements.

Quality Gate Enforcement

Four gates block workflow progression when requirements not met:

See references/quality-gates.md for complete gate requirements and enforcement logic.

State Persistence

Location: devforgeai/workflows/${STORY_ID}-phase-state.json

Workflow Completion Validation

Story Management mode:
  IF completed_count < 8: HALT "WORKFLOW INCOMPLETE - {completed_count}/8 phases"
  IF completed_count == 8: "All 8 phases completed - Workflow validation passed"

Sprint Planning mode:
  IF completed_count < 3: HALT "WORKFLOW INCOMPLETE - {completed_count}/3 phases"

Audit Deferrals mode:
  IF completed_count < 4: HALT "WORKFLOW INCOMPLETE - {completed_count}/4 phases"

IF iteration_count >= 4: Display "Approaching limit" IF iteration_count >= max_iterations: HALT "Maximum iterations reached"

Success Criteria

Story Management Mode

• Story progresses through appropriate workflow states
• Skills invoked at correct transition points
• Quality gates enforced at every transition
• Status history updated with complete timeline
• Story status reflects actual completion state

Sprint Planning Mode

• Sprint file created in devforgeai/specs/Sprints/
• Stories updated to "Ready for Dev" status
• Capacity validated within 20-40 point range

Audit Deferrals Mode

• All QA Approved and Released stories scanned
• Deferrals categorized (resolvable, valid, invalid)
• Audit report generated and saved
• Hooks invoked if eligible

Reference Files

Phase Execution (phases/ directory)

Supporting References (references/ directory)

Asset Templates (assets/templates/ directory)

Common Issues

Top 5 issues and quick solutions:

1. Mode detection fails - Check context markers match expected format (see references/mode-detection.md)
2. Checkpoint not detected - Verify Status History format in story file (see references/workflow-states.md)
3. Quality gate blocks - Review gate requirements for the specific transition (see references/quality-gates.md)
4. QA retry exceeds 3 - Address root cause, consider splitting story (see phase-06-qa-retry.md)
5. Sprint capacity exceeded - Remove lower-priority stories or adjust capacity (see phase-03S-sprint-planning.md)

See references/troubleshooting.md for comprehensive troubleshooting guide.