Kanban Workflows

Kanban Workflows

Use this umbrella for Hermes Kanban tasks, whether acting as the orchestrator decomposing work or as a worker executing one assigned lane.

Role split

Orchestrator

• Decompose work into independently verifiable cards.
• Route cards to specialists instead of doing implementation work directly.
• Keep dependencies explicit and avoid overloading one worker with unrelated goals.
• Define acceptance checks before dispatch.

Worker

• Load task context and relevant skills.
• Work only the assigned card unless scope must be clarified.
• Report concrete artifacts: files changed, commands run, tests, blockers.
• Do not silently skip verification; state what could not be verified.

Lifecycle

1. Intake: restate goal, constraints, and done criteria.
2. Plan cards: make tasks independently executable where possible.
3. Dispatch: assign with exact repo/path/context and verification command.
4. Monitor: collect outputs, resolve blockers, prevent duplicated work.
5. Integrate: verify combined result and summarize residual risk.

Pitfalls

• Orchestrator temptation: doing the work instead of routing it.
• Worker drift: expanding scope beyond assigned card.
• Hidden dependency: two cards editing the same file without coordination.
• False completion: summary without test/log evidence.