Auto Phase

Auto-Phase: Autonomous Multi-Stage Execution

Reads a phase plan and executes stages autonomously, one at a time, with validation and critique gates between each stage.

When to Use

• You have a PHASE-PLAN.md (or similar) with numbered stages 1-N
• Each stage is self-contained and can be validated independently
• You want autonomous execution with human oversight only on failures

When NOT to Use

• Single-stage work → use /ship
• No written phase plan exists → write one first (use brainstorming + writing-plans)
• Exploratory or uncertain work → plan first, then auto-phase

Prerequisites

1. A phase plan file exists (default: PHASE-PLAN.md in project root)
2. Each stage in the plan specifies: what to implement, expected output, done criteria
3. The project has /validate and /session-critique available

Procedure

Step 1: Read and parse the phase plan

PLAN_FILE="${ARGUMENTS:-PHASE-PLAN.md}"
[ -f "$PLAN_FILE" ] && echo "Plan found: $PLAN_FILE" || echo "ERROR: $PLAN_FILE not found"

Parse the plan to identify:

• Total number of stages
• Each stage's scope, files, and done criteria
• Dependencies between stages (if any)

Present the parsed stage list to the user for confirmation before starting.

Step 2: Execute stages autonomously

For each stage (1 through N):

2a. Announce stage start

=== STAGE K/N: [Stage Title] ===
Status: STARTING

2b. Implement the stage's changes

Follow the stage's instructions from the plan. Make the code changes, create files, modify configurations — whatever the stage specifies.

2c. Run validation pipeline

Invoke /validate (full — both waves). If validation fails:

• First failure: Fix the issues and re-run /validate.
• Second failure on same stage: HALT. Report the failure and ask the user.

=== STAGE K/N: VALIDATION FAILED (attempt 2/2) ===
Failure: [description]
Action: Halting for user input. The stage contract may need revision.

2d. Run session critique

Invoke /session-critique for the current stage's changes only. If critique surfaces HIGH/MEDIUM findings:

• Attempt to fix automatically if the fix is clear and contained.
• If the fix requires judgment or scope expansion: HALT and ask the user.

2e. Commit with clean scope

Invoke /commit. The commit must contain ONLY this stage's changes. Never bundle changes from other stages.

2f. Update progress tracking

After successful commit, update TASKS.md (create if it doesn't exist):

## Auto-Phase Progress

| Stage | Status | Commit | Notes |
|-------|--------|--------|-------|
| 1 | DONE | abc1234 | [summary] |
| 2 | DONE | def5678 | [summary] |
| 3 | IN PROGRESS | — | — |

2g. Advance to next stage

=== STAGE K/N: COMPLETE ===
Commit: [hash]
Advancing to Stage K+1...

Step 3: Completion report

After all stages complete:

=== AUTO-PHASE COMPLETE ===
Plan: [plan file]
Stages: N/N completed
Commits: [list of hashes]
Total changes: [file count summary]

All stages passed validation and critique gates.

Stopping Conditions

Hard Rules

1. One stage at a time. Never start stage K+1 before stage K is committed.
2. Never bundle cross-stage changes. Each commit contains exactly one stage.
3. Never skip validation or critique. Every stage passes both gates.
4. Halt on ambiguity. If a stage's instructions are unclear, ask — don't guess.
5. Track progress. Update TASKS.md after every stage so a fresh session can resume.