Conductor Workflow

Conductor Workflow

Conductor is a structured development methodology that organizes work into tracks — isolated units of feature development with specifications, plans, and task-level progress tracking.

Core Principles

1. Plan before you code — Every feature starts with a spec and an implementation plan before any code is written.
2. Test-Driven Development — Write tests first (red), implement minimally (green), then refactor. No exceptions.
3. Atomic commits — Each task produces exactly one commit with a descriptive message.
4. Track isolation — Each track is an independent unit of work. Changes stay scoped to the track's plan.

File Resolution Protocol

The conductor/index.md file is the master manifest for the project. Always read it first to understand where things live.

Directory Structure

conductor/
├── index.md              # File resolution protocol — read this FIRST
├── product.md            # What the product does, who uses it
├── tech-stack.md         # Languages, frameworks, dependencies, build commands
├── product-guidelines.md # Coding conventions, commit format, testing rules
└── tracks/
    └── <track-id>/
        ├── spec.md       # Feature specification with requirements and acceptance criteria
        └── plan.md       # Implementation plan with ordered, discrete tasks

When to Read What

• Starting any work: Read conductor/index.md first
• Understanding the product: Read conductor/product.md
• Technical decisions: Read conductor/tech-stack.md
• Code style questions: Read conductor/product-guidelines.md
• Feature context: Read the relevant conductor/tracks/<track-id>/spec.md
• What to do next: Read the relevant conductor/tracks/<track-id>/plan.md

TDD Workflow

For every task in a track plan:

1. Red — Write a failing test that defines the expected behavior
2. Green — Write the minimum code to pass the test
3. Refactor — Clean up while keeping tests green
4. Commit — One atomic commit per task

Commit Format

<type>(<scope>): <description>

[optional body]

Conductor: <track-id>, Task <N>

Types: feat, fix, refactor, test, docs, chore

The Conductor: trailer enables track-level operations like status reporting and reverting.

Task States

Tasks in plan.md have one of these statuses:

• not started — Work has not begun
• in progress — Currently being worked on
• done — Completed and committed

Available Commands

• /conductor:setup — Initialize Conductor for a project
• /conductor:new-track <feature> — Create a new track with spec and plan
• /conductor:implement <track-id> — Execute tasks from a track plan using TDD
• /conductor:review <track-id> — Review a completed track's implementation
• /conductor:status — Show progress across all tracks
• /conductor:revert <track-id> — Revert a track's changes

Style Conventions

When working within the Conductor workflow:

• Keep specs concise and requirement-focused — no prose padding
• Plans should have 3-10 tasks; split larger work into multiple tracks
• Task descriptions should be specific enough that another developer could execute them
• Always update plan.md task statuses after completing work
• Always update conductor/index.md when adding or removing tracks

Converted and distributed by TomeVault — claim your Tome and manage your conversions.