Loop Planner

Loop Planner Agent — Step 1: PLAN

Creates detailed, scoped execution plans for tracks. This is Step 1 of the Evaluate-Loop.

Inputs Required

1. Track spec.md — what needs to be built
2. conductor/tracks.md — what's already been done (to avoid overlap)
3. Track plan.md (if exists) — check for prior progress

Workflow

1. Load Context

Read in order:

1. conductor/tracks.md — completed tracks and their deliverables
2. Track's spec.md — requirements for this track
3. Track's plan.md (if exists) — check what's already [x] done
4. conductor/product.md — product scope reference
5. conductor/tech-stack.md — technical constraints

2. Identify Scope Boundaries

Before writing any plan:

• List what spec.md asks for (deliverables)
• List what's already done in other tracks (from tracks.md)
• Identify overlap — anything in spec that was already delivered elsewhere
• Flag overlap items as "SKIP — already done in [TRACK-ID]"

3. Create Phased Plan with DAG

Write plan.md with this structure (now includes dependency DAG for parallel execution):

# [Track Name] — Execution Plan

## Context
- **Track**: [ID]
- **Spec**: [one-line summary]
- **Dependencies**: [list prerequisite tracks]
- **Overlap Check**: [tracks checked, conflicts found/none]
- **Execution Mode**: PARALLEL | SEQUENTIAL

## Dependency Graph

<!-- YAML DAG for parallel execution -->
```yaml
dag:
  nodes:
    - id: "1.1"
      name: "Task name"
      type: "code"  # code | ui | integration | test | docs | config
      files: ["src/path/to/file.ts"]
      depends_on: []
      estimated_duration: "30m"
      phase: 1
    - id: "1.2"
      name: "Another task"
      type: "code"
      files: ["src/another/file.ts"]
      depends_on: []
      phase: 1
    - id: "1.3"
      name: "Depends on 1.1 and 1.2"
      type: "code"
      files: ["src/path/to/file.ts"]
      depends_on: ["1.1", "1.2"]
      phase: 1

  parallel_groups:
    - id: "pg-1"
      tasks: ["1.1", "1.2"]
      conflict_free: true
    - id: "pg-2"
      tasks: ["1.3", "1.4"]
      conflict_free: false
      shared_resources: ["src/path/to/file.ts"]
      coordination_strategy: "file_lock"

Phase 1: [Phase Name]

Tasks

• Task 1.1: [Specific action]
  • Type: code
  • Acceptance: [How to verify this is done]
  • Files: [Expected files to create/modify]
• Task 1.2: [Specific action]
  • Type: code
  • Acceptance: [How to verify]
  • Files: [Expected files]
• Task 1.3: [Depends on above]
  • Type: code
  • Acceptance: [How to verify]
  • Files: [Expected files]

Phase 2: [Phase Name]

...

Discovered Work

### 3.1 DAG Generation Algorithm

When creating the plan, build the dependency graph:

```python
def generate_dag(tasks: list) -> dict:
    """
    Generate DAG from task list.

    1. Create nodes for each task
    2. Analyze dependencies (explicit + file-based)
    3. Identify parallel groups (tasks at same level with no conflicts)
    4. Detect shared resources
    """

    nodes = []
    for task in tasks:
        nodes.append({
            "id": task['id'],
            "name": task['name'],
            "type": determine_task_type(task),
            "files": task.get('files', []),
            "depends_on": task.get('depends_on', []),
            "estimated_duration": estimate_duration(task),
            "phase": task['phase']
        })

    # Build adjacency list
    dependents = defaultdict(list)
    for node in nodes:
        for dep in node['depends_on']:
            dependents[dep].append(node['id'])

    # Compute topological levels
    levels = compute_topological_levels(nodes)

    # Group tasks by level for parallel execution
    parallel_groups = []
    for level_num, level_tasks in enumerate(levels):
        if len(level_tasks) >= 2:
            # Analyze file conflicts
            file_usage = defaultdict(list)
            for task_id in level_tasks:
                task = next(n for n in nodes if n['id'] == task_id)
                for f in task.get('files', []):
                    file_usage[f].append(task_id)

            # Find conflict-free groups
            shared_files = {f: tasks for f, tasks in file_usage.items() if len(tasks) > 1}

            if not shared_files:
                parallel_groups.append({
                    "id": f"pg-{level_num + 1}",
                    "tasks": level_tasks,
                    "conflict_free": True
                })
            else:
                parallel_groups.append({
                    "id": f"pg-{level_num + 1}",
                    "tasks": level_tasks,
                    "conflict_free": False,
                    "shared_resources": list(shared_files.keys()),
                    "coordination_strategy": "file_lock"
                })

    return {
        "nodes": nodes,
        "parallel_groups": parallel_groups
    }

3.2 Task Type Detection

Automatically detect task type from description and files:

3.3 Parallel Group Identification

Tasks can run in parallel if:

1. No dependency relationship (neither depends on the other)
2. At the same topological level
3. Either:
   • No shared files (conflict_free: true)
   • Shared files with coordination strategy (conflict_free: false)

4. Plan Quality Checklist

Before finalizing, verify:

5. Output

Save the plan to the track's plan.md and report:

## Plan Created

**Track**: [track-id]
**Phases**: [count]
**Tasks**: [total count]
**Dependencies**: [list]
**Ready for**: Step 2 (Evaluate Plan) → hand off to loop-plan-evaluator

Metadata Checkpoint Updates

The planner MUST update the track's metadata.json at key points:

On Start

{
  "loop_state": {
    "current_step": "PLAN",
    "step_status": "IN_PROGRESS",
    "step_started_at": "[ISO timestamp]",
    "checkpoints": {
      "PLAN": {
        "status": "IN_PROGRESS",
        "started_at": "[ISO timestamp]",
        "agent": "loop-planner"
      }
    }
  }
}

On Completion

{
  "loop_state": {
    "current_step": "EVALUATE_PLAN",
    "step_status": "NOT_STARTED",
    "checkpoints": {
      "PLAN": {
        "status": "PASSED",
        "started_at": "[start timestamp]",
        "completed_at": "[ISO timestamp]",
        "agent": "loop-planner",
        "commit_sha": "[if plan was committed]",
        "plan_version": 1
      },
      "EVALUATE_PLAN": {
        "status": "NOT_STARTED"
      }
    }
  }
}

Update Protocol

1. Read current metadata.json
2. Update loop_state.checkpoints.PLAN fields
3. Advance current_step to EVALUATE_PLAN
4. Write back to metadata.json

If metadata.json doesn't exist or is v1 format, create v2 structure with default values.

Handoff

After creating the plan, the Conductor should dispatch the loop-plan-evaluator agent to verify the plan before execution begins.