Feature Pipeline

feature — end-to-end pipeline

Runs the feature lifecycle by invoking the phase skills. Each phase's rules live in its own skill; this skill only orchestrates — it chooses the autonomy mode, selects which phases to run, drives them in order, and keeps the run record.

Announce at start: "Using the feature skill — {autonomy mode}, phases: {selected}."

The phases

/plan and /execute are non-negotiable — you cannot build without a plan, and execute is the point. Everything else is opt-in per feature.

Step 0: Choose autonomy mode + phase set — always first

Write the run record (below) as you make these choices, then announce them.

0a. Autonomy mode

Detect from the request; ask only if neither is clear.

Default when ambiguous: ask — one question, the two options above.

0b. Phase set

Auto-detect the recommended set, then: in approval mode, present it and let the user adjust; in autonomous mode, record the choices and proceed.

Detection heuristics (recommend, don't dogmatically enforce):

• Research — include when requirements are vague/open-ended. Force-include for ERP-domain logic (accounting, costing, tax, inventory valuation, RMA, MRP, scheduling): never invent domain logic. Skip when the user gave clear, detailed requirements for a non-domain feature.
• Spec — include when the change touches 3+ files, crosses modules, or adds a data model (spec-writing's own trigger). Skip for a well-understood single-surface feature with clear requirements — go straight to plan.
• Plan / Execute — always on a fresh run (a resumed run may start at Execute when an approved plan already exists — see Entering mid-pipeline).
• Test — include for user-facing flows. Skip when the user says it's straightforward, wants to verify manually, or flags browser-test cost — but say so in the record ("test skipped — user opts to verify manually").
• Self-review — include by default (cheap, catches Must-fix before PR). Skip only on request.

If requirements are unclear and research is a candidate, in approval mode ask: "Do you have firm requirements, or should I research and draft them?"

Step 0c: Open the run record — the standardization artifact

Create .ai/runs/{date}-{slug}.md before the first selected phase (phase 1 on a fresh run; a later phase on a resumed run — see Entering mid-pipeline). This is what makes ten engineers on the same feature produce comparable results — one canonical log of what was decided and why.

# Feature run: {title}

- Date: {date}            <!-- ask the user or use the injected currentDate; skills have no clock -->
- Mode: approval-per-phase | fully-autonomous
- Request: {the user's ask, verbatim}
- Phase plan: research [run|skip — why] · spec [run|skip — why] · plan [run] · execute [run] · test [run|skip — why] · self-review [run|skip — why]

## Decisions            <!-- autonomous auto-resolutions at 🛑 gates; empty in approval mode -->
- {gate}: {decision} — {rationale} — {timestamp}

## Phase log
- {phase}: {outcome + artifact path}

## Outcome
- {PR link / final status}

Update it at each phase transition and whenever an autonomous gate is auto-resolved. Runtime lives in .ai/runs/ (gitignored) — never in the product tree.

Running the phases

Run the selected phases strictly in order; skip the deselected ones. Announce each transition in one line ("Phase 3: planning — spec approved"). A gate applies only if its phase runs (skip spec → no Open-Questions gate).

• Approval mode: before each phase, pause for the user's go. Honor both 🛑 gates as human stops.
• Autonomous mode: at each 🛑 gate, decide, append the decision to the run record's Decisions section, and continue — no pause.

Entering mid-pipeline

Start at the first selected phase whose artifact is missing or stale:

Hard rules

• On a fresh run, /plan and /execute always run — never skip them. A resumed run may start past plan only when an approved plan already exists (see Entering mid-pipeline).
• In approval mode, never skip a 🛑 gate. In autonomous mode, never skip recording an auto-resolved gate decision — the record is the audit trail.
• Never let a phase write its artifact somewhere non-canonical — the paths in the phases table are the only correct ones.
• If a later phase reveals the spec/plan was wrong, stop, update the artifact (and its changelog), re-gate (or re-record in autonomous mode), then resume.
• Skipping a phase is a logged decision, not a silent omission — it goes in the run record with a reason.

Alternative: the conductor

For a single tightly-scoped item (a bug, a usability tweak, a small feature) with explicit acceptance criteria, prefer /conductor — a supervised doer→gate→judge loop instead of this phased pipeline.