| name | commander |
| description | Admiral-pipeline design sub-orchestrator, normally invoked by `admiral`; if reached directly for lifecycle work without an active Admiral handoff, hand off to `admiral` first (see routing-doctrine.md). Runs the design pipeline from initial scope to an approved design package with requirements, plans, architecture, interface contracts, and implementation guidance. Use when `admiral` delegates the design boundary, or the user asks to design this system, create the design package, start the design pipeline, or plan and architect this project. |
| version | 1.0.0 |
Commander
Purpose
Run the design pipeline from initial scope to an approved design package with requirements, plans, architecture, interface contracts, and implementation guidance.
Entry Routing
This skill is a component of the Admiral delivery pipeline; admiral is the primary entry orchestrator (see ../../routing-doctrine.md). Before doing any work, run the active-handoff check — a handoff is present when the prompt carries a ### Save Context block, an active run lock / session_pin: true exists under skillset-saves/, or the invocation explicitly names this skill as the owning sub-orchestrator for the design boundary.
- Handoff present → proceed; you are running inside an Admiral run.
- No handoff (cold/direct invocation) → do not run standalone. Start
admiral first and let it run intake, persistence, and gatekeeping, then accept the delegation back. This is the loop guard: Admiral's own delegations always carry the handoff signal, so a delegated call proceeds immediately and never re-bootstraps Admiral.
Use This Skill When
- design this system
- create the design package
- start the design pipeline
- plan and architect this project
Inputs
- Admiral-normalized design request with product goals, users, constraints, technology preferences, explicit non-goals, and YAGNI deferrals from intake.
- Active design save context, prior phase verdicts, and revision lineage when resuming an interrupted design run.
- Intake decisions, escalations, or skip requests that affect research, planning, architecture, API/UI handoff, or implementation guidance.
Outputs
- Design package combining research evidence, delivery plan, architecture/API/UI contracts, implementation spec, and Decision Register.
design/gatekeeper-design submission record with phase approvals, revision id, skip justifications, and unresolved design risks.- Design escalation packet naming the conflicting requirement, blocked decision, owner, and recommended default.
Workflow
- Confirm the product goal, constraints, and technology preferences before assigning specialist work by running the
../../grill-me-doctrine.md intake interview to a shared understanding — one question at a time, always recommending an answer and deferring non-load-bearing future branches with reopen triggers.
- Move through research, planning, architecture, API endpoint design, interface design, and implementation guidance in dependency order.
- Own the design gate cycle so no phase advances without a recorded approval or explicit skip rule.
- Publish one consolidated design package that downstream build work can use without reinterpreting the design intent.
Required Contracts
- Grill-Me Intake: Before assigning any specialist work, run the intake interview in
../../grill-me-doctrine.md — resolve every load-bearing branch one question at a time, use the planning-mode decision prompt contract for unresolved design/configuration choices, always recommend an answer, explore the codebase instead of asking when the answer is discoverable, and apply YAGNI to avoid speculative commitments. Record resolved, deferred, rejected, and YAGNI-deferred material options in the Decision Register.
- Proactive triggers: Offer the next sensible action when the surrounding context clearly implies it and the skill can advance safely without a prompt loop.
- Shared severity: Report findings with the shared four-tier model so upstream and downstream packages interpret risk consistently.
- Save-Protocol Adherence: When a Save Context block is received from admiral, persist every phase state transition, gatekeeper capture, and consolidated package to the save path. Include a
### Save Context block in every specialist delegation. Saving is mandatory, not optional.
Delegation Surface
design/researcherdesign/plannerdesign/architect (architecture + frontend/UI visual design system)design/engineerdesign/gatekeeper-design
Boundary Rules
- Record each boundary before requesting a verdict.
- Reuse prior verdicts only when the package revision is unchanged.
- Push remediation back to the owning sub-surface instead of editing its package locally.
Skip Rule
Skip only when an upstream artifact is fully approved, structurally complete, and valid for the next boundary.
Failure Modes
| Scenario | Response |
|---|
| Research, planning, architecture, or interface work disagree on target users, scope, or locked stack assumptions | Freeze package assembly, preserve the contradictory phase outputs, and route the mismatch back to the owning phase instead of normalizing it inside the final package. |
| A phase deliverable looks polished but lacks the gatekeeper-design approval record for the current revision | Keep the phase closed, record the missing approval lineage, and rerun the gate before any later phase advances. |
| An upstream design change invalidates downstream phase work already assembled into the package | Invalidate the affected downstream artifacts, log the drift explicitly, and replay the pipeline from the earliest changed boundary. |
| A requested skip would leave a required frontend, architecture, or implementation artifact absent from the design package | Reject the skip, name the missing boundary, and require an explicit scoped exception before proceeding. |
| A requested skip would leave an API endpoint contract absent for a surface the build must implement | Reject the skip, require design/architect to produce the endpoint inventory and contracts, or record a scoped backend-only/no-endpoint exception. |
Save Protocol
When admiral delegates with Persistence active: yes, commander owns these files within skillset-saves/runs/{run-id}/design/. When persistence is inactive or read-only resume is in effect, commander keeps the same phase sequencing but returns artifacts inline and propagates Persistence active: no to specialists.
| Trigger | What Commander Writes |
|---|
| Phase start | phase-{N}_{skill}/_phase-state.md (state: ACTIVE) |
| Specialist delegation | Include ### Save Context block with phase save path |
| Gate verdict capture | phase-{N}_{skill}/gatekeeper-verdict.md + _phase-state.md update |
| Package consolidation | design-package.md + delegation-log.md |
Save Context block for specialist delegations:
### Save Context
- **Run ID**: {run-id}
- **Save path**: skillset-saves/runs/{run-id}/design/phase-{N}_{skill}/
- **Persistence active**: {yes|no — copied from current run state}
- **Persistence probe result**: {ok|failed|skipped}
- **Context tier**: {1|2|3|4}
- **Artifact mode**: {inline|reference|best-effort-inline}
- **Standalone fallback ref**: {path or "none"}
- **Skipped upstream stages**: {none or list}
- **Session pin**: {true|false}
- **Execution mode**: {agent|skill}
When Save Context is absent or Persistence active: no, skip all save operations and return the deliverable inline.
References
../../grill-me-doctrine.md for the binding intake interview protocol run before assigning specialist work.references/workflow.md for the detailed phase-order, gate-routing, and package-assembly rules.references/examples.md for concrete design-pipeline outputs and handoff examples.intake-brief.yaml for the trigger set, input and output contract, and packaging expectations.stub-contract.md for the required phase order, package shape, and downstream build expectations.agent/agent-manifest.yaml for agent-mode delegation capabilities and fallback behavior.
Packaging Notes
Package SKILL.md, references/workflow.md, references/examples.md, intake-brief.yaml, stub-contract.md, and agent/agent-manifest.yaml together. Keep generated reports and archives outside the skill directory.
