autopilot-pipeline

name	autopilot-pipeline
description	Runs the full feature-delivery SDD pipeline end-to-end without user interaction. When called without arguments, auto-selects the first unchecked epic from specs/project-plan.md. Requires Autopilot enabled in config, a Product Document, and a Technical Context Document. Use when running /sddp-autopilot.

Autopilot Pipeline

- Runs ALL SDD phases in one uninterrupted turn — loads and executes each sub-skill inline. Does not duplicate sub-skill logic. - Execute every phase for real. Not a demo, showcase, dry run, or simulation. - Loading a sub-skill = performing its real work: file edits, installs, builds, tests, validations, retries, QC checks. - Never invent progress, test results, QC verdicts, or artifact state. Never manually create `.completed`, `.qc-passed`, or `qc-report.md` as stand-ins. - If any phase action cannot complete for real → **HALT** and report blocker. Never simulate success. - `AUTOPILOT = true` for every sub-skill invocation. - Never yield control to user between phases — one continuous turn until QC passes or halt. - `$ARGUMENTS` is optional. When empty and `specs/project-plan.md` exists with unchecked epics, the first unchecked epic is auto-selected. - Both Product Document and Technical Context Document are mandatory. - Does not execute bootstrap phases (`/sddp-prd`, `/sddp-systemdesign`, `/sddp-init`). - Report progress at each phase boundary. - Halt conditions strictly defined below — no other conditions stop the pipeline. - **Artifact conventions** (`.github/skills/artifact-conventions/SKILL.md`): All sub-skill artifact rules apply. - Write all automatic decisions to `FEATURE_DIR/autopilot-log.md`.

1. Gate Check

1a. Config & Feature Setup

1. Read .github/sddp-config.md if it exists.
2. If specs/prd.md exists and config has empty ## Product Document → **Path**: → set it to specs/prd.md.
3. If specs/sad.md exists and config has empty ## Technical Context Document → **Path**: → set it to specs/sad.md.
4. If specs/dod.md exists and config has empty ## Deployment & Operations Document → **Path**: → set it to specs/dod.md (optional enrichment, not a prerequisite).
5. Parse config ## Autopilot → **Enabled**:. If false or missing → HALT: "Autopilot is disabled. Set **Enabled**: true in .github/sddp-config.md under ## Autopilot."
6. Auto-select epic when no arguments provided:
   • If $ARGUMENTS not empty → continue to step 7.
   • If specs/project-plan.md exists:
     • Read the file and find the first line matching ^- \[ \] (E\d{3}) .+\} (.+)$ (first unchecked epic in document order).
     • Found → extract EPIC_ID (capture group 1) and epic title (capture group 2, trimmed). Set $ARGUMENTS = "{EPIC_ID} {epic_title}". Log to autopilot-log (Step 1d): "Auto-selected epic {EPIC_ID} from project-plan.md".
     • No unchecked epic found → HALT: "All epics in specs/project-plan.md are complete. No remaining work."
   • If specs/project-plan.md does not exist → HALT: "Feature description required. Usage: /sddp-autopilot <feature description>. To enable automatic epic selection, run /sddp-projectplan first."
7. Delegate: Context Gatherer in full mode with autopilot=true, naming_seed=$ARGUMENTS → resolves FEATURE_DIR, PRODUCT_DOC, TECH_CONTEXT_DOC, all context fields.
8. If CONTEXT_BLOCKED = true → HALT: "[BLOCKING_REASON] Fix and re-run /sddp-autopilot."

1b. Document Gate

Both documents required. Either fails → HALT.

Product Document:

1. HAS_PRODUCT_DOC = false → HALT: "Run /sddp-prd or register in .github/sddp-config.md under ## Product Document → **Path**:."
2. Read file at PRODUCT_DOC path. Unreadable → HALT.
3. Sufficiency: Verify ≥3 of 5 categories have substantive content:
   • Product vision/purpose: goal, vision, purpose, problem, objective, mission
   • Target audience/actors: user, customer, persona, actor, stakeholder, audience, role
   • Domain context: ≥2 distinct domain-specific terms
   • Scope/boundaries: scope, in scope, out of scope, boundary, constraint, limitation
   • Success measures: KPI, metric, success, measure, outcome, target
4. <3 categories → HALT: "Product Document insufficient. Missing: [list]. Need ≥3/5 categories. Run /sddp-prd."

Technical Context Document:

1. HAS_TECH_CONTEXT_DOC = false → HALT: "Run /sddp-systemdesign or register in .github/sddp-config.md under ## Technical Context Document → **Path**:."
2. Read file at TECH_CONTEXT_DOC path. Unreadable → HALT.
3. Sufficiency: Verify ≥3 of 5 categories:
   • Language/runtime: language, runtime, python, node, typescript, go, rust, java, C#, .net, ruby, version
   • Framework/libraries: framework, react, vue, angular, express, fastapi, django, spring, next, library, dependency
   • Storage/database: database, storage, postgres, mysql, mongo, redis, cosmos, sqlite, dynamodb, supabase, firebase
   • Infrastructure/deployment: deploy, hosting, cloud, aws, azure, gcp, docker, kubernetes, vercel, CI, CD
   • Architecture/patterns: architecture, monolith, microservice, serverless, REST, GraphQL, event-driven, MVC, pattern, layer
4. <3 categories → HALT: "Technical Context Document insufficient. Missing: [list]. Need ≥3/5 categories. Run /sddp-systemdesign."

1c. Feature Complete Check

FEATURE_COMPLETE = true → HALT: "Feature at FEATURE_DIR already complete (.qc-passed exists). Create a new branch."

1d. Initialize Audit Log

Create FEATURE_DIR/autopilot-log.md:

# Autopilot Decision Log

> Auto-generated. Records every automatic decision made during autopilot execution.

| Timestamp | Phase | Decision Point | Chosen Value | Rationale |
|-----------|-------|---------------|--------------|-----------|

Log gate check results.

2. Pipeline Execution

Execute phases sequentially: report start → load and execute SKILL.md inline for real → verify output artifact → log to autopilot-log.md → continue.

Phase 1: Specify

• Report: "═══ Phase 1/7: Specify ═══"
• Execute .github/skills/specify-feature/SKILL.md with $ARGUMENTS.
• Verify: FEATURE_DIR/spec.md exists. Missing → HALT.
• Pipeline hints: If specs/project-plan.md exists and EPIC_ID resolved → read epic detail, parse Pipeline hints → store HINT_SKIP_CLARIFY, HINT_SKIP_CHECKLIST, HINT_LIGHTWEIGHT (default all false). Log to autopilot-log.md.

Phase 2: Clarify

• HINT_SKIP_CLARIFY = true → report skipped (pipeline hint), log to FEATURE_DIR/autopilot-log.md: "Pipeline hint: skip_clarify — skipping Clarify phase", skip to Phase 3.
• Otherwise: report → execute .github/skills/clarify-spec/SKILL.md → verify spec.md exists.

Phase 3: Plan

• HINT_LIGHTWEIGHT = true → log hint, pass LIGHTWEIGHT = true to plan skill.
• Report → execute .github/skills/plan-feature/SKILL.md → verify FEATURE_DIR/plan.md exists. Missing → HALT.

Phase 4: Checklist (loop)

• HINT_SKIP_CHECKLIST = true → report skipped (pipeline hint), log to FEATURE_DIR/autopilot-log.md: "Pipeline hint: skip_checklist — skipping Checklist phase", skip to Phase 5.
• If FEATURE_DIR/checklists/.checklists exists → loop: invoke .github/skills/generate-checklist/SKILL.md repeatedly, each picks next unchecked CHL###, until QUEUE_EXHAUSTED = true. Report count.
• No .checklists file → report "No checklist queue — skipping."

Phase 5: Tasks

• Report → execute .github/skills/generate-tasks/SKILL.md → verify FEATURE_DIR/tasks.md exists. Missing → HALT.

Phase 6: Analyze

• Report → execute .github/skills/analyze-compliance/SKILL.md. A1 autopilot guard auto-applies remediations.
• CRITICAL project-instructions.md violation → HALT: "Manual resolution required."
• Verify: FEATURE_DIR/analysis-report.md exists.

Phase 7: Implement + QC

• Report → execute .github/skills/implement-qc-loop/SKILL.md (up to 10 iterations).
• Verify: FEATURE_DIR/qc-report.md exists with Overall Verdict: PASS AND .qc-passed exists.
• If missing, verdict ≠ PASS, or .qc-passed missing → HALTED.
• If manual-test.md generated → HALTED (requires human verification).

Post-Pipeline: Mark Epic Complete

• Guard: EPIC_ID resolved (from Phase 1 or spec.md frontmatter epic_id) AND specs/project-plan.md exists.
• If guard fails → skip silently (non-blocking).
• Read specs/project-plan.md, locate the line matching ^- \[ \] {EPIC_ID} \[P[123]\].
  • Found → replace - [ ] with - [X] on that line. Log to FEATURE_DIR/autopilot-log.md: "Epic {EPIC_ID} marked complete in project-plan.md".
  • Already [X] → skip, log: "Epic {EPIC_ID} already marked complete".
  • Not found → skip, log: "Epic {EPIC_ID} not found in project-plan.md".

3. Halt Conditions

Pipeline stops immediately for:

1. CRITICAL project-instructions.md violation — any phase, any Policy Auditor or Analyze check.
2. Implement-QC loop exhausted — 10 iterations without QC pass.
3. manual-test.md generated — manual verification required.
4. Gate artifact missing — phase did not produce expected artifact.
5. Feature already complete — .qc-passed existed at start.
6. Document sufficiency failure — Product or Technical Context Document below threshold.
7. Real execution blocked — required action cannot complete in current environment.
8. Context resolution failure — detached HEAD or blocking git error.

When halting:

• If FEATURE_DIR available → log halt reason to autopilot-log.md.
• Report to user: halted phase, reason, manual resolution guidance.
• Proceed to Final Report (Step 4).

4. Final Report

After pipeline completes or halts, display a summary:

Content: Feature dir, Status (PASSED or HALTED at phase), Phases completed (N/7), per-phase status table (Specify/Clarify/Plan/Checklist/Tasks/Analyze/Implement+QC — each ✓/✗/⊘ + key output), autopilot decision count (ref autopilot-log.md), artifact list with ✓/✗.

If HALTED: Include halt reason, phase, and specific resolution guidance with commands. If PASSED: "Feature is verified and ready for release. Run git add . && git commit -m 'feat: [feature]' and open a PR." If epic was marked complete → append: "Epic {EPIC_ID} marked complete in specs/project-plan.md."