transition

name	transition
description	Mark current phase complete and advance to next. Handles progress tracking, PROJECT.md evolution, and phase advancement.

<required_reading>

Read these files NOW:

1. .gsd/STATE.md
2. .gsd/PROJECT.md
3. .gsd/ROADMAP.md
4. Current phase's plan files (*-PLAN.md)
5. Current phase's summary files (*-SUMMARY.md)

</required_reading>

Mark current phase complete and advance to next. This is the natural point where progress tracking and PROJECT.md evolution happen.

"Planning next phase" = "current phase is done"

Before transition, read project state:

cat .gsd/STATE.md 2>/dev/null
cat .gsd/PROJECT.md 2>/dev/null

Parse current position to verify we're transitioning the right phase. Note accumulated context that may need updating after transition.

Check current phase has all plan summaries:

ls .gsd/phases/XX-current/*-PLAN.md 2>/dev/null | sort
ls .gsd/phases/XX-current/*-SUMMARY.md 2>/dev/null | sort

Verification logic:

• Count PLAN files
• Count SUMMARY files
• If counts match: all plans complete
• If counts don't match: incomplete

cat .gsd/config.json 2>/dev/null

If all plans complete:

⚡ Auto-approved: Transition Phase [X] → Phase [X+1]
Phase [X] complete — all [Y] plans finished.

Proceeding to mark done and advance...

Proceed directly to cleanup_handoff step.

Ask: "Phase [X] complete — all [Y] plans finished. Ready to mark done and move to Phase [X+1]?"

Wait for confirmation before proceeding.

If plans incomplete:

SAFETY RAIL: always_confirm_destructive applies here. Skipping incomplete plans is destructive — ALWAYS prompt regardless of mode.

Present:

Phase [X] has incomplete plans:
- {phase}-01-SUMMARY.md ✓ Complete
- {phase}-02-SUMMARY.md ✗ Missing
- {phase}-03-SUMMARY.md ✗ Missing

⚠️ Safety rail: Skipping plans requires confirmation (destructive action)

Options:
1. Continue current phase (execute remaining plans)
2. Mark complete anyway (skip remaining plans)
3. Review what's left

Wait for user decision.

Check for lingering handoffs:

ls .gsd/phases/XX-current/.continue-here*.md 2>/dev/null

If found, delete them — phase is complete, handoffs are stale.

Update the roadmap file:

ROADMAP_FILE=".gsd/ROADMAP.md"

Update the file:

• Mark current phase: [x] Complete
• Add completion date
• Update plan count to final (e.g., "3/3 plans complete")
• Update Progress table
• Keep next phase as [ ] Not started

Example:

## Phases

- [x] Phase 1: Foundation (completed 2025-01-15)
- [ ] Phase 2: Authentication ← Next
- [ ] Phase 3: Core Features

## Progress

| Phase             | Plans Complete | Status      | Completed  |
| ----------------- | -------------- | ----------- | ---------- |
| 1. Foundation     | 3/3            | Complete    | 2025-01-15 |
| 2. Authentication | 0/2            | Not started | -          |
| 3. Core Features  | 0/1            | Not started | -          |

If prompts were generated for the phase, they stay in place. The completed/ subfolder pattern from create-meta-prompts handles archival.

Evolve PROJECT.md to reflect learnings from completed phase.

Read phase summaries:

cat .gsd/phases/XX-current/*-SUMMARY.md

Assess requirement changes:

1. Requirements validated?

   • Any Active requirements shipped in this phase?
   • Move to Validated with phase reference: - ✓ [Requirement] — Phase X

2. Requirements invalidated?

   • Any Active requirements discovered to be unnecessary or wrong?
   • Move to Out of Scope with reason: - [Requirement] — [why invalidated]

3. Requirements emerged?

   • Any new requirements discovered during building?
   • Add to Active: - [ ] [New requirement]

4. Decisions to log?

   • Extract decisions from SUMMARY.md files
   • Add to Key Decisions table with outcome if known

5. "What This Is" still accurate?

   • If the product has meaningfully changed, update the description
   • Keep it current and accurate

Update PROJECT.md:

Make the edits inline. Update "Last updated" footer:

---

_Last updated: [date] after Phase [X]_

Example evolution:

Before:

### Active

- [ ] JWT authentication
- [ ] Real-time sync < 500ms
- [ ] Offline mode

### Out of Scope

- OAuth2 — complexity not needed for v1

After (Phase 2 shipped JWT auth, discovered rate limiting needed):

### Validated

- ✓ JWT authentication — Phase 2

### Active

- [ ] Real-time sync < 500ms
- [ ] Offline mode
- [ ] Rate limiting on sync endpoint

### Out of Scope

- OAuth2 — complexity not needed for v1

Step complete when:

• Phase summaries reviewed for learnings
• Validated requirements moved from Active
• Invalidated requirements moved to Out of Scope with reason
• Emerged requirements added to Active
• New decisions logged with rationale
• "What This Is" updated if product changed
• "Last updated" footer reflects this transition

Update Current Position section in STATE.md to reflect phase completion and transition.

Format:

Phase: [next] of [total] ([Next phase name])
Plan: Not started
Status: Ready to plan
Last activity: [today] — Phase [X] complete, transitioned to Phase [X+1]

Progress: [updated progress bar]

Instructions:

• Increment phase number to next phase
• Reset plan to "Not started"
• Set status to "Ready to plan"
• Update last activity to describe transition
• Recalculate progress bar based on completed plans

Example — transitioning from Phase 2 to Phase 3:

Before:

## Current Position

Phase: 2 of 4 (Authentication)
Plan: 2 of 2 in current phase
Status: Phase complete
Last activity: 2025-01-20 — Completed 02-02-PLAN.md

Progress: ███████░░░ 60%

After:

## Current Position

Phase: 3 of 4 (Core Features)
Plan: Not started
Status: Ready to plan
Last activity: 2025-01-20 — Phase 2 complete, transitioned to Phase 3

Progress: ███████░░░ 60%

Step complete when:

• Phase number incremented to next phase
• Plan status reset to "Not started"
• Status shows "Ready to plan"
• Last activity describes the transition
• Progress bar reflects total completed plans

Update Project Reference section in STATE.md.

## Project Reference

See: .gsd/PROJECT.md (updated [today])

**Core value:** [Current core value from PROJECT.md]
**Current focus:** [Next phase name]

Update the date and current focus to reflect the transition.

Review and update Accumulated Context section in STATE.md.

Decisions:

• Note recent decisions from this phase (3-5 max)
• Full log lives in PROJECT.md Key Decisions table

Blockers/Concerns:

• Review blockers from completed phase
• If addressed in this phase: Remove from list
• If still relevant for future: Keep with "Phase X" prefix
• Add any new concerns from completed phase's summaries

Example:

Before:

### Blockers/Concerns

- ⚠️ [Phase 1] Database schema not indexed for common queries
- ⚠️ [Phase 2] WebSocket reconnection behavior on flaky networks unknown

After (if database indexing was addressed in Phase 2):

### Blockers/Concerns

- ⚠️ [Phase 2] WebSocket reconnection behavior on flaky networks unknown

Step complete when:

• Recent decisions noted (full log in PROJECT.md)
• Resolved blockers removed from list
• Unresolved blockers kept with phase prefix
• New concerns from completed phase added

Update Session Continuity section in STATE.md to reflect transition completion.

Format:

Last session: [today]
Stopped at: Phase [X] complete, ready to plan Phase [X+1]
Resume file: None

Step complete when:

• Last session timestamp updated to current date and time
• Stopped at describes phase completion and next phase
• Resume file confirmed as None (transitions don't use resume files)

MANDATORY: Verify milestone status before presenting next steps.

Step 1: Read ROADMAP.md and identify phases in current milestone

Read the ROADMAP.md file and extract:

1. Current phase number (the phase just transitioned from)
2. All phase numbers in the current milestone section

To find phases, look for:

• Phase headers: lines starting with ### Phase or #### Phase
• Phase list items: lines like - [ ] **Phase X: or - [x] **Phase X:

Count total phases and identify the highest phase number in the milestone.

State: "Current phase is {X}. Milestone has {N} phases (highest: {Y})."

Step 2: Route based on milestone status

Condition	Meaning	Action
current phase < highest phase	More phases remain	Go to Route A
current phase = highest phase	Milestone complete	Go to Route B

---

Route A: More phases remain in milestone

Read ROADMAP.md to get the next phase's name and goal.

If next phase exists:

Phase [X] marked complete.

Next: Phase [X+1] — [Name]

⚡ Auto-continuing: Plan Phase [X+1] in detail

Exit skill and invoke SlashCommand("/plan-phase.md [X+1]")

## ✓ Phase [X] Complete

---

## ▶ Next Up

**Phase [X+1]: [Name]** — [Goal from ROADMAP.md]

`/plan-phase.md [X+1]`

<sub>`/clear` first → fresh context window</sub>

---

**Also available:**
- `/discuss-phase.md [X+1]` — gather context first
- `/research-phase.md [X+1]` — investigate unknowns
- Review roadmap

---

---

Route B: Milestone complete (all phases done)

Phase {X} marked complete.

🎉 Milestone {version} is 100% complete — all {N} phases finished!

⚡ Auto-continuing: Complete milestone and archive

Exit skill and invoke SlashCommand("/complete-milestone.md {version}")

## ✓ Phase {X}: {Phase Name} Complete

🎉 Milestone {version} is 100% complete — all {N} phases finished!

---

## ▶ Next Up

**Complete Milestone {version}** — archive and prepare for next

`/complete-milestone.md {version}`

<sub>`/clear` first → fresh context window</sub>

---

**Also available:**
- Review accomplishments before archiving

---

<implicit_tracking> Progress tracking is IMPLICIT: planning phase N implies phases 1-(N-1) complete. No separate progress step—forward motion IS progress. </implicit_tracking>

<partial_completion>

If user wants to move on but phase isn't fully complete:

Phase [X] has incomplete plans:
- {phase}-02-PLAN.md (not executed)
- {phase}-03-PLAN.md (not executed)

Options:
1. Mark complete anyway (plans weren't needed)
2. Defer work to later phase
3. Stay and finish current phase

Respect user judgment — they know if work matters.

If marking complete with incomplete plans:

• Update ROADMAP: "2/3 plans complete" (not "3/3")
• Note in transition message which plans were skipped

</partial_completion>

<success_criteria>

Transition is complete when:

• Current phase plan summaries verified (all exist or user chose to skip)
• Any stale handoffs deleted
• ROADMAP.md updated with completion status and plan count
• PROJECT.md evolved (requirements, decisions, description if needed)
• STATE.md updated (position, project reference, context, session)
• Progress table updated
• User knows next steps

</success_criteria>