| name | st-flow |
| description | Flow workflow chain that runs clarify → [research] → plan → execute → validate end-to-end without stopping. Pauses only on genuine ambiguity or circuit-breaker conditions. |
Flow Workflow Chain
Run the full pipeline end-to-end. Do NOT pause between phases unless a stop condition is hit.
| Complexity | Pipeline |
|---|
| Simple | Clarify → Plan → Execute → Validate |
| Standard | Clarify → Research → Plan → Execute → Validate |
| Complex | Clarify → Research → Plan → Execute → Validate |
Flow Rules
-
Zero-pause default. Phases flow into each other automatically. Do NOT present output and wait for confirmation between phases. Emit a one-line status update when entering each phase (e.g., "[Clarify] Analyzing request..." / "[Plan] Designing implementation...").
-
Single ambiguity gate (Clarify phase only). Pause ONLY if the user's request has genuine ambiguity — no identifiable action, contradictory requirements, or multiple plausible interpretations with no way to pick one. If the request has concrete anchors (specific files, a clear action verb, identifiable scope), the consultant MUST produce the brief and return immediately without asking questions or waiting.
-
Stop conditions. Halt the pipeline and report to the user if ANY of these occur:
- The same error appears 3 times during Execute
- Validate reports Fail status 3 rounds in a row (execute-validate retry loop)
- User explicitly says "stop", "cancel", or "pause"
-
Execute-Validate retry loop. If Validate finds issues with severity "high" or "critical", automatically re-enter Execute to fix them, then re-Validate. Loop up to 3 times before halting.
-
Phase skills have their own pause instructions — ignore them. When running inside st-flow, override any "wait for user" / "ask for approval" instructions in individual phase skills. Those pauses exist for standalone use only.
Agents
| Phase | Agent | Model | Tools | Color |
|---|
| Clarify | stelite:consultant | opus | Glob, Grep, Read, Bash | cyan |
| Research | stelite:researcher | inherit | Glob, Grep, Read, Bash | blue |
| Plan | stelite:architect | opus | Glob, Grep, Read, Bash | green |
| Execute | stelite:executor | inherit | All tools | yellow |
| Validate | stelite:reviewer | sonnet | Glob, Grep, Read, Bash | magenta |
Agents with inherit model have their model overridden based on complexity.
Phase 1: Clarify
Launch the consultant agent. Pass the following override instruction:
FLOW MODE: Do NOT ask clarifying questions or wait for user confirmation unless the request is genuinely ambiguous (no identifiable action, contradictory, or multiple incompatible interpretations). If the intent is clear enough to act on, produce the Task Brief and return immediately. Prefer making reasonable assumptions over asking questions.
The consultant will:
- Do a lightweight codebase scan (3-5 tool calls)
- Parse the core intent
- Define scope and determine complexity: simple / standard / complex
- Produce a Task Brief
Emit status: [Clarify] <objective from brief> | Complexity: <level>
Proceed immediately to the next phase.
Phase 2: Research — skip if Simple
Skip for Simple tasks.
For Standard / Complex tasks, launch the researcher agent with model override:
- Standard →
model: "sonnet"
- Complex →
model: "sonnet"
Parallel execution: If the task spans multiple independent areas, launch multiple researcher agents in parallel (one per area). Combine their findings before proceeding.
Emit status: [Research] Investigated <N> areas, <summary>
Proceed immediately to Plan.
Phase 3: Plan
Launch the architect agent. Pass all available context (Task Brief + Research findings if applicable).
Pass the following override instruction:
FLOW MODE: Produce the implementation blueprint and return it. Do NOT present it for approval or ask for adjustments. The executor will follow it directly.
Emit status: [Plan] <N> steps across <N> files
Proceed immediately to Execute.
Phase 4: Execute
Launch the executor agent with model override based on complexity:
- Simple →
model: "haiku"
- Standard →
model: "sonnet"
- Complex →
model: "opus"
Parallel execution: If the plan contains independent steps, launch multiple executor agents in parallel — one per independent group.
Emit status: [Execute] Modified <N> files
Proceed immediately to Validate.
Phase 5: Validate
Launch the reviewer agent. It will review all changes, run tests/linting if available, and produce a verification report.
- If Pass or only low-severity issues: emit status
[Validate] Pass and finalize.
- If Fail or high/critical issues: emit status
[Validate] Issues found, retrying... and loop back to Execute (up to 3 times per stop condition #4).
Finalize
After all phases complete (or a stop condition halts the pipeline), present a single summary:
- Objective (from Clarify)
- Changes made (from Execute)
- Validation status (from Validate)
- Issues (if any remain)