sdlc-orchestrate

name	sdlc-orchestrate
description	Plugin-aware stateless orchestrator sweep for the AgentFlow pipeline. Detects plugin vs standalone mode, manages worker teams via TeamCreate, dispatches tasks via SendMessage handoffs, reads Kanban state, handles transitions, tracks costs, detects issues. Run via crontab every 15 min.

/sdlc-orchestrate

Perform one stateless orchestration sweep of all AgentFlow projects.

This is a ONE-SHOT command. It reads state, makes decisions, updates the Kanban board, and exits. It does NOT run continuously. Durability comes from invoking this via real crontab:

# Default (every 15 min, ~$48/day):
*/15 * * * * ~/.claude/sdlc/agentflow-cron.sh >> /tmp/agentflow-orchestrate.log 2>&1

# Sprint mode (every 5 min, use during active dev only):
# */5 * * * * ~/.claude/sdlc/agentflow-cron.sh >> /tmp/agentflow-orchestrate.log 2>&1

Mode Detection

Detect whether running in plugin mode or standalone mode at startup:

1. Check if SendMessage and TeamCreate tools are available in the current environment
2. Check if the plugin manifest (plugin.json) is loaded

Condition	Mode	Behavior
SendMessage + TeamCreate available	Plugin	Use team management and message dispatch
Tools not available	Standalone	Fall back to slot-based terminal instructions (original behavior)

Set MODE = "plugin" or MODE = "standalone" and log it at sweep start.

Team Management (Plugin Mode Only)

When MODE = "plugin", the orchestrator manages worker agents directly instead of relying on terminal slots.

Spawning Workers

Use TeamCreate to spin up worker agents as needed:

TeamCreate:
  name: "sdlc-worker-T<N>"
  skill: "sdlc-worker"
  args: "--slot T<N>"

Rules:

• Spawn workers on-demand when tasks are ready for dispatch (Step 6)
• Maximum 4 concurrent workers (T2, T3, T4, T5) — matching the slot system
• Track active workers in sweep state: { slot: "T2", agentId: "<id>", taskCode: "PROJ-003" }
• Do NOT pre-spawn idle workers — only create when a task needs dispatch
• If a worker agent exits or becomes unresponsive (no heartbeat for 10 min), mark the slot as available

Worker Lifecycle

Event	Action
Task ready for dispatch	TeamCreate a new worker for the assigned slot
Worker completes stage	Worker self-terminates; slot becomes available
Worker unresponsive (>10 min)	Log warning, mark slot available, task eligible for re-dispatch
All tasks done	No workers running — zero cost when idle

Dispatch Protocol (Plugin Mode)

When MODE = "plugin", replace terminal-based dispatch with SendMessage handoffs.

Dispatching a Task

Instead of updating a slot tag and waiting for a terminal worker to poll:

SendMessage:
  to: "sdlc-worker-T<N>"
  body: |
    Execute stage <STAGE> for task <TASK_CODE>.
    Project: <PROJECT_NAME>
    Task ID: <TASK_ID>
    Retry: <N>
    Predicted files: <FILE_LIST>
    Acceptance criteria: <CRITERIA>

Receiving Completions

Workers send completion messages back via SendMessage:

SendMessage:
  to: "sdlc-orchestrate"
  body: |
    [<STAGE>:<RESULT>] Task <TASK_CODE> complete.
    PR: <PR_URL>
    Cost: ~$<COST>
    Duration: <MINUTES>m

The orchestrator processes these messages at the start of each sweep (before Step 1), updating task state accordingly. This is equivalent to reading comment tags in standalone mode.

Fallback

If SendMessage delivery fails:

1. Log the failure
2. Fall back to comment-based tag updates on the PM tool
3. Continue sweep — do not block on message delivery

Setup

1. Read conventions: conventions.md
2. Read all prompt templates for reference (don't execute them — that's the workers' job)

Sweep Process

Step 0: Acquire Sweep Lock

Check the Status task for a recent [SWEEP:RUNNING <timestamp>] comment. If a sweep started less than 10 minutes ago, EXIT immediately: "Another sweep is still running (started <timestamp>). Skipping this invocation." If no recent sweep or last sweep is >10 min old: Post: [SWEEP:RUNNING <current_timestamp>] Continue with Step 1. At the END of the sweep (after Step 9), post: [SWEEP:COMPLETE <current_timestamp>]

Step 1: Discover Projects

Find all projects with names starting with "[SDLC]"

For each project:

• Get project details (include sections)
• Map section names to section IDs
• Get all tasks per section

Build the complete pipeline state: a map of all tasks, their stages, slots, retry counts, and costs.

Quick check: If ALL tasks across all projects are in Backlog (waiting on dispatch) or Done, and no tasks are in active stages (Research/Build/Review/Test/Integrate), post a minimal status update and EXIT early. This "idle sweep" costs ~$0.02 instead of ~$0.50.

Step 2: Spec Drift Check

For each project, read the pinned Status task (in "0 - Needs Human" section). Parse [SPEC_HASH:<hash>] from its description.

For each project's source SPEC.md:

• Compute SHA-256 hash of current file
• Compare to stored hash
• If changed:
  1. Post [SPEC:CHANGED] comment on Status task
  2. For ALL non-Done tasks, add [NEEDS:REVALIDATION] to description
  3. STOP dispatching for this project until user posts [SPEC:CONTINUE] or [SPEC:REDECOMPOSE]

Step 3: Heartbeat Check

For each task in Build/Review/Test stages with an assigned slot:

• Read comments, find latest [HEARTBEAT] or [BUILD:STARTED]
• If no heartbeat for > 10 minutes:
  1. Post [REASSIGNED] Previous worker (<old_slot>) unresponsive after 10 min. Reassigning.
  2. Clear the slot: update [SLOT:<old>] → [SLOT:--] in task description
  3. The task will be re-dispatched in Step 6

Step 4: Process Stage Transitions

For each task, read the LAST 10 comments per task (not all comments). The latest comment tag determines state. If the task has >20 comments, only parse the most recent 20 for transition logic. This prevents context window overflow on long-running tasks.

Check the latest comment tag and update accordingly:

Latest Tag	Current Section	Action
[RESEARCH:COMPLETE] or [RESEARCH:SKIP]	2 - Research	Move to "3 - Build"
[BUILD:COMPLETE] + [LINT:PASS]	3 - Build	Move to "4 - Review"
[LINT:FAIL]	3 - Build	Keep in Build, clear slot for retry
[REVIEW:PASS] + [COV:PASS]	4 - Review	Move to "5 - Test"
[REVIEW:REJECT]	4 - Review	Move to "3 - Build", trigger feedback loop
[COV:FAIL]	4 - Review	Move to "3 - Build", trigger feedback loop
[TEST:PASS]	5 - Test	Move to "6 - Integrate"
[TEST:REJECT]	5 - Test	Move to "3 - Build", trigger feedback loop
[INTEGRATE:PASS]	6 - Integrate	Move to "7 - Done", mark complete
[INTEGRATE:FAIL]	6 - Integrate	Move to "3 - Build", trigger feedback loop
[BUILD:BLOCKED]	3 - Build	Move to "0 - Needs Human"
[HOLD]	Any	Move to "0 - Needs Human"

Merge lock check: Before processing any [TEST:PASS] transition that would lead to merge, check the Status task for an active [MERGE_LOCK]. If locked by another task, do NOT transition -- leave the task in Test until the lock clears.

Batch move tasks between sections where possible.

Step 5: Trigger Feedback Loops

For each task that was rejected/failed:

1. Increment retry counter: update [RETRY:N] → [RETRY:N+1]
2. Update cost: add stage cost to [COST:~$X]
3. Check cost thresholds (cost ceilings depend on model configuration -- check conventions.md for the active cost profile, Sonnet or Opus. Default to Sonnet ceilings unless the project's conventions explicitly specify Opus):
   • If > warning threshold ($3 Sonnet / $8 Opus): Post [COST:WARNING]
   • If > hard stop ($10 Sonnet / $20 Opus): Post [COST:CRITICAL], move to "0 - Needs Human", STOP processing this task
4. Post retry context comment:

[RETRY:<N+1>]

## Retry Context (Attempt <N+1>)

### What was tried
<Extract from the most recent [BUILD:COMPLETE] comment>

### What failed
<Extract from the rejection comment — [REVIEW:REJECT], [TEST:REJECT], etc.>

### What to do differently
<Synthesize from the rejection details — be specific>

### Accumulated learnings
<Compile ALL previous retry contexts into a summary>

5. Clear slot assignment: [SLOT:T4] → [SLOT:--]
6. On retry 2+: note in the retry context that a DIFFERENT worker should be assigned

Step 6: Dispatch Tasks

For each task in Backlog ("1 - Backlog") section:

Check dependencies:

• Parse ## Dependencies from task description
• For each dependency task code, find the task
• If ALL dependencies are in "7 - Done" → task is ready
• If any dependency is NOT in Done → skip

Check file conflicts:

• Parse ## Predicted Files from this task
• For each task currently in Build/Review/Test/Integrate, parse their predicted files
• If ANY file appears in both lists → skip (serialize)

Calculate priority:

• Count how many other Backlog tasks depend on this task (directly + transitively)
• Higher count = higher priority

Find available slot:

• Check all slots (T2, T3, T4, T5)
• A slot is available if no incomplete task has [SLOT:T<N>] in its description

Assign:

• Pick highest-priority ready task
• Check research trigger: if triggered → move to "2 - Research", else → move to "3 - Build"
• Update task description: [SLOT:--] → [SLOT:T<N>] and [STAGE:Backlog] → [STAGE:Research] or [STAGE:Build]
• Move task to the correct section

Respect role preferences:

• Assign Build/Research tasks preferentially to T2, T3
• Assign Review tasks preferentially to T4
• Assign Test tasks preferentially to T5
• But if preferred slot is busy, use any available slot
• NEVER assign review to the same slot that built the task

Step 7: System-Level Retrospective

Count completed tasks across ALL projects since last retrospective.

If >= 10 new completed tasks since last retrospective:

1. Read all [REVIEW:REJECT], [TEST:REJECT], [LINT:FAIL], [INTEGRATE:FAIL] comments from those tasks
2. Extract common failure patterns (same type of error appearing 3+ times)
3. For each project with failures, read or create LEARNINGS.md in project root:

## Pattern: <pattern name>
**Frequency:** <N>/<total> tasks
**Fix:** <What builders should do differently>
**Added:** <today's date>

4. After writing new patterns, check LEARNINGS.md line count. If >50 lines, remove the oldest patterns (top of file) to keep the file under 50 lines. This prevents the context window bomb on workers.
5. Post comment on Status task: [RETROSPECTIVE] Analyzed <N> completed tasks. Added <M> patterns to LEARNINGS.md.

Step 8: Update Status Dashboard

Update the pinned Status task description:

[STATUS] [SPEC_HASH:<current_hash>]
---
## System Status — <timestamp>

Active: <N> tasks (<slot>: <stage> <task_code>, ...)
Completed: <N>/<total> tasks
Total retries: <N> (details: <task_code>: <retry_count>, ...)
Est. cost: ~$<total across all tasks>
Blocked: <N> (<task_code>: waiting on <dep_code>, ...)
Needs Human: <N> (<task_code>: <reason>, ...)
ETA: ~<hours> at current pace (<tasks_remaining> tasks / <tasks_per_hour> velocity)

### Recent Activity
- <timestamp>: <task_code> moved to <stage>
- <timestamp>: <task_code> <event>

Also update the Status task description with [LAST_SWEEP:<timestamp>]. External monitoring (setup.sh configures this) checks this timestamp. If >30 min stale, an alert fires.

Also post a status update to the project:

• Color: green (all progressing) / yellow (any retries > 2) / red (any in Needs Human)
• Title: "SDLC Sweep - "

Step 9: Check for Pausing

Check if Status task has [SYSTEM:PAUSING] in latest comment:

• If yes: do NOT dispatch new tasks. Only process transitions for already in-progress work.

Completion

Report sweep summary:

SDLC Sweep Complete — <timestamp>
Projects scanned: <N>
Tasks transitioned: <N>
Tasks dispatched: <N>
Tasks in feedback loop: <N>
Spec drift detected: <yes/no>
Dead workers reassigned: <N>

Exit. Wait for next crontab invocation.

Error Handling

• If PM tool API fails mid-sweep → report what was completed, what failed
• If a task's description is malformed (can't parse metadata) → move to Needs Human with note
• If dependency resolution creates a deadlock (all Backlog tasks waiting on each other) → report as critical error