workflow-status

name	workflow-status
description	Display current workflow state across discovery.db and beads. Shows active briefs, open epics, blocked tasks, recent activity, and suggests next actions. Use when resuming work or checking project status.

Workflow Status Skill

Purpose

Provide a comprehensive view of the current state of all workflow activities, combining data from both discovery.db (pre-approval pipeline) and .beads/ (post-approval execution). This skill helps users understand where they left off and what to do next.

When to Use

• User asks "What's the status?", "Where did I leave off?", "What should I work on?"
• Resuming work after an interruption or break
• Getting oriented on overall project state
• Understanding what's blocked or needs attention
• Checking on progress across multiple features

Process

Step 0: Path Detection

Determine the location of discovery.db to support both new .parade/ structure and legacy project root:

# Path detection for .parade/ structure
if [ -f ".parade/discovery.db" ]; then
  DISCOVERY_DB=".parade/discovery.db"
else
  DISCOVERY_DB="./discovery.db"
fi

All subsequent database operations in this skill use $DISCOVERY_DB instead of hardcoded discovery.db.

Step 1: Query Discovery Pipeline

Check for briefs in the pre-approval workflow:

sqlite3 -json "$DISCOVERY_DB" "
SELECT
  id,
  title,
  status,
  priority,
  datetime(updated_at, 'localtime') as updated_at,
  datetime(created_at, 'localtime') as created_at
FROM briefs
WHERE status IN ('draft', 'in_discovery', 'spec_ready')
ORDER BY
  CASE priority
    WHEN 1 THEN 1
    WHEN 2 THEN 2
    WHEN 3 THEN 3
    WHEN 4 THEN 4
  END,
  updated_at DESC;
"

Step 2: Query Beads for Active Epics

Get all open and in-progress epics with task counts:

bd list --status open --json
bd list --status in_progress --json

For each epic, get child task breakdown:

# Count tasks by status for each epic
bd list --json | jq '[.[] | select(.parent_id == "<epic-id>") | group_by(.status) | {status: .[0].status, count: length}]'

Step 3: Identify Blocked Tasks

Find all tasks that are blocked:

bd list --status blocked --json

Step 4: Get Ready Work

Show what's available to work on right now:

bd ready --json

Step 5: Query Recent Activity

Get the last 10 workflow events:

sqlite3 -json "$DISCOVERY_DB" "
SELECT
  brief_id,
  event_type,
  details,
  datetime(created_at, 'localtime') as created_at
FROM workflow_events
ORDER BY created_at DESC
LIMIT 10;
"

Step 6: Format and Display

Present information in a structured format:

## Workflow Status

### Discovery Pipeline
- [brief-id]: Title (status: draft) - Priority: High - Last updated: 2 hours ago
- [brief-id]: Title (status: in_discovery) - Priority: Medium - Last updated: 1 day ago
- [brief-id]: Title (status: spec_ready) - Priority: High - Created: 3 days ago

### Active Epics
- [epic-id]: Epic Title (status: in_progress)
  - Tasks: 3 open, 2 in_progress, 1 completed, 0 blocked

- [epic-id]: Another Epic (status: open)
  - Tasks: 5 open, 0 in_progress, 0 completed, 0 blocked

### Blocked Tasks
- [task-id]: Task Title - Epic: [epic-id]
  - Reason: Dependency on [other-task-id]
  - Blocked since: 2 hours ago

### Ready to Work
- [task-id]: Task Title (epic: [epic-id])
- [task-id]: Another Task (epic: [epic-id])

### Recent Activity (Last 10 Events)
- 2 hours ago: spec_approved for brief-id
- 1 day ago: discovery_completed for brief-id
- 2 days ago: created for brief-id

Step 7: Suggest Next Actions

Based on the current state, provide actionable recommendations:

If there are draft briefs:

Suggested Actions:
- Run /start-discovery <brief-id> to begin discovery for "<title>"

If there are spec_ready briefs:

Suggested Actions:
- Run /approve-spec <brief-id> to export "<title>" to beads

If there are ready tasks:

Suggested Actions:
- Run /run-tasks to begin execution on <N> ready tasks

If there are blocked tasks but no ready work:

Suggested Actions:
- Review blocked tasks: bd show <task-id>
- Resolve dependencies or blockers manually

If everything is idle:

Suggested Actions:
- Run /create-brief to start a new feature
- Review completed work: bd list --status closed --json

---

Implementation Details

SQL Queries

Get Briefs by Status

SELECT
  id,
  title,
  status,
  priority,
  problem_statement,
  datetime(updated_at, 'localtime') as updated_at,
  datetime(created_at, 'localtime') as created_at
FROM briefs
WHERE status IN ('draft', 'in_discovery', 'spec_ready')
ORDER BY priority, updated_at DESC;

Get Recent Workflow Events

SELECT
  brief_id,
  event_type,
  details,
  datetime(created_at, 'localtime') as created_at
FROM workflow_events
ORDER BY created_at DESC
LIMIT 10;

Count Briefs by Status

SELECT
  status,
  COUNT(*) as count,
  GROUP_CONCAT(id, ', ') as brief_ids
FROM briefs
WHERE status != 'archived'
GROUP BY status;

Beads Commands

List All Epics

bd list --json | jq '[.[] | select(.issue_type == "epic")]'

Get Task Counts for Epic

# For a specific epic ID
EPIC_ID="<epic-id>"
bd list --json | jq --arg epic "$EPIC_ID" '
  [.[] | select(.parent_id == $epic)] |
  group_by(.status) |
  map({status: .[0].status, count: length})
'

List Blocked Tasks with Details

bd list --status blocked --json | jq '.[] | {
  id: .id,
  title: .title,
  parent_id: .parent_id,
  updated_at: .updated_at
}'

Get Ready Work

bd ready --json

---

Display Format

Priority Levels

• 1: Critical (🔴)
• 2: High (🟠)
• 3: Medium (🟡)
• 4: Low (🟢)

Status Indicators

• draft: Initial brief created
• in_discovery: Discovery process running
• spec_ready: Specification complete, ready for approval
• open: Task/epic created but not started
• in_progress: Actively being worked on
• blocked: Cannot proceed due to dependency or issue
• completed: Finished successfully

Time Formatting

Show relative time when recent (< 24h), otherwise show absolute:

• "2 hours ago"
• "Yesterday"
• "Jan 2, 2026"

---

Example Output

## Workflow Status (as of Jan 2, 2026 2:30 PM)

### Discovery Pipeline (2 active)

- [athlete-experience-tracking]: Athlete Experience Level Tracking
  Status: spec_ready | Priority: High (2) | Updated: 3 hours ago

- [data-export-feature]: Export Training Data
  Status: in_discovery | Priority: Medium (3) | Updated: 1 day ago

### Active Epics (1)

- [customTaskTracker-xbi]: Workflow Orchestration System
  Status: in_progress | Tasks: 8 open, 2 in_progress, 3 completed, 1 blocked

### Blocked Tasks (1)

- [customTaskTracker-xbi.9]: Implement sub-agent spawning
  Epic: Workflow Orchestration System
  Blocked since: 2 hours ago
  Run: bd show customTaskTracker-xbi.9 for details

### Ready to Work (3 tasks)

- [customTaskTracker-xbi.12]: Create /workflow-status skill
- [customTaskTracker-xbi.13]: Add status update commands
- [customTaskTracker-xbi.14]: Create verification tests

### Recent Activity

- 2 hours ago: spec_approved for athlete-experience-tracking
- 4 hours ago: sme_review_completed for athlete-experience-tracking
- 1 day ago: discovery_started for data-export-feature
- 2 days ago: created for data-export-feature
- 3 days ago: task_completed for customTaskTracker-xbi.8

### Suggested Next Actions

1. Run /run-tasks to work on 3 ready tasks
2. Run /approve-spec athlete-experience-tracking to export to beads
3. Review blocked task: bd show customTaskTracker-xbi.9

---

Error Handling

Discovery DB Not Found

Warning: discovery.db not found at .parade/ or project root.
No discovery pipeline data available.

Run /create-brief to start a new feature.

Beads Not Initialized

Warning: Beads not initialized (.beads/ directory missing).
No task execution data available.

Tasks will appear here after running /approve-spec.

No Active Work

## Workflow Status

No active briefs, epics, or tasks found.

Suggested Actions:
- Run /create-brief to start a new feature
- Check archived work: sqlite3 "$DISCOVERY_DB" "SELECT * FROM briefs WHERE status = 'archived';"

---

Tips

• Use this skill at the start of each session to get oriented
• Combine with bd show <id> to drill into specific tasks
• Check workflow status before running /run-tasks to ensure work is ready
• Use recent activity to understand what happened while you were away
• Suggested actions are prioritized by workflow stage (discovery → spec → execution)