| name | conductor |
| description | Context-driven development methodology for organized, spec-first coding. Use when:
- Project has a `conductor/` directory
- User mentions specs, plans, tracks, or context-driven development
- Files like `conductor/tracks.md`, `conductor/product.md`, `conductor/workflow.md` exist
- User asks about project status, implementation progress, or track management
- User wants to organize development work with TDD practices
- User invokes `/conductor-*` commands (setup, newtrack, implement, status, revert, validate, block, skip, revise, archive, export, handoff, refresh, formula, wisp, distill)
- User mentions documentation is outdated or wants to sync context with codebase changes
Interoperable with Gemini CLI extension and Claude Code commands.
Integrates with Beads for persistent task memory across sessions.
|
Conductor: Context-Driven Development
Measure twice, code once.
Overview
Conductor enables context-driven development by:
- Establishing project context (product vision, tech stack, workflow)
- Organizing work into "tracks" (features, bugs, improvements)
- Creating specs and phased implementation plans
- Executing with TDD practices and progress tracking
- Parallel execution of independent tasks using sub-agents
For parallel execution details (annotations, state schema, when to use), see references/workflows.md.
Context Loading
When this skill activates, load these files to understand the project:
conductor/product.md - Product vision and goalsconductor/tech-stack.md - Technology constraintsconductor/workflow.md - Development methodology (TDD, commits)conductor/tracks.md - Current work statusconductor/patterns.md - Codebase patterns (read before starting work)
Important: Conductor commits locally but never pushes. Users decide when to push to remote.
For active tracks, also load:
conductor/tracks/<track_id>/spec.mdconductor/tracks/<track_id>/plan.mdconductor/tracks/<track_id>/learnings.md - Patterns/gotchas from this track
Learnings System (Ralph-style)
Conductor captures and consolidates learnings across tracks. For full details, see references/learnings-system.md.
Key Files
conductor/patterns.md - Project-level consolidated patternsconductor/tracks/<id>/learnings.md - Per-track discoveries
Templates
Knowledge Flywheel
- Capture - After each task, append to track's
learnings.md
- Elevate - At phase/track completion, promote reusable patterns to
patterns.md
- Archive - Extract remaining patterns before archiving
- Inherit - New tracks read
patterns.md to prime context
Beads Integration
Beads integration is always attempted for persistent task memory. If bd CLI is unavailable or fails, the user can choose to continue without it. All conductor commands work normally without Beads.
For full Beads details (availability check, CLI commands, session protocol, chemistry patterns), see references/beads-integration.md.
For Beads overview within workflow context (sync behavior, configuration, graceful degradation), see references/workflows.md.
Quick Detection (MUST check before using bd commands)
if which bd > /dev/null 2>&1 && [ -f conductor/beads.json ]; then
BEADS_ENABLED=$(cat conductor/beads.json | grep -o '"enabled"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*true' || echo "")
if [ -n "$BEADS_ENABLED" ]; then
fi
fi
Proactive Behaviors
- On new session: Check for in-progress tracks, offer to resume
- On task completion: Suggest next task or phase verification
- On blocked detection: Alert user and suggest alternatives
- On all tasks complete: Congratulate and offer archive/cleanup
- On stale context detected: If setup >2 days old or significant codebase changes detected, suggest
/conductor-refresh
- On Beads available: If
bd CLI detected during setup, offer integration
- On implement start: Read
patterns.md and announce pattern count
- On task complete: Prompt for learnings capture
- On phase complete: Offer pattern elevation to
patterns.md
- On archive: Extract remaining patterns before archiving
- On refresh: Consolidate learnings across all tracks
Intent Mapping
| User Intent | Command |
|---|
| "Set up this project" | /conductor-setup |
| "Create a new feature" | /conductor-newtrack [desc] |
| "Start working" / "Implement" | /conductor-implement [id] |
| "What's the status?" | /conductor-status |
| "Undo that" / "Revert" | /conductor-revert |
| "Check for issues" | /conductor-validate |
| "This is blocked" | /conductor-block |
| "Skip this task" | /conductor-skip |
| "This needs revision" / "Spec is wrong" | /conductor-revise |
| "Save context" / "Handoff" / "Transfer to next section" | /conductor-handoff |
| "Archive completed" | /conductor-archive |
| "Export summary" | /conductor-export |
| "Docs are outdated" / "Sync with codebase" | /conductor-refresh |
| "List templates" / "Show formulas" | /conductor-formula |
| "Quick exploration" / "Ephemeral track" | /conductor-wisp [formula] |
| "Extract template" / "Create reusable pattern" | /conductor-distill [track_id] |
Command Execution
When a user invokes any /conductor-* command, read the corresponding command reference for the full step-by-step protocol:
Important: Always read the full command reference before executing. Each file contains the complete protocol with error handling, Beads integration, and user interaction flows.
References
