| name | manifold-m-status |
| description | Show current Manifold state, constraint summary, workflow progress, and next action |
/manifold:m-status
/manifold:m-status - Manifold Status
Show current Manifold state and next recommended action.
Schema Compliance
| Field | Valid Values |
|---|
| Valid Phases | INITIALIZED, CONSTRAINED, TENSIONED, ANCHORED, GENERATED, VERIFIED |
| Convergence Statuses | NOT_STARTED, IN_PROGRESS, CONVERGED |
| Constraint Types | invariant, goal, boundary |
| Tension Statuses | resolved, unresolved |
CRITICAL: When displaying phase information, use ONLY the phases listed above.
See SCHEMA_REFERENCE.md for all valid values. Do NOT invent or display invalid phases.
Scope Guard (MANDATORY)
This command is READ-ONLY. It displays the current state of the manifold and suggests the next action. It does not modify any files.
DO NOT do any of the following during m-status:
- Modify any manifold files or source files
- Spawn background agents or sub-agents
- Auto-invoke the suggested next action
- Begin work on any phase
The "SUGGESTED NEXT ACTION" is informational only. The user must explicitly invoke the next phase command. Display the status, say "Waiting for your command" if resuming from compaction, and STOP.
Usage
/manifold:m-status [<feature-name>] [--history] [--diff]
If no feature specified, shows all active manifolds.
Flags (v2):
--history - Show full iteration history
--diff - Show changes since last iteration
Phases
| Phase | Description | Next Action |
|---|
| INITIALIZED | Manifold created | /manifold:m1-constrain |
| CONSTRAINED | Constraints discovered | /manifold:m2-tension |
| TENSIONED | Conflicts analyzed | /manifold:m3-anchor |
| ANCHORED | Solution space defined | /manifold:m4-generate |
| GENERATED | Artifacts created | /manifold:m5-verify |
| VERIFIED | All constraints verified | Complete! |
Example: Single Feature
/manifold:m-status payment-retry
MANIFOLD STATUS: payment-retry
Phase: ANCHORED (3/5)
Outcome: 95% retry success for transient failures
CONSTRAINT SUMMARY:
Total: 12 constraints discovered
By Type:
├── INVARIANT: 4 (must never violate)
├── GOAL: 5 (optimize toward)
└── BOUNDARY: 3 (hard limits)
By Category:
├── Business: 3 (B1-B3)
├── Technical: 2 (T1-T2)
├── UX: 2 (U1-U2)
├── Security: 2 (S1-S2)
└── Operational: 2 (O1-O2)
TENSION STATUS:
├── Detected: 2
├── Resolved: 1
└── Pending: 1 (T2: UX vs Operational)
SOLUTION SPACE:
├── Option A: Client-side Exponential Backoff (Low complexity)
├── Option B: Server-side Workflow Engine (High complexity)
└── Option C: Hybrid Approach (Medium complexity) ← Recommended
WORKFLOW PROGRESS:
[✓] /manifold:m0-init - Manifold initialized
[✓] /manifold:m1-constrain - 12 constraints discovered
[✓] /manifold:m2-tension - 2 tensions found, 1 resolved
[✓] /manifold:m3-anchor - 3 solution options generated
[ ] /manifold:m4-generate - Pending
[ ] /manifold:m5-verify - Pending
FORMAT: JSON+Markdown Hybrid
FILES:
├── .manifold/payment-retry.json (structure)
├── .manifold/payment-retry.md (content)
└── .manifold/payment-retry.verify.json (if verified)
SUGGESTED NEXT ACTION (run when ready):
→ /manifold:m4-generate payment-retry --option=C
⏸️ Waiting for your command...
Note: Older manifolds may use legacy YAML format (single .yaml file).
Use manifold migrate <feature> to convert to JSON+Markdown.
Example: With Iteration History (v2)
/manifold:m-status payment-retry --history
MANIFOLD STATUS: payment-retry
Phase: VERIFIED (5/5)
Schema Version: 2
[...constraint summary...]
ITERATION HISTORY:
┌───────────┬───────────┬────────────────┬───────────────┬─────────────┐
│ Iteration │ Phase │ Gaps Found │ Gaps Resolved │ Result │
├───────────┼───────────┼────────────────┼───────────────┼─────────────┤
│ 1 │ generate │ 3 │ 0 │ artifacts │
├───────────┼───────────┼────────────────┼───────────────┼─────────────┤
│ 2 │ verify │ 14 │ 0 │ gaps found │
├───────────┼───────────┼────────────────┼───────────────┼─────────────┤
│ 3 │ generate │ 0 │ 10 │ fixes │
├───────────┼───────────┼────────────────┼───────────────┼─────────────┤
│ 4 │ verify │ 0 │ 4 │ PASS │
└───────────┴───────────┴────────────────┴───────────────┴─────────────┘
CONVERGENCE STATUS: ✓ CONVERGED
├── All invariants satisfied: 6/6
├── Test pass rate: 100%
├── Blocking gaps: 0
└── Iterations to convergence: 4
Convergence Detection (v2)
A manifold is considered CONVERGED when:
- All INVARIANT constraints are SATISFIED
- Test pass rate ≥ 95%
- No blocking gaps remain
- At least one full generate→verify cycle completed
Example: All Features
/manifold:m-status
MANIFOLD STATUS: All Features
┌──────────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┬──────────────────────────┐
│ Feature │ Phase │ Updated │ Next Action │
├──────────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ payment-retry │ ANCHORED │ 2 hours ago │ /manifold:m4-generate --option=C │
├──────────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ user-auth │ CONSTRAINED │ 1 day ago │ /manifold:m2-tension user-auth │
├──────────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ analytics-export │ VERIFIED │ 3 days ago │ Complete! │
└──────────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┴──────────────────────────┘
Active Manifolds: 3
└── 1 complete, 2 in progress
Execution Instructions
- If feature name provided:
- Detect format: JSON+MD (
.json + .md) or legacy YAML (.yaml)
- For JSON+Markdown: Read
.manifold/<feature>.json + .manifold/<feature>.md
- For legacy YAML: Read
.manifold/<feature>.yaml
- Read
.manifold/<feature>.anchor.yaml if exists
- Read
.manifold/<feature>.verify.json if exists
- Display detailed status with format indicator
- If no feature name:
- Scan
.manifold/ directory for all manifold files
- Detect format for each feature
- Display summary table with format column
- Determine next action based on current phase
- Display workflow progress with checkmarks
Format Detection
| Files Present | Format |
|---|
.json + .md | JSON+Markdown Hybrid |
.yaml only | Legacy YAML |
Use manifold show <feature> or CLI status for format details.
Context Restoration (Post-Compaction)
When resuming after context compaction, m-status MUST include a context restoration block that tells the AI exactly which .manifold/<feature>.md sections to read before the next phase:
CONTEXT RESTORATION:
Read .manifold/<feature>.md sections before next phase:
→ <next-phase>: <sections to read>
Section map by next phase:
| Next Phase | Sections to Read from .md |
|---|
| m1-constrain | ## Outcome |
| m2-tension | ## Constraints |
| m3-anchor | ## Constraints, ## Tensions |
| m4-generate | ## Tensions, ## Required Truths, ## Solution Space |
| m5-verify | ## Required Truths |
| m6-integrate | ## Required Truths |
This ensures zero context rot: the next phase reads fresh state from disk rather than relying on degraded conversation context.
Post-Display Behavior
After displaying status: say "Waiting for your command" and STOP. Never auto-invoke the suggested next action. Phase transitions require explicit user invocation.
Run manifold validate <feature> after updates. Shared directives (output format, interaction rules, validation) injected by phase-commons hook.