| name | st-execute-blueprint |
| description | Use when the user asks to run, execute, implement, or carry out a Strikethroo plan or its blueprint by plan ID in this repository — triggers include execute blueprint, run the plan, implement plan, build the plan. Do not use to create a plan, to only generate tasks, to run a single task, or for generic development outside Strikethroo. |
st-execute-blueprint
Drive the end-to-end execution of an existing Strikethroo plan blueprint. The skill is assistant-agnostic and self-contained: every script it invokes lives under this skill's scripts/ directory and is referenced by relative path.
Critical Rules
- Never skip validation gates — a phase is not complete until
POST_PHASE.md succeeds.
- Preserve dependency order — never execute a task before all of its dependencies are completed.
- Maximize parallelism within each phase — run all tasks whose dependencies are satisfied simultaneously.
- Fail safely and document everything — halt on unrecoverable errors, and record all decisions, issues, and outcomes under "Noteworthy Events" in the execution summary.
Inputs
The user supplies the numeric plan ID conversationally. Treat it as the only authoritative source of intent. Do not invent answers to clarifying questions — prompt the user instead.
Operating Procedure
1. Locate the strikethroo root
Run scripts/find-strikethroo-root.cjs from the user's working directory.
The script walks up looking for .ai/strikethroo/.init-metadata.json and
prints the absolute path of the resolved root on success.
If the script exits non-zero, the working directory is not inside an
initialized strikethroo workspace. Stop and ask the user to run the project
initializer (e.g. npx strikethroo init) before continuing. Do
not attempt to execute a plan outside of a valid root.
For every subsequent step, treat the path printed by this script as <root>.
2. Resolve the plan
Run scripts/validate-plan-blueprint.cjs <plan-id> planFile to obtain the
absolute path of the plan file. The same script also accepts these field
names (single-field output mode) and exposes them on demand:
planDir — absolute path of the plan directorytaskCount — number of existing task files in that plan's tasks/blueprintExists — yes or notaskManagerRoot — absolute path of <root>planId — the resolved numeric plan ID
If the script exits non-zero, stop and ask the user to confirm the plan ID.
Do not guess a different ID.
3. Validate tasks and blueprint existence
Inspect the taskCount and blueprintExists values returned by the validation script.
4. Auto-generate tasks and blueprint if missing
If taskCount is 0 or blueprintExists is no:
- Notify the user: "Tasks or execution blueprint not found. Generating tasks automatically..."
- Follow the
st-generate-tasks skill for this plan ID. Execute its operating procedure in full, including running POST_TASK_GENERATION_ALL.md to produce the execution blueprint.
- After generation completes, re-run
scripts/validate-plan-blueprint.cjs <plan-id> planFile (and the other fields) to refresh the resolved paths and counts.
If generation still leaves the plan without tasks or a blueprint, stop and report failure. Do not attempt execution without a valid blueprint.
5. Optionally create a feature branch
Run scripts/create-feature-branch.cjs <plan-id> once before phase execution. Branch creation is best-effort: when the script reports that it skipped creation (for example, not on main/master), continue on the current branch and do not retry or create a branch manually. When the script exits with an error (for example, uncommitted changes on main/master), halt and report the error. Do not treat a skipped branch as a failure or spend effort working around a skip.
6. Load project context and execution blueprint
Read these files, in order:
<root>/config/STRIKETHROO.md — directory conventions and project context.- The plan document at the path returned by step 2.
- The plan's Execution Blueprint section — this defines the phase groupings and task dispatch order.
<root>/config/shared/verification-gate.md and <root>/config/shared/anti-rationalization.md — apply in the phase loop below.
7. Execute phases in order
Use an internal task or todo tracker to monitor progress. For each phase defined in the Execution Blueprint:
7a. Phase pre-execution
Run scripts/check-phase-readiness.cjs <plan-id> <phase-number>. If the script exits non-zero, halt the phase and report the blocking issues before continuing.
Read <root>/config/hooks/PRE_PHASE.md and execute its instructions before starting the phase.
7b. Task dispatch
Identify all tasks scheduled for this phase whose dependencies are fully satisfied. Read <root>/config/hooks/PRE_TASK_ASSIGNMENT.md and follow its instructions for agent selection before dispatching tasks.
Deploy all selected agents simultaneously using your internal Task tool. Each agent MUST:
- Read and execute
<root>/config/hooks/PRE_TASK_EXECUTION.md before starting any implementation work.
- Execute the task according to its requirements.
- Monitor execution progress and capture outputs and artifacts.
- Update task status in real-time.
Maximize parallelism within each phase. Run every task that is ready at the same time.
7c. Phase completion verification
Ensure every task in the phase has status completed. Collect and review all task outputs. Document any issues or exceptions encountered.
Do not accept a subagent's report of success as proof. Apply the evidence gate in <root>/config/shared/verification-gate.md before marking the phase complete. Do not mark a phase complete on an unverified claim.
7d. Phase post-execution
Read <root>/config/hooks/POST_PHASE.md and execute its instructions. Do not proceed to the next phase until this hook succeeds.
Update the phase status to completed in the plan's Execution Blueprint section.
Repeat for the next phase until all phases are complete.
Apply <root>/config/shared/anti-rationalization.md to this rationalization table:
| You catch yourself thinking… | The binding rule |
|---|
| "The subagent reported success, so the task is done." | A report is a claim, not evidence. Apply the verification gate before marking the phase complete. |
| "The tests probably pass." | "Probably" is a red flag. Run the proving command, read its output and exit code, then state the result. |
| "I'll verify later, after the next phase." | A phase is not complete until POST_PHASE.md succeeds against verified evidence. Verify now; do not advance on an unverified phase. |
8. Post-execution validation
Read <root>/config/hooks/POST_EXECUTION.md and execute its instructions. If validation fails, halt execution. The plan remains in plans/ for debugging.
Before declaring execution complete, apply the evidence gate in <root>/config/shared/verification-gate.md to the plan's Success Criteria and Self Validation steps.
9. Append execution summary
Append an execution summary section to the plan document using the format described in <root>/config/templates/EXECUTION_SUMMARY_TEMPLATE.md. Populate:
- Status: Completed Successfully
- Completed Date: current date
- Results: brief summary of deliverables
- Noteworthy Events: all decisions, issues, and outcomes encountered during execution. If none occurred, state "No significant issues encountered."
- Necessary follow-ups: any follow-up actions or optimizations
10. Archive the plan
Move the completed plan directory from <root>/plans/<plan-folder> to <root>/archive/<plan-folder>.
Preserve the entire folder structure (including all tasks and subdirectories) to maintain referential integrity. If the move fails, log the error but do not fail the overall execution — the implementation work is complete.
Failure Modes
- No strikethroo root found. Stop and instruct the user to initialize the project. Do not execute any tasks.
- Plan ID does not resolve. Stop and surface the script's stderr to the user. Do not guess a different ID.
- Missing blueprint after auto-generation. If the
st-generate-tasks skill fails to produce tasks or a blueprint, stop and report failure. Do not attempt execution without a blueprint.
- Hook failure. If
PRE_PHASE.md, POST_PHASE.md, or POST_EXECUTION.md fails, halt execution. The plan remains in plans/ for debugging and potential re-execution.
- Execution errors. If a task fails, read
<root>/config/hooks/POST_ERROR_DETECTION.md, document the error in Noteworthy Events, halt the phase, and request user direction before continuing.
Execution Summary
Conclude with exactly this block as the final output:
---
Execution Summary:
- Plan ID: [numeric-id]
- Status: Archived
- Location: [absolute path to archive directory]
---
The summary is consumed by downstream automation; keep the format exact.
