| name | compose-workflow |
| model | sonnet |
| description | Chain multiple bigpowers skills into a custom workflow recipe saved in specs/. Use when a project repeats a non-standard skill sequence, or user wants a documented playbook beyond orchestrate-project modes. |
story: e09s01
story: e45s27
story: e21s04
Compose Workflow
HARD GATE — HARD GATE — Workflows are orchestration, not automation. Do NOT create workflows for tasks that should be single skills. Workflow complexity must be justified.
Process
- Interview: goal, phases, which skills, gates between steps.
- Write
specs/workflows/<name>.yaml:
name, command, description, skills[], verify- Optional:
args for skill-specific arguments
- Register in state.yaml Active Decisions.
- Optional: reference from
orchestrate-project Ad-Hoc mode.
Prefer the YAML recipe format over the legacy specs/WORKFLOW-<name>.md markdown format.
YAML recipes are command-mappable, machine-readable, and listed in the Standard Recipe Library.
Terminal-state taxonomy (e45s27)
Every workflow step and /loop tick MUST exit with exactly one terminal state:
| State | Meaning | Next action |
|---|
success | Step verify passed; artifacts written | Advance to next skill in recipe |
no-op | Nothing to do (already green / already applied) | Skip step; advance |
blocked | External gate (approval, red CI, missing dep) | diagnose-stall or escalate to user |
exhausted | Max iterations/cycles reached (review cap, dispatch cycles) | Stop; human decision required |
Record terminal state in specs/state.yaml handoff.last_terminal_state when a recipe step completes. /loop ticks that produce no progress for two consecutive wakes → invoke diagnose-stall.
Standard Recipe Library
Pre-built recipes in specs/workflows/ map agentic stack commands to skill chains.
Reference them in AGENTS.md so /command directly invokes the matching recipe.
| Command | Workflow | Skill chain |
|---|
/check-stack | check-stack | survey-context → assess-impact → setup-environment |
/ship | ship | audit-code → commit-message → release-branch |
/tdd | tdd | develop-tdd → enforce-first |
/code-review | code-review | audit-code → request-review → respond-review |
/security | security | audit-code → request-review |
/plan | plan | survey-context → research-first → plan-work |
/build-fix | build-fix | investigate-bug → diagnose-root → develop-tdd → validate-fix |
/e2e | e2e | smoke-test → verify-work |
Add to AGENTS.md:
/check-stack = compose-workflow check-stack
/ship = compose-workflow ship
Verify
→ verify: ls specs/workflows/*.yaml 2>/dev/null | wc -l | awk '{if($1>=8) print "OK: " $1 " recipes"; else print "FAIL"}'
See REFERENCE.md for template.
Workflow template
# WORKFLOW: <name>
**Trigger:** Use when ...
| Step | Skill | Output | verify |
|------|-------|--------|--------|
| 1 | survey-context | state.yaml handoff | ... |
| 2 | research-first | Prior Art in SCOPE_LATEST.yaml | ... |
| 3 | plan-work | epics/eNN-*.yaml tasks | ... |
