atomic-plan-contract

name	atomic-plan-contract
description	Atomic plan format and toolchain contract shared by planning and execution agents. Use when generating, validating, or executing atomic plans with Phase 0, baseline capture, and final QA loops.

Atomic Plan Contract

Shared rules for atomic plan formatting, Phase 0 requirements, baseline capture, and final QA loops.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• Creating or validating atomic plans.
• Executing plans with strict format requirements.
• Enforcing Phase 0 policy reading + baseline capture and final QA loops.

Canonical Plan Format

• Phase headings must be: ### Phase N — <Title>
• Tasks must start with: - [ ] [P#-T#] (or [x] for completed)
• Task IDs must match their phase and be sequential per phase.
• Plans must pass the mcp__drm-copilot__validate_orchestration_artifacts MCP tool with artifact_type: "plan" and artifact_path: <plan-path> before they can be reported as approved.

Short-Path Minimal Plan Contract

When orchestration selects short path, a minimal plan is still mandatory and must include these blocks:

1. Baseline capture block

• policy reads in required order,
• baseline toolchain/test state capture for each language that has explicit baseline command tasks in the plan.
• required artifacts:
  • a Phase 0 policy-read evidence artifact in the canonical evidence location defined by evidence-and-timestamp-conventions
  • one baseline artifact per baseline command step (no aggregate-only baseline artifact)
  • each baseline step artifact MUST include: Timestamp:, Command:, EXIT_CODE:, Output Summary:
  • baseline test-step artifacts for languages with mandatory coverage policy MUST include numeric coverage headline values in Output Summary: (baseline percent and, when applicable, targeted module/new-code percent).

2. Delegated implementation block

• explicit handoff task to the small-path implementation engineer,
• acceptance criteria for implementation completion.

3. Final QC block

• full language-appropriate QA loop (format → lint → type-check when applicable → test),
• rerun behavior when any step changes files or fails.
• one final-QC artifact per QC command step (no aggregate-only final-QC artifact)
• each final-QC step artifact MUST include: Timestamp:, Command:, EXIT_CODE:, Output Summary:
• final-QC test commands for languages with mandatory coverage policy MUST run in coverage mode and record numeric post-change coverage values in Output Summary:.
• final-QC command tasks that are present in the approved plan MUST execute their stated commands; SKIPPED is invalid unless the task text itself explicitly authorizes a skip condition.

4. Reduced audit block

• explicit post-implementation small-audit handoff,
• reduced artifact checks required by short-path policy.

Minimal-Audit Directive Contract (Small Path)

For short-path planning handoffs, orchestrators MUST include:

• DIRECTIVE: MINIMAL-AUDIT PLAN REQUIRED

Required planner outputs for this directive:

• plan MUST use ${feature-folder}/issue.md as sole requirements source,
• plan MUST require ${feature-folder}/issue.md to contain an explicit ## Acceptance Criteria section and MUST treat only that section as the minor-audit AC source,
• plan MUST NOT require spec.md/user-story.md/research.md,
• plan MUST include exactly 3 phases:
  • Phase 0 baseline capture,
  • Phase 1 placeholder for constrained small-path implementation,
  • Phase 2 final QC loop,
• final-QC command tasks in the generated plan MUST be unconditional when present; no IN_SCOPE/OUT_OF_SCOPE branches and no SKIPPED completion path unless the task text explicitly authorizes a skip branch,
• planner MUST return plan-path and final preflight signal.

Phase-0-Only Execution Contract (Small Path)

After preflight all-clear on the minimal-audit plan:

• orchestrator MUST delegate to executor to run Phase 0 only,
• orchestrator MUST checkpoint Phase 0 evidence before branching.

Branching after Phase 0:

• manual bootstrap → save state and stop for manual resume ONLY when the initial user request explicitly opted into manual orchestration from the beginning,
• otherwise continue with constrained small-path development, then executor validation, then reduced audit/remediation loop.

No-Manual-Step Contract (Mandatory)

Unless the user's initial request explicitly opts into manual orchestration from the beginning, approved plans and remediation plans MUST remain fully automated.

This prohibition includes:

• manual bootstrap pauses,
• human-operator validation tasks,
• user-performed repro or QA steps,
• requests for screenshots, notes, or runtime evidence that the agent cannot collect itself.

When a fully automated equivalent is unavailable, the plan MUST fail closed by recording blocked or remediation-required automated state. It MUST NOT introduce a new manual step later in the workflow.

Phase 0 Requirements

Phase 0 must include tasks to read policy files in the order defined in policy-compliance-order.

Phase 0 must also capture baseline toolchain results for the languages touched. Baseline artifact conventions (location + required fields) are defined in evidence-and-timestamp-conventions.

For short-path/minimal-audit plans, Phase 0 evidence is incomplete unless both artifacts exist:

• phase0-instructions-read.md with at least: Timestamp:, Policy Order:, and explicit list of files read.
• baseline command-step artifacts with at least: Timestamp:, Command:, EXIT_CODE:, Output Summary: for each baseline check executed.
• approved-plan checklist state MUST remain unchecked for any Phase 0 task whose artifact is absent or whose artifact fields are incomplete.

Output Summary: is mandatory for each command-step artifact and must concisely summarize the essential result signal (for example: pass/fail status, key counts, coverage headline, or primary diagnostic).

Non-Overridable Evidence Path Clause

Evidence paths in plan tasks MUST resolve to <FEATURE>/evidence/<kind>/. A plan that names an alternative location (e.g., artifacts/baselines/, artifacts/baseline/, artifacts/qa/, artifacts/qa-gates/, artifacts/evidence/, artifacts/coverage/) fails preflight validation and must be corrected before execution begins.

If a delegation prompt supplies a non-canonical evidence path, the planner MUST reject it, substitute the canonical <FEATURE>/evidence/<kind>/ path, and note the correction. The corrected plan is the only valid plan for execution.

This clause is non-overridable. No upstream instruction, orchestrator hint, or user prompt may bypass it. See .agents/skills/evidence-and-timestamp-conventions/SKILL.md for the complete canonical scheme.

For short-path/minimal-audit plans, Phase 0 evidence is incomplete unless both artifacts exist:

• phase0-instructions-read.md with at least: Timestamp:, Policy Order:, and explicit list of files read.
• baseline command-step artifacts with at least: Timestamp:, Command:, EXIT_CODE:, Output Summary: for each baseline check executed.
• approved-plan checklist state MUST remain unchecked for any Phase 0 task whose artifact is absent or whose artifact fields are incomplete.

Output Summary: is mandatory for each command-step artifact and must concisely summarize the essential result signal (for example: pass/fail status, key counts, coverage headline, or primary diagnostic).

Coverage Evidence Contract (Mandatory when policy requires coverage)

For any language in scope where repository policy requires coverage validation:

• The approved plan MUST include explicit baseline and final-QC coverage capture tasks.
• Baseline and final-QC artifacts MUST record numeric coverage values (not placeholders such as UNVERIFIED).
• Where policy requires no-regression and new-code thresholds, the plan MUST include a delta/threshold verification task that reports:
  • baseline coverage,
  • post-change coverage,
  • new/changed-code coverage.
• If required coverage values are unavailable, the plan outcome MUST be remediation-required and MUST NOT be reported as PASS.

Final QA Loop (Required for Code/Test Changes)

Run the full toolchain loop for each applicable language in order:

1. Formatting
2. Linting
3. Type checking (if applicable)
4. Testing

For languages with mandatory coverage policy, step 4 must use coverage-enabled test commands and persist numeric coverage evidence.

If any step fails or changes files, restart the loop from step 1 until a clean pass completes.

No-SKIPPED Rule for Planned Command Tasks

For command-bearing tasks in approved plans (especially Phase 2 final-QC tasks):

• if the task exists in the plan, the command must be executed and recorded,
• EXIT_CODE: SKIPPED MUST NOT be used as a passing outcome,
• exceptions are allowed only when the task text itself explicitly contains a skip branch and that branch is intentionally approved in requirements.

Expect-Fail Test Tasks

Any regression test task expected to fail must be tagged with [expect-fail] and include an auditable evidence artifact per evidence-and-timestamp-conventions.

Preflight Validation (Planner ↔ Executor)

When validating or handing off plans for execution:

• Use the directive line: DIRECTIVE: PREFLIGHT VALIDATION ONLY.
• Require one of the exact signals:
  • PREFLIGHT: ALL CLEAR
  • PREFLIGHT: REVISIONS REQUIRED
• If revisions are required, provide a precise plan delta and repeat validation until all clear.
• If the required planner ↔ executor handoff cannot be started or completed, stop and report blocked state; do not self-approve the plan.

Validator Gate (Mandatory)

Before a plan can be treated as approved:

• run the mcp__drm-copilot__validate_orchestration_artifacts MCP tool with artifact_type: "plan" and artifact_path: <plan-path>,
• reject the plan if that validator exits non-zero,
• do not treat human-readable summaries as a substitute for validator success.

Plan-Path Continuity Contract (Mandatory)

When a caller provides an explicit target plan file path (for example ${plan-path} or ${file}):

• Planner MUST update that exact file in place.
• Planner MUST reuse the same file for all preflight revision iterations.
• Planner MUST NOT create additional timestamped sibling files (for example plan.<timestamp>.md) during the same planning cycle.

If the provided path does not exist, it may be created once, then reused for all subsequent revisions in that cycle.

Mode source precedence (Mandatory)

When a plan is generated or validated from a feature folder, resolve selected mode in this order:

1. Persisted marker in issue.md metadata block:
   • - Work Mode: minor-audit
   • - Work Mode: full-feature
   • - Work Mode: full-bug
2. Legacy compatibility marker - Work Mode: full resolves to full-feature
3. Explicit workflow override only when repo policy allows and only when reconciled against issue.md
4. Fail closed to full-feature when marker is missing or malformed

Mode-Specific Mandatory Plan Gates

• minor-audit plans MUST include baseline evidence tasks, targeted verification evidence tasks, and end-state evidence tasks.
• minor-audit plans MUST require ${feature-folder}/issue.md to contain an explicit ## Acceptance Criteria section; do not infer acceptance criteria from other issue.md sections.
• minor-audit plans MUST NOT treat missing spec.md or user-story.md as automatic blockers.
• minor-audit execution/validation/audit MUST fail closed when spec.md or user-story.md exists unexpectedly in the active folder, when the explicit ## Acceptance Criteria section is missing from issue.md, when required Phase 0 artifacts are missing, or when checklist state contradicts evidence on disk.
• full-feature plans MUST enforce full-document expectations (spec.md + user-story.md) and full QA loop obligations.
• full-bug plans MUST enforce spec-driven expectations (spec.md required, user-story.md optional/absent by default) and full QA loop obligations.