sails-feature-workflow

name	sails-feature-workflow
description	Use when a builder is changing behavior inside an existing standard Gear/Vara Sails app and needs the correct stage-by-stage workflow. Do not use for greenfield scaffolding, Vara.eth or ethexe paths, or non-Sails repositories.

Sails Feature Workflow

Goal

Keep feature work inside an existing Sails repo on an explicit sequence instead of skipping straight to code edits or bypassing the typed client path.

If the request targets a released contract, a new deployed contract version, or V1->V2 evolution, route through ../sails-program-evolution/SKILL.md before normal implementation work continues.

Required Sequence

1. Clarify the feature in docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-spec.md with idea-to-spec and ../../assets/spec-template.md.
2. Plan architecture or public interface in ...-architecture.md with ../sails-architecture/SKILL.md and ../../assets/architecture-template.md.
3. If the work targets a released contract, introduces a new deployed version, requires cutover planning, or prepares V1->V2 migration, review ../sails-program-evolution/SKILL.md before task breakdown and coding.
4. If the feature needs API selection across gstd, review ../gear-gstd-api-map/SKILL.md before coding.
5. If the feature changes async behavior, replies, delays, reservations, or waitlist semantics, review ../gear-message-execution/SKILL.md before coding.
6. Break the work into tasks in ...-tasks.md with task-decomposer and ../../assets/task-plan-template.md.
7. If the feature introduces a fungible token, mint/burn roles, token-backed accounting, or native-value exchange, review ../awesome-sails-vft/SKILL.md before coding.
8. Implement the Rust changes through sails-rust-implementer.
9. If the public interface changed, refresh the .idl and regenerate the typed client through the repo's standard build.rs path first. For dedicated Rust client crates, prefer the sails-rs build-helper path before a manual generator pipeline.
10. Run gtest through ../sails-gtest/SKILL.md.
11. Run smoke validation only after green gtest, using ../sails-local-smoke/SKILL.md.

Sponsored UX Cases

• If the feature includes gasless or signless UX, see ../../references/voucher-and-signless-flows.md for the canonical builder recipes, lifecycle, and failure modes. Define the voucher or session flow in the spec and architecture.

References

• ../../references/vara-domain-overview.md
• ../../references/sails-cheatsheet.md
• ../../references/gtest-cheatsheet.md
• ../../references/gear-execution-model.md
• ../../references/gear-messaging-and-replies.md
• ../../references/sails-gtest-and-local-validation.md
• ../../references/contract-interface-evolution.md
• ../../references/voucher-and-signless-flows.md
• ../../references/sails-idl-v2-syntax.md — IDL v2 annotations for .idl files
• ../../references/sails-header-wire-format.md — interface ID stability for change classification

Guardrails

• Do not skip the document chain for “small” features.
• Do not bypass the generated client path with raw payload encoders, hand-built SCALE payloads, or EVM-style bindings.
• Do not claim completion before gtest is green and documented.
• Do not treat local-node smoke as a substitute for gtest.
• Do not treat released-contract evolution, cutover, or V1->V2 migration as ordinary feature work without routing through the program-evolution flow.