he

name	he
description	Route explicit lifecycle requests or genuinely complex or high-risk staged work through one living Feature Brief.

Hard Eng

Route

• $he = lifecycle router + state gate; stage work stays with the emitted owner.
• Explicit plan|resume|status|build|ship|learn = $he.
• Cross-boundary work = $he only when unresolved durable decisions, high-risk change, or staged coordination makes a persistent plan useful.
• Clear bounded UI/layout/style/copy/fix/refactor/test/doc/config = direct owner flow.
• File count + code size + feature label + missing PRODUCT.md|DESIGN.md ≠ lifecycle eligibility.
• Direct work exposing a material product/UX/architecture choice → pause + confirm lifecycle scope → $he.
• Existing bug/incident/production triage → direct diagnostic owner; enter $he only for a newly required material decision.

State

• SSOT = features/<feature-slug>/PLAN.md.
• Format + validation + transitions = scripts/plan_state.py.
• One active plan = one accepted outcome; parallel unrelated outcomes = separate plans.
• Read-only intent → inspect; mutation → $deterministic-checks worktree write PASS first.

python3 <skill-dir>/scripts/plan_state.py inspect --repo <repo> [--plan <PLAN.md>]
python3 <skill-dir>/scripts/plan_state.py init --repo <repo> --feature-slug <slug>

Inspect result	Route
no active plan + eligible work	init → $he-plan
one valid plan	script route_target
multiple active plans	show candidates → user selects exact plan
invalid plan	stop + report validator repair
explicit action conflicts with state	stop + report valid next action

• Never overwrite, silently select, recreate, or hand-edit the State block.
• Checkpoint = stale-token-guarded state update; living brief prose may be edited directly.
• Active approved brief + frozen-byte drift = restore approved bytes; reopen only for materially changed accepted constraints.

Approval Boundary

• $he-plan obtains one explicit Ready-to-build approval for the whole brief.
• Approval freezes only Outcome + Non-goals + Material decisions + Acceptance examples + risk_level + critical_overlay.
• Affected canonical areas + implementation owner/file/test discoveries + rollback mechanics + slice detail remain living engineering context.
• Engineering-only discovery → update living brief when useful + continue; reapproval forbidden.
• Replan = accepted outcome changes OR material security/privacy/data-loss/irreversible contract changes.

python3 <skill-dir>/scripts/plan_state.py approve --repo <repo> --plan <PLAN.md> \
  --expect-token <token>
python3 <skill-dir>/scripts/plan_state.py reopen --repo <repo> --plan <PLAN.md> \
  --expect-token <token> --reason <changed-outcome|material-safety-contract>
python3 <skill-dir>/scripts/plan_state.py checkpoint --repo <repo> --plan <PLAN.md> \
  --expect-token <token> --set <field=value>

• Approval records a fingerprint of frozen constraints only; engineering-only edits do not stale it.
• Reopen resets approval + returns to planning; changed constraints are then edited + reapproved once.
• Critical overlay = only the risky slice + its security/privacy/data/data-loss/irreversibility proof; normal slices stay on the normal route.

Safety

• Exact approval boundaries remain separate for destructive action, external write, commit, push, merge, and publish.
• Generic lifecycle approval never authorizes those actions.
• Secret exposure + external account/environment mismatch + data-loss risk follow AGENTS.md stop rules.
• Deterministic validation proves document shape/state only; it never predicts semantic completeness.

Lifecycle

lifecycle_status	route_target
planning	$he-plan
`build-ready	building`
green	$he-ship
`shipped	cancelled`

• Stage owner checkpoints only lifecycle_status, active_slice, completed_slices, and next_action.
• Build owner loop = Implement ⇄ Verify until the active vertical slice is green.
• building → green = bind current non-lifecycle repository artifact; $he-ship requires assert-green before delivery boundaries.
• Legal flow = planning → build-ready → building → green → shipped; cancelled = explicit user decision.
• Finding changes only implementation owner/file/test/approach → current owner fixes + verifies.
• Finding changes frozen constraints → reopen → $he-plan.
• Status request = state + open risk + next action; no mutation.

Continuity

• Explicit continue until complete|blocker = one Codex goal for requested lifecycle scope.
• Route transition PASS → checkpoint → inspect → next owner in same turn.
• Pause only for material decision, exact external approval boundary, or proven invalid state.
• Before compaction/turn boundary during explicit continuity → checkpoint current state + next action.