| name | project-kickstart |
| description | Full project pipeline — SRS → Plan → Tasks + TDD → Rolling Wave Execute. Use when starting a new project or major feature from scratch. Default mode is Rolling Wave (implement one → verify → refine next → repeat). Use --big-bang for old all-upfront refine style. |
| user_invocable | true |
/project-kickstart [topic] — Full Project Pipeline
Runs the complete project lifecycle from idea to rolling implementation.
Default mode: Rolling Wave Planning
① SRS
② Implementation Plan
③ Create all tasks — title + high-level description only (lightweight skeleton)
④ Lock execution order (dependency graph)
⑤ Rolling Wave Loop:
refine(N) → implement(N) → verify(N) → refine(N+1) → implement(N+1) → ...
--big-bang mode (legacy, small projects only):
① SRS → ② Plan → ③ Tasks → ④ Refine all → ⑤ Batch plan → ⑥ Batch execute
What is Rolling Wave Planning?
Rolling Wave Planning (PMBOK): Plan near-term work in detail; keep future work high-level. Refine each task only after the previous one is implemented and verified — using real implementation outcomes to inform the next refinement.
Related: Progressive Elaboration, Just-in-Time (JIT) Refinement
Key principle: refine task N+1 only after verifying task N's actual implementation.
- Refining everything upfront → earlier implementations change assumptions, later tasks become stale
- Refining just-in-time → scope and interfaces are grounded in real code
When to use
- Starting a new project
- Large feature additions (3+ tasks)
- Any "let's build this" request that needs structure end-to-end
Procedure (Default: Rolling Wave)
① SRS
- If topic is underspecified, ask 1-2 clarifying questions via AskUserQuestion
- Explore codebase if needed (Explore agent)
- Write SRS:
# [Project Name] — Software Requirements Specification
## 1. Background & Motivation
## 2. Goals & Non-Goals
## 3. Scope
## 4. Functional Requirements
- FR-1: ...
- FR-2: ...
## 5. Non-Functional Requirements
- Performance, Security, Compatibility
## 6. Architecture Overview
- System diagram / Component breakdown / Data flow
## 7. Technology Stack
## 8. Constraints & Assumptions
## 9. Risk Assessment
## 10. Success Criteria
- Save:
docs/srs-{project-slug}.md
- Present summary to user and get approval before continuing
② Implementation Plan
# [Project Name] — Implementation Plan
## Epic / Story structure
## Dependency graph (which card must follow which)
## Phase order
## Estimated size (stories, tests, LOC)
Save: docs/implementation-plan-{project-slug}.md
③ Create all tasks — Lightweight skeleton
Do not write detailed descriptions upfront in Rolling Wave.
Create skeleton tasks: title + 1-2 line goal only. Acceptance Criteria left blank — filled during Refine.
Minimum fields per task:
title: clear unit of work
description: Goal (1-2 lines) + Scope keywords only
tags: epic and phase tags
level: L1/L2/L3 based on implementation plan
curl -s -X POST "$BASE_URL/api/task" \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
"title": "...",
"project": "$PROJECT",
"priority": "high",
"level": 2,
"description": "## Goal\nOne-line goal\n\n## Scope\n- In: ...\n- Out: ...",
"tags": "phase:1,epic:auth"
}'
E2E test task: add one E2E validation task at the end of each epic (required).
Print full ID list and order after creation.
④ Lock execution order
Finalize execution sequence based on dependency graph:
# Rolling Wave Execution Order
Phase 1: #id1 → #id2 → #id3
Phase 2: #id4 → #id5
Phase 3: #id6 (E2E)
Dependency notes:
- #id2 depends on #id1's API interface
- #id4 depends on #id3's DB schema
Save: docs/execution-order-{project-slug}.md
Confirm order with user before starting the loop.
⑤ Rolling Wave Loop
Repeat until all tasks are done:
for each task N in execution order:
A. Refine(N)
- Read prior task (N-1) actual implementation from codebase
- Elaborate N's description based on confirmed interfaces/schema/components from N-1
- Add: Acceptance Criteria, Edge Cases, code reference paths
- Call /kanban-refine #N or directly PATCH description
**Card split rules (auto-applied during Refine)**:
Split if any of these are true:
- Acceptance Criteria exceeds 5 items
- Expected file changes exceed 5 files
- Touches multiple layers simultaneously (e.g. DB + API + UI)
- Estimated to exceed one session (~30–60 min)
Split procedure:
1. Break N into 2–3 sub-cards (create via kanban API)
2. Delete or convert original N to an epic description card
3. Insert sub-cards into execution order (N-a, N-b, N-c)
4. Report split to user, then continue automatically
B. Implement(N)
- Run /kanban-run #N
- Pipeline: plan → (plan_review) → impl → (impl_review) → (test) → done
C. Verify(N)
- Inspect actual output: git diff, created files, test results
- Note any changes that affect subsequent task refinements
- Add kanban note: "Impact on next tasks: ..."
→ Move to N+1
Loop exceptions:
- Unexpected implementation change found during Verify → adjust downstream task descriptions proactively
- Blocker encountered → report to user and pause
- E2E task fails → review tasks in that epic
Execution Options
(default) — Rolling Wave
Sequential: refine → implement → verify → refine next.
For L2/L3 tasks: pause at plan_review / impl_review for user confirmation.
--auto
Auto-approve all implement stages. Refine and Verify always run.
--plan-only
Run steps ①–④ only. Lock execution order, do not start the loop.
User manually triggers each task later with refine → /kanban-run #N.
--big-bang
Legacy all-upfront: refine all tasks at once, then batch execute.
Use only for small projects (≤3 tasks) with no inter-task dependencies.
Guardrails
- Never create tasks without SRS
- Every epic must have at least one E2E test task
- In Rolling Wave: N+1 refine must happen after N is verified — no exceptions
- Never refine the next card without checking the prior card's actual implementation
- No large implementations in a single card — split immediately when scope exceeds limits during Refine
- Card splits proceed automatically; report to user after splitting
- Run /kanban-init first if project is not registered
Output
Print progress after each step:
✅ ① SRS: docs/srs-project.md (12 requirements)
✅ ② Plan: docs/implementation-plan-project.md (3 epics, 8 stories)
✅ ③ Tasks: #201–#208 (8 skeleton tasks created)
✅ ④ Order: docs/execution-order-project.md (Phase 1→2→3)
Rolling Wave Loop:
✅ Refine #201 — scope locked from codebase
✅ Impl #201 — done (commit: a1b2c3d)
✅ Verify #201 — confirmed: POST /api/items interface
✅ Refine #202 — scope updated based on #201 interface
✅ Impl #202 — done (commit: d4e5f6a)
✅ Verify #202 — confirmed: items table schema
⏳ Refine #203 — in progress...