flow-next-plan

# Flow plan Turn a rough idea into a spec with tasks in `.flow/`. This skill does not write code. Follow this skill and linked workflows exactly. Deviations cause drift, bad gates, retries, and user frustration. **`.flow/` is the only task tracker.** A run that recorded task state in a markdown TODO, a plan file, TodoWrite, or any other tracker has broken this — all task state is read and written via `flowctl`. ### Chart boundary A **ready** (or already-captured) spec whose work is understood stays in plan - chart is too late. An unshaped oversized freeform idea with consequential unknowns is **not** plan input: recommend `/flow-next:chart` first (or `/flow-next:flow --explain` when unsure). Plan decomposes work that is already understood; it does not replace discovery. ## Preamble **CRITICAL: flowctl is BUNDLED — NOT installed globally.** `which flowctl` will fail (expected). Define once; subsequent blocks (here and in `steps.md`) use `$FLOWCTL`: ```bash FLOWCTL="${CODEX_HOME:-$HOME/.codex}/scripts/flowctl" [ -x "$FLOWCTL" ] || FLOWCTL="<plugin-root>/scripts/flowctl" # <plugin-root> = the directory two levels above this skill's SKILL.md file (the harness gave you that file's absolute path when the skill loaded); substitute it literally [ -x "$FLOWCTL" ] || FLOWCTL=".flow/bin/flowctl" ``` ## Leftover copy artifacts (one-line nudge) Before Step 0, check once whether this repo still carries flowctl copies from an older install layout — the same residue list flowctl exports as `LEGACY_COPY_ARTIFACTS`: ```bash LEFTOVERS="" for p in .flow/bin/flowctl .flow/bin/flowctl.cmd .flow/bin/flowctl.py \ .flow/bin/flowctl_bootstrap.py .flow/bin/flowctl-help.txt \ .flow/bin/flowctl_tracker .flow/templates/spec.md .flow/usage.md; do [ -e "$p" ] && LEFTOVERS="${LEFTOVERS}${p}"$'\n' || true done # || true: an empty LEFTOVERS (the normal case) must read as success ``` **None present → say nothing.** Silence is the normal case. **Any present →** print ONE line: these files are leftovers, nothing reads them (every host resolves flowctl from the plugin install), and they can be deleted by hand or by `/flow-next:setup`. Then continue planning — never ask, never stop, never delete anything here. Plan compares no versions and reads no setup stamps at all; `/flow-next:setup` owns everything about the install. **Role**: product-minded planner with strong repo awareness. **Goal**: produce a spec with tasks that match existing conventions and reuse points. **Task size**: every task must fit one `/flow-next:work` iteration (~100k tokens max). If it won't, split it. ## The Golden Rule: No Implementation Code **Plans are specs, not implementations.** Never write the code that will be implemented. ### Code the plan may contain: - **Signatures/interfaces** (what, not how): `function validate(input: string): Result` - **Patterns from this repo** (with file:line ref): "Follow pattern at `src/auth.ts:42`" - **Recent/surprising APIs** (from docs-scout): "React 19 changed X — use `useOptimistic` instead" - **Non-obvious gotchas** (from practice-scout): "Must call `cleanup()` or memory leaks" ### Code the plan never contains: - Complete function implementations - Full class/module bodies - "Here's what you'll write" blocks - Copy-paste ready snippets (>10 lines) **A spec that already contains the implementation is not a spec.** A plan carrying a runnable function body, a full module, or a >10-line copy-paste block has broken this. **Why:** Implementation happens in `/flow-next:work` with fresh context. Writing it here wastes tokens in planning, review, and implementation — then causes drift when the implementer does it differently anyway. ## Input Full request: $ARGUMENTS Accepts: - Feature/bug description in natural language - Flow spec ID `fn-N-slug` (e.g., `fn-1-add-oauth`) or legacy `fn-N`/`fn-N-xxx` to refine existing spec - Flow task ID `fn-N-slug.M` (e.g., `fn-1-add-oauth.2`) or legacy `fn-N.M`/`fn-N-xxx.M` to refine specific task - **Resolvable tracker handle** — a tracker key like `wor-17` / `wor-17.2` that `flowctl show` resolves to the linked spec/task. Treated as the existing spec/task, **never** as a new idea (R16). See the handle-recognition rule in Step 1. - Chained instructions like "then review with /flow-next:plan-review" Examples: - `/flow-next:plan Add OAuth login for users` - `/flow-next:plan fn-1-add-oauth` - `/flow-next:plan fn-1` (legacy formats fn-1, fn-1-xxx still supported) - `/flow-next:plan fn-1-add-oauth then review via /flow-next:plan-review` If empty, ask: "What should I plan? Give me the feature or bug in 1-5 sentences." Under autonomous mode, do not ask — report `NEEDS_HUMAN: no planning input provided` and stop. ## FIRST: Parse Options or Ask Questions ### Autonomous mode (mode:autonomous / FLOW_AUTONOMOUS) Parse `$ARGUMENTS` for the literal token `mode:autonomous` (strip it, same shape as capture's `mode:autofix` — a NEW parse branch, never overloading that token). Also honor the env var `FLOW_AUTONOMOUS=1` as a secondary signal (process-level drivers). Either signal → `AUTONOMOUS=1`. Under `AUTONOMOUS=1`: - **No setup question is asked.** A question surfaced under `AUTONOMOUS=1` has broken this. Explicit passthrough flags (`--depth`, `--research`, `--review`) win as usual; for anything unset, apply the autonomous defaults: depth = `short`, research = `repo-scout`, review = configured backend (`none` when `REVIEW_BACKEND` is `ASK`). - **Never hang on a question.** If a genuinely unanswerable ambiguity remains (e.g. empty input), stop cleanly with a one-line `NEEDS_HUMAN: <reason>` report instead of asking. - Autonomy ≠ Ralph: neither `mode:autonomous` nor `FLOW_AUTONOMOUS` activates ralph-guard hooks or any receipt path — they gate question suppression only. ### Option Parsing (skip questions if found in arguments) Parse the arguments for these patterns. If found, use them and skip questions: **Research approach**: always `repo-scout` — there is no research-backend choice. `--research=grep` is accepted as a no-op; any other `--research` value is ignored. **Review mode**: - `--review=codex` or "review with codex" or "codex review" or "use codex" → Codex CLI - `--review=rp` or "review with rp" or "rp chat" or "repoprompt review" → RepoPrompt chat (via `flowctl rp chat-send`) - `--review=host` or "review with host" or "host review" or "use host" → host-native fresh-context reviewer subagent (pins in AGENTS.md model-routing) - `--review=export` or "export review" or "external llm" → export for external LLM - `--review=none` or `--no-review` or "no review" or "skip review" → no review ### If options NOT found in arguments **Plan depth** (parse from args or ask): - `--depth=short` or "quick" or "minimal" → SHORT - `--depth=standard` or "normal" → STANDARD - `--depth=deep` or "comprehensive" or "detailed" → DEEP - Default: SHORT (simpler is better) **If `AUTONOMOUS=1`:** skip every question below — apply the autonomous defaults above and continue. Check the configured backend and route: ```bash ACTIVE=0 # NO pipelines in the probe — a failed producer masked by a healthy consumer # fails CLOSED. Capture raw first, rc-checked; parse separately. RAW="$($FLOWCTL review-backend 2>/dev/null)" || ACTIVE=1 # probe ERROR ⇒ ACTIVE (fail open) if [ "$ACTIVE" = "0" ]; then REVIEW_BACKEND="$(printf '%s' "$RAW" | tr -d '[:space:]' 2>/dev/null)" || ACTIVE=1 # parse ERROR ⇒ ACTIVE [ "$REVIEW_BACKEND" = "ASK" ] && ACTIVE=1 fi [ "${AUTONOMOUS:-0}" = "1" ] && ACTIVE=0 # autonomous NEVER asks — defaults apply if [ "$ACTIVE" = "1" ]; then echo "SETUP-QUESTIONS GATE ACTIVE — STOP. Read references/setup-questions.md before continuing." fi ``` `review-backend` returns: `ASK` (not configured), or `rp`/`codex`/`copilot`/`cursor`/`claude`/`host`/`none` (configured). When the sentinel prints, STOP and Read [`references/setup-questions.md`](references/setup-questions.md) before any further step — it owns RepoPrompt eligibility, the two question variants, and the empty/ambiguous defaults. **If REVIEW_BACKEND is rp, codex, copilot, cursor, claude, host, or none** (already configured): ask nothing — depth defaults apply unless passed, research is `repo-scout`, review is the configured backend. Show the override hint: ``` (Tip: --depth=short|standard|deep, --review=rp|codex|copilot|cursor|claude|host|none) ``` ## Spec-id scheme (team default) When Route B mints a brand-new spec, **tracker-first is the recommended team default** if `tracker.specIds=tracker` and the bridge is active — the tracker is the distributed allocator (`KEY-N-slug` / synthetic `gh-N` / `gl-N`). Gate lives in steps.md Route B (create-first then `--tracker-first`; silent flow-first degrade; explicit override wins). Setup owns the one-time question; no runtime nag. ## Workflow Read [steps.md](steps.md) and follow each step in order. **Step 1 readiness soft-check**: existing-spec inputs get an adoption-gated readiness check BEFORE the scout fan-out — warn-not-block, default proceed; repos that never adopted readiness see nothing. Details in steps.md Step 1. **Optional paths**: `steps.md` gates the readiness warning, the Route A refine path, the tracker-first mint, tracker projection, selected review, the interactive next-steps menu, and the HTML render lens after their existing config/choice/route signals. Their references stay cold when the path is not taken; Step 0 remains the only config snapshot. **Step 1 (Research) launches every scout in the depth-appropriate set as parallel multi-agent threads (Codex spawns them concurrently).** The set is the steps.md tier table — the full set at STANDARD/DEEP, the full set minus the three web-research scouts at SHORT. A plan whose research skipped a scout inside its own tier, or ran the set sequentially, has broken this. Each scout in the set provides unique signal. ## Output All plans go into `.flow/`: - Spec: `.flow/specs/fn-N-slug.json` + `.flow/specs/fn-N-slug.md` - Tasks: `.flow/tasks/fn-N-slug.M.json` + `.flow/tasks/fn-N-slug.M.md` - Render lens (only when `artifacts.html.enabled`): `.flow/artifacts/fn-N-slug/spec.html` (steps.md Step 8.5) **Never write plan files outside `.flow/`. Never use TodoWrite for task tracking.** ## Output rules - Only create/update specs and tasks via flowctl - No code changes - No plan files outside `.flow/` - R-IDs are mandatory on new spec acceptance criteria — use `- **Rn:** ...` prose prefix format; never renumber after first review cycle; each behavioral R-ID enumerates error/boundary cases or records "no error surface beyond X" (see `steps.md` R-ID rule)