expedite

name	expedite
description	Readiness gate for sync-point operations — inspect validation, rework, and active-agent state before merge
category	Workflow
tags	["validation","gate","expediter","sync-point"]
triggers	["expedite","ready to merge","is this ready","expediter"]
requires	{"coordinator":{"required":[],"safety":[],"enriching":[]}}

Expedite

Inspect a change for readiness before sync-point operations (/cleanup-feature, /merge-pull-requests). Produces a binary verdict — READY or BLOCKED — with a structured list of checks.

The expediter is a read-only role. It does not merge, mutate state, or run commands that change the worktree, the registry, or the remote. Its only job is to refuse outgoing work that is not ready, the way an expediter at the kitchen pass refuses a plate that is not right.

This is the kitchen-brigade role implementation called out in docs/mental-models.md gap G2 — a first-class expediter to replace the implicit role currently scattered across /cleanup-feature and /merge-pull-requests.

Arguments

$ARGUMENTS — OpenSpec change-id (required).

Optional flags:

• --validation-report <path> — explicit path to validation-report.md (default: probe candidate paths)
• --rework-report <path> — explicit path to rework-report.json (default: probe candidate paths)
• --json — emit machine-readable JSON instead of human text
• --repo-root <path> — repo root (default: current working directory)

Steps

1. Run the expediter

python skills/expedite/scripts/expedite.py <change-id>

The script:

• Calls skills/shared/active_agents.py:check_no_active_agents to verify exclusive access.
• Probes for validation-report.md at openspec/changes/<change-id>/validation-report.md, then .../reports/validation-report.md, then .git-worktrees/<change-id>/validation-report.md. If found, runs gate_logic.pre_merge_gate against it (smoke / security / e2e hard gates).
• Probes for rework-report.json at the same three locations. If found, loads it via rework_report.load_rework_report and inspects summary_action.
• Returns exit 0 (READY) or 1 (BLOCKED).

2. Interpret the verdict

READY → it is safe to invoke /cleanup-feature or /merge-pull-requests for this change.

BLOCKED → stop. Each failing check has a detail and an action. Common blockers and their resolutions:

Check fail	Resolution
active_agents	Wait for the listed agents to finish, or pass --force to override after operator confirmation.
validation_report (no file)	Run /validate-feature first.
validation_report (hard gate fail)	Investigate the failing phase; re-run /validate-feature; if accepted, pass --force.
rework_report (block-cleanup)	Holdout failure — iterate on the failures and re-validate; do not merge.
rework_report (iterate)	Run /iterate-on-implementation, then re-validate.

A skip status (e.g., no rework-report.json) does not block. Some changes legitimately have no rework report.

3. Optional: machine-readable mode

python skills/expedite/scripts/expedite.py <change-id> --json > /tmp/verdict.json

The JSON shape is:

{
  "change_id": "...",
  "ready": true|false,
  "checks": [
    {"name": "...", "status": "pass|fail|skip", "detail": "...", "action": "..."}
  ]
}

What the expediter does NOT do

• Does not merge, push, or close PRs. That is /merge-pull-requests.
• Does not teardown worktrees. That is part of /cleanup-feature.
• Does not update specs. That is /update-specs.
• Does not re-run validation. That is /validate-feature.
• Does not auto-fix anything. It is a refusal gate, not a remediation step.

Workflow Context

/implement-feature → /validate-feature → /expedite → /cleanup-feature
                                          (gate)      (sync-point)

/cleanup-feature and /merge-pull-requests already have their own active-agent guard via skills/shared/active_agents.py. The expediter is complementary — it adds the validation-report and rework-report checks that those skills do not currently inspect.

See Also

• skills/shared/active_agents.py — the active-agent guard
• skills/validate-feature/scripts/gate_logic.py — pre_merge_gate, REQUIRED_PHASES
• skills/validate-feature/scripts/rework_report.py — ReworkReport, load_rework_report
• docs/mental-models.md gap G2 — the rationale