spar-act

name	spar-act
description	Use after the user has approved implementation. Execute the active plan sequentially, follow the plan's approach, execution constraints, validation strategy, and risks, update task progress, stop for spec drift or blockers, and ask before starting retention.

Act

Execute the approved plan.md while preserving the intent and boundaries in <change-name>_spec.md.

Act is implementation, not replanning. Refine execution details when needed, but do not change product intent, spec constraints, or accepted decisions without user approval.

Inputs

• specs/active/<change-name>/<change-name>_spec.md
• specs/active/<change-name>/plan.md
• Optional notes or artifacts in the same folder, such as research.md
• Relevant repository code and documentation

If the active spec or plan is missing, stop and use spar-plan first, or spar-specify if no spec exists.

Execution Context

Before changing files, read the spec and plan together.

• Use spec Scope, Out of Scope, Constraints, Success Criteria, and Decisions as fixed implementation anchors.
• Use plan Approach for the intended technical direction.
• Use plan Execution Constraints as tactical guardrails.
• Execute unchecked Tasks in order unless reordering is required for correctness.
• Use plan Validation Strategy as the primary validation path.
• Track plan Risks / Follow-ups while implementing and update them if new information materially changes them.

Execute Tasks

For each unchecked task:

1. Understand the task, relevant spec anchors, and affected files.
2. Implement the smallest coherent change that satisfies the task.
3. Validate using the plan's Validation Strategy, plus targeted project checks when useful.
4. Mark the task complete in plan.md only after validation is sufficient.

Keep plan.md accurate as work progresses. It is fine to split, clarify, or reorder tasks for correctness, but do not alter task intent in a way that changes the spec.

Research and Blockers

Use repo context first. When errors, APIs, or implementation details are unclear, use available MCP tools, official docs, vendor docs, or web search to understand the issue.

If a task fails:

1. Investigate the cause.
2. Fix obvious issues and retry once.
3. If still blocked, stop, summarize what you tried, explain the blocker, offer concrete next-step options with a recommendation, and ask how to proceed.

Do not introduce silent workarounds that change intent, reduce quality, or bypass the plan's validation strategy.

Validation

Validate independently where practical. Use available project checks, local tools, integrated browsers, screenshots, logs, or other agent-accessible evidence to confirm the work before asking the user to test.

If user validation is needed, provide concrete steps: where to go, what action to take, what result to expect, and what information to report back if it fails.

Spec Drift

Stop and ask before continuing if implementation would contradict or require changing any of these spec sections:

• Scope
• Out of Scope
• Constraints
• Success Criteria
• Decisions

When a spec change is needed, propose it clearly and wait for approval before updating <change-name>_spec.md or implementing the divergent path.

Stop Conditions

Stop and ask if:

• A task cannot be completed after one retry.
• The task list cannot be safely refined to satisfy the spec, or conflicts with the spec.
• Required validation cannot be run or reasonably substituted.
• A spec change is needed.

Completion

Implementation is complete when:

• All tasks are checked or explicitly resolved.
• Work satisfies the spec Success Criteria.
• Validation has run or any gaps are clearly explained.
• No unresolved blockers remain.

Then:

1. Summarize concisely: what shipped, how it maps to the plan, validation results, deviations, and notable learnings.
2. Ask whether the user wants to close out the change with spar-retain.
3. Stop until the user confirms. Do not begin spar-retain automatically.

If the user asks for more implementation work, continue from the active spec and plan, keep both accurate, and repeat this completion flow when done.

Artifact Recap

Artifact	In this phase
<change-name>_spec.md	Source of truth for intent, boundaries, constraints, success criteria, and decisions
plan.md	Source of execution order, validation strategy, progress, and risks/follow-ups