dev-execution

name	dev-execution
description	Unified execution engine for all development workflows. Progressive disclosure for phase execution, quick features, story completion, and scaffolding. Integrates with artifact-tracking and meatycapture-capture. Use when running /dev:execute-phase, /dev:quick-feature, /dev:implement-story, /dev:complete-user-story, or /dev:create-feature commands.

Dev Execution Skill

Unified guidance for executing development workflows with token-efficient progressive disclosure.

Quick Start

Mode	When to Use	Command
Tier 1 Sprint	Feature Contract approved (3–8 pts); ready for autonomous implementation	feature-sprint-executor agent (TBD: /dev:tier1-sprint)
Phase	Multi-phase plans with YAML tracking	/dev:execute-phase
Quick	Simple features, single-session	/dev:quick-feature
Story	User story with existing plan	/dev:implement-story
Full Story	Complete story end-to-end	/dev:complete-user-story
Scaffold	New feature structure	/dev:create-feature

Execution Modes

Load only the mode-specific content you need:

Mode	Guide	When to Load
Tier 1 Autonomous Sprint	Approved Feature Contract (3–8 pts); single autonomous sprint
Phase Execution	Multi-phase YAML-driven work with batch delegation
Quick Execution	Simple single-session features (~1-3 files)
Story Execution	User story implementation with plan
Scaffold Execution	New feature structure creation

Tier 1 Autonomous Sprint

Use this mode when a Feature Contract has been approved for a Tier 1 feature (3–8 pts). It replaces phase-by-phase batch orchestration with a single autonomous sprint followed by a mandatory reviewer gate.

Reference: Overhaul plan §4.4 and §4.5.

When to Use

• A Feature Contract (doc_type: feature_contract) exists at docs/project_plans/feature_contracts/[category]/[slug].md.
• Contract status is approved.
• Estimated points are in the 3–8 range.
• Feature does not touch auth, payments, production migrations, or multi-tenant data boundaries (those require Mode D; escalate to Opus).

Do NOT use for Tier 0 (use /dev:quick-feature) or Tier 2/3 (use Phase Execution).

Driver Agent

feature-sprint-executor — sonnet, acceptEdits, operates under Mode C: Autonomous Feature Sprint. See .Codex/agents/dev/feature-sprint-executor.md.

Inputs to Provide

Input	Required	Notes
Feature Contract path	Yes	Full path to the .md contract file
Budget hint	Optional	Default ~50K tokens; alert Opus if exceeded
Relevant codebase context paths	Recommended	Key router, model, or component files relevant to the contract

Sprint Flow

1. Opus delegates the full contract to feature-sprint-executor
   Task("feature-sprint-executor", "Mode C: Autonomous Feature Sprint.
        Contract: docs/project_plans/feature_contracts/[category]/[slug].md
        Budget: ~50K tokens
        Context paths: [relevant files]")

2. Sprint runs autonomously (no Opus intervention unless blocker escalated):
   explore → implement → tests → validation → Completion Report

3. Mandatory reviewer pass (Mode E):
   Task("task-completion-validator", "Mode E: Reviewer.
        Review sprint output against Feature Contract AC.
        Contract: [path]  Diff: [branch or commit range]
        Completion Report: [path or 'appended to contract'")

4. If reviewer approves → Opus commits and closes contract.
   If reviewer finds issues → feature-sprint-executor fixes (preserves session context).
   If 2+ fix cycles fail → escalate to Opus for intervention (OQ-5).

Exit Criteria

All of the following must hold before Opus commits:

• All contract Acceptance Criteria marked met in Completion Report.
• task-completion-validator review passes (no required fixes outstanding).
• All validation commands run and pass (pytest / pnpm test + type-check + lint as applicable).
• Completion Report appended to contract file (or written to .Codex/worknotes/[slug]/completion-report.md).
• Contract frontmatter updated: status: completed, files_affected, commit_refs (work-history SHAs, appended after each commit).
• After merge to destination branch: merge_commit set to the post-squash SHA and merge_branch set (typically main). This is the canonical landing pointer — required for direct squash-merges (no PR) so the orphaned branch SHAs in commit_refs remain resolvable in retrospect.

Delegation Example

# Step 1: Delegate sprint
Task("feature-sprint-executor",
     "Mode C: Autonomous Feature Sprint.\n"
     "Contract: docs/project_plans/feature_contracts/features/artifact-tag-bulk-edit.md\n"
     "Budget: ~50K tokens\n"
     "Context: skillmeat/api/routers/artifacts.py, skillmeat/web/components/entity/artifact-card.tsx")

# Step 2 (after sprint): Mandatory reviewer
Task("task-completion-validator",
     "Mode E: Reviewer.\n"
     "Contract: docs/project_plans/feature_contracts/features/artifact-tag-bulk-edit.md\n"
     "Completion Report: appended to contract\n"
     "Review the diff on branch feat/artifact-tag-bulk-edit against all Acceptance Criteria.")

# Step 3: Opus commits if review passes

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Token Discipline

Token efficiency is a first-order constraint across all execution modes. These rules codify existing practice; violations compound quickly across multi-session work.

Cross-reference: .Codex/rules/context-budget.md (authoritative; this section is the execution-skill pointer).

Core Rules

1. Task prompts < 500 words. Provide file paths and contract paths, not file contents. Subagents read files themselves.
2. Provide paths, not contents. Never paste file contents into a Task() prompt. Reference patterns by path: "follow pattern in path/to/example.tsx".
3. Don't read files you're about to delegate. Let the delegated agent own its own exploration. Opus reads files only when a planning decision requires understanding current state before delegation.
4. No TaskOutput() for file-writing agents. These agents write to disk; verify on disk with Glob or tsc --noEmit instead (~7.5K tokens saved per call avoided).
5. Scope Glob with path. Unscopied Glob hits node_modules and returns thousands of irrelevant tokens.
6. Feature Contract is the delta. Architecture context lives in durable docs (AGENTS.md, intents/intent.md, docs/current-state.md, docs/dev/architecture/*). Don't restate architecture in prompts — link to those files.
7. Progressive disclosure. Load context in layers: contract → relevant file paths → deep context only when blocked. Don't pre-load full implementation files for exploratory work.

Budget Targets

Phase	Target
Orchestration context (system + AGENTS.md + skills)	~52K baseline
Available for work in 200K context	~148K
Per execution phase (Tier 2/3)	~25–30K
Tier 1 sprint total (all in)	≤80K

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Mandatory Reviewer Gates

Reviewer passes are non-optional at tier-appropriate checkpoints. A phase, sprint, or feature is not complete until the applicable reviewer approves.

Full gate matrix (tier × checkpoint × reviewer): ./validation/completion-criteria.md

Summary:

Tier	Gate	Reviewer
1	End of sprint	task-completion-validator
2	End of each phase	task-completion-validator
2	End of feature	karen
3	End of each phase	task-completion-validator
3	Mid-feature milestones	karen
3	End of feature	karen

Do not commit or mark a phase/feature complete without a passing reviewer verdict. If the reviewer finds required fixes, the original executor addresses them (context is preserved); escalate to Opus only after 2+ failed fix cycles.

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Core Principles

1. Delegate Everything

• Opus orchestrates; subagents execute
• Never write implementation code directly
• Use batch delegation for parallel work
• Reference @AGENTS.md for agent assignments

2. Token Efficiency

• Load only mode-specific content when needed
• Use YAML head extraction for large files
• Request-log operations via /mc (token-efficient)
• Read progress YAML only (~2KB), not full files (~25KB)

3. Quality Gates

All modes share these gates - run after each significant change:

pnpm test && pnpm typecheck && pnpm lint

Detailed gate requirements: [./validation/quality-gates.md]

Agent Assignment Quick Reference

Task Type	Agent
Find files/patterns	codebase-explorer
Deep analysis	explore
React/UI components	ui-engineer-enhanced
TypeScript backend	backend-typescript-architect
Deep debugging	ultrathink-debugger
Validation/review	task-completion-validator
Most docs (90%)	documentation-writer

For detailed assignments: [./orchestration/agent-assignments.md]

Orchestration References

Reference	Purpose
Batch Delegation	Parallel Task() patterns and execution
Parallel Patterns	Dependency-aware batching strategy
Agent Assignments	Complete agent selection guide

Validation References

Reference	Purpose
Quality Gates	Test, lint, typecheck requirements
Milestone Checks	Phase completion criteria
Completion Criteria	Story/feature done definition

Skill Integrations

artifact-tracking

For phase execution, use artifact-tracking skill for:

• CREATE progress files for new phases
• UPDATE task status after completion
• QUERY pending/blocked tasks
• ORCHESTRATE batch delegation

Integration patterns: [./integrations/artifact-tracking.md]

meatycapture-capture

For request-log operations during any execution mode:

• Capture new issues: Use mc-quick.sh (~50 tokens vs ~200+ for JSON)
• Update status: meatycapture log item update DOC ITEM --status done
• Add notes: meatycapture log note add DOC ITEM -c "text"
• Search logs: meatycapture log search "query" PROJECT

Quick capture script:

mc-quick.sh bug api validation "Issue title" "What's wrong" "Expected behavior"

Script location: .Codex/skills/meatycapture-capture/scripts/mc-quick.sh

Integration patterns: [./integrations/request-log-workflow.md]

Common Patterns

Start Work on Logged Item

# Mark item in-progress
meatycapture log item update DOC.md ITEM-01 --status in-progress

# Execute work via appropriate agents...

# Mark complete with note
meatycapture log item update DOC.md ITEM-01 --status done
meatycapture log note add DOC.md ITEM-01 -c "Completed in PR #123"

Phase Execution with Artifact Tracking

# 1. Read progress YAML (token-efficient)
head -100 ${progress_file} | sed -n '/^---$/,/^---$/p'

# 2. Identify batch from parallelization field

# 3. Delegate batch (parallel Task() calls in single message)
Task("ui-engineer-enhanced", "TASK-1.1: ...")
Task("backend-typescript-architect", "TASK-1.2: ...")

# 4. Update artifact tracking
Task("artifact-tracker", "Update phase N: Mark TASK-1.1, TASK-1.2 complete")

# 5. Update request-log if applicable
meatycapture log item update REQ-*.md REQ-ITEM --status done

Tier 2/3 batch autonomy (per overhaul §4.6): Agents have wider autonomy within their batch. For a given file-owner boundary, combine "implement X" and "add tests for X" into one task — don't split them into separate sequential delegations. The executor has full context in one session and produces better-integrated output. File-ownership-first batching (one agent per file, no parallel edits to the same file) remains the hard parallel-safety rule and is unchanged.

Quick Feature Flow

# 1. Resolve input (REQ-ID, file path, or text)
# 2. codebase-explorer for pattern discovery
# 3. Create lightweight plan
# 4. Delegate to agents
# 5. Quality gates: pnpm test && pnpm typecheck && pnpm lint
# 6. Update request-log if from REQ-ID

Error Recovery

When blocked on any task:

1. Document the blocker in progress tracker
2. Attempt standard recovery (see mode-specific guidance)
3. If unrecoverable: Stop, report to user with clear next steps
4. Track issue in request-log if it warrants separate tracking:

   MC_STATUS=blocked mc-quick.sh bug [DOMAIN] [COMPONENT] "Blocked: [title]" "[What's blocking]" "[What's needed]"
   

Architecture Compliance

All implementations must follow the project's established patterns. Check AGENTS.md for project-specific conventions.

General Principles

• Follow existing patterns: Match conventions already in the codebase
• Separation of concerns: Keep layers distinct (API, business logic, data access)
• Type safety: Use TypeScript/Python types; avoid any or untyped code
• Error handling: Consistent error responses and proper exception handling
• Observability: Logging, metrics, and tracing where appropriate

Backend Standards

• Layered architecture: Controllers/routers → services → repositories → data store
• DTOs/schemas: Separate API contracts from internal models
• Validation: Input validation at API boundaries
• Pagination: Use cursor or offset pagination for list endpoints
• Documentation: OpenAPI/Swagger specs for APIs

Frontend Standards

• Component library: Use project's designated UI library consistently
• State management: Follow project's chosen pattern (React Query, Redux, etc.)
• Error boundaries: Graceful error handling in UI
• Loading states: Proper feedback during async operations
• Accessibility: WCAG compliance, keyboard navigation, ARIA labels
• Responsive design: Support required viewport sizes

Testing Standards

• Unit tests: Business logic and utility functions
• Integration tests: API endpoints and service interactions
• E2E tests: Critical user flows
• Accessibility tests: Automated a11y checks for UI
• Coverage: Meet project's minimum coverage requirements

Phase Completion Definition

A phase is ONLY complete when:

1. All tasks in plan completed
2. All success criteria met (verified)
3. All tests passing
4. Quality gates passed (types, lint, build)
5. Progress tracker updated to status: completed
6. All commits pushed

Never mark phase complete if any criterion is unmet.

Output Format

Provide structured status updates:

Phase N Execution Update

Orchestration Status:
- Batch 1: ✅ Complete (3/3)
- Batch 2: 🔄 In Progress (1/2)
- Batch 3: ⏳ Pending

Current Work:
- ✅ TASK-2.1 → ui-engineer-enhanced
- 🔄 TASK-2.2 → backend-typescript-architect

Recent Commits:
- abc1234 feat(web): implement X component

Progress: 60% (6/10 tasks)

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Remember: Follow @AGENTS.md delegation rules. Orchestrate; don't implement directly. Load only the guidance you need.