feature-lifecycle

name	feature-lifecycle
description	Feature lifecycle: design, plan, implement, validate, release. Phase-gated workflow.
user-invocable	false
command	/feature-lifecycle
allowed-tools	["Read","Write","Bash","Grep","Glob","Edit","Agent","Task"]
routing	{"force_route":true,"not_for":"small bug fixes (use quick), code reviews, refactoring single files, content writing — only for new feature work spanning design → plan → implement → validate → release","triggers":["feature design","design feature","think through","explore approaches","design first","feature plan","plan feature","break down design","create tasks","feature implement","implement feature","execute plan","start building","feature validate","validate feature","run feature quality gates","check feature","feature release","release feature","merge feature","build feature end to end","full feature lifecycle","feature from scratch","design to release","complete feature pipeline","feature pipeline"],"pairs_with":["workflow","subagent-driven-development","pr-workflow","verification-before-completion","universal-quality-gate","adr-consultation","planning"],"complexity":"Complex","category":"process"}

Feature Lifecycle Skill

Phase-gated feature workflow: DESIGN > PLAN > IMPLEMENT > VALIDATE > RELEASE. Each phase must pass its gate before the next begins.

Phase Routing

Determine which phase to execute based on feature state:

1. If .feature/ exists, check current phase:

   python3 ~/.claude/scripts/feature-state.py status
   

   Route to the phase indicated by the state machine.

2. If no feature state exists, determine entry point from user intent:

   • Validated Architecture Change Handoff targeting feature-lifecycle -> DESIGN; the design phase adopts it before approach work
   • "design", "think through", "explore approaches" -> DESIGN
   • "plan", "break down", "create tasks" -> PLAN (requires completed design)
   • "implement", "execute plan", "start building" -> IMPLEMENT (requires completed plan)
   • "validate", "quality gates", "check feature" -> VALIDATE (requires completed implementation)
   • "release", "merge", "ship it" -> RELEASE (requires passed validation)
   • "end to end", "full lifecycle", "from scratch" -> DESIGN (start from beginning)

3. Load the phase reference for the current phase:

   • DESIGN: Read references/design.md
   • PLAN: Read references/plan.md
   • IMPLEMENT: Read references/implement.md
   • VALIDATE: Read references/validate.md — run quality gate commands, do not reason about whether they would pass. Paste exit codes and output.
   • RELEASE: Read references/release.md
   • END-TO-END: Read references/pipeline.md

4. Follow the loaded reference exactly. Each reference contains the full phase instructions, gates, and checkpoints.

State Conventions

Read references/shared.md for directory structure, state management commands, context loading rules, and naming conventions. All state operations go through python3 ~/.claude/scripts/feature-state.py -- never manipulate state files directly.

Phase Ordering

DESIGN -> PLAN -> IMPLEMENT -> VALIDATE -> RELEASE
  |         |         |           |          |
  v         v         v           v          v
design.md plan.md  impl.md   report.md  PR merged