Spec Steering Workflow

Use this skill when work is long, interruptible, multi-phase, or needs recovery in a new session.

Start or recommend a spec when any of these are true: - The task is likely to take more than 20 minutes. - The task has more than one deliverable. - The task needs staged execution. - The task is likely to be interrupted. - The task needs research plus execution. - The task must survive across sessions. - The user asks for plan first, then execution.

This skill manages execution state with workspace files: - specs/active/<spec-id>/ - specs/archive/<spec-id>/ - steering/

Default workflow: 1. Read steering/workflow.md and steering/preferences.md. 2. If resuming, read handoff.md, then tasks.md, then meta.json. 3. Work only on the current batch. 4. After each batch, or every 20-30 minutes, write a checkpoint. 5. Before stopping, update handoff.md and meta.json.

Valid checkpoint types are only: - done - blocked - failed

Do not treat "working on it", "continue", or "in progress" as valid progress reports.

Use {baseDir}/scripts/specctl.py for these operations: - init <spec-id> --title "<title>" --kind <kind> - checkpoint <spec-id> --type done|blocked|failed --batch <batch-id> --next "<next action>" - status <spec-id> - resume <spec-id> - validate <spec-id> - archive <spec-id> - set-status <spec-id> --status ready|review|completed [--phase <phase>] [--next "<next action>"] - doctor

Read references only as needed: - {baseDir}/references/workflow-rules.md for trigger and lifecycle rules - {baseDir}/references/checkpoint-rules.md for checkpoint requirements - {baseDir}/references/recovery-rules.md for resume order and stale-state rules - {baseDir}/references/integration-rules.md for coexistence with other skills - {baseDir}/references/template-contracts.md for file contracts and required fields

Use templates from {baseDir}/assets/templates/. Keep the skill lean: detailed rules belong in references/, file bodies belong in assets/templates/, and only execution state belongs in workspace specs/ and steering/.