designing

| Trigger | Action |

|---------|--------|

| ds | Start unified pipeline (all 10 phases) |

| /conductor-design | Start unified pipeline (alias) |

| cn, /conductor-newtrack | Create spec + plan + beads from existing design.md |

| pl, /plan | Planning phases (5-10) - see pl Entry Modes below |

| "design a feature" | Start unified pipeline |

| "let's think through X" | Start unified pipeline |

Unified Pipeline (10 Phases)

| # | Phase | Type | Purpose | Exit Criteria |

|---|-------|------|---------|---------------|

| 1 | DISCOVER | Diverge | Explore problem + research context | Problem articulated |

| 2 | DEFINE | Converge | Frame problem + select approach | Approach selected |

| 3 | DEVELOP | Diverge | Architecture + components | Interfaces defined |

| 4 | VERIFY | Converge | Oracle audit + risk assessment | Oracle APPROVED |

| 5 | DECOMPOSE | Execute | Create beads (fb) | Beads filed |

| 6 | VALIDATE | Execute | Dependency check (bv) + Oracle review | Dependencies valid |

| 7 | ASSIGN | Execute | Track assignments | Tracks assigned |

| 8 | READY | Complete | Handoff to ci/co/ca | Execution ready |

| 9 | EXECUTE | Implement | Run ci/co/ca on tracks | All beads completed |

| 10 | FINISH | Archive | Extract learnings + archive track | Track archived |

See [pipeline.md](references/pipeline.md) for full details.

Complexity scoring determines execution mode:

| Score | Mode | Phases | A/P/C | Research |

|-------|------|--------|-------|----------|

| < 4 | SPEED | 1,2,4,8 | No | 1 hook (start) |

| 4-6 | ASK | User chooses | Optional | User chooses |

| > 6 | FULL | 1-10 | Yes | 2 hooks |

Mode Comparison

| Aspect | SPEED (< 4) | FULL (> 6) |

|--------|-------------|------------|

| Phases | 1,2,4,8 | All 10 |

| A/P/C | No | Yes |

| Research | 1 hook | 2 hooks |

| Beads | No | Yes |

| Tracks | No | Yes |

| Verification | Advisory | Mandatory |

| Use [E] to escalate | Yes | N/A |

• One question at a time - Don't overwhelm
• Multiple choice preferred - Easier to answer
• YAGNI ruthlessly - Remove unnecessary features
• Explore alternatives - Always propose 2-3 approaches
• Research consolidated - 2 strategic hooks, not 5

This skill contains EXECUTION BLOCKS marked with ⛔. When you encounter one, you MUST:

1. STOP what you're doing
2. EXECUTE the tool calls specified (Task(), oracle(), skill())
3. WAIT for results before proceeding

EXECUTION BLOCKS are NOT documentation - they are COMMANDS you must execute.

See [pipeline.md](references/pipeline.md) for all execution blocks.

1. Load Core - Load [maestro-core](../maestro-core/SKILL.md) for routing table and fallback policies
2. Initialize - Load handoffs, CODEMAPS, verify conductor setup → [session-init.md](references/session-init.md)
3. Research - ⛔ EXECUTION BLOCK at Phase 1 start (spawn 3 Task() agents)
4. Route - Score complexity (< 4 = SPEED, > 6 = FULL) → [design-routing-heuristics.md](references/design-routing-heuristics.md)
5. Execute - 10-phase pipeline with A/P/C checkpoints → [pipeline.md](references/pipeline.md)
6. Validate - ⛔ EXECUTION BLOCK at Phase 4 (call oracle())
7. Complete - Phase 8 (READY) triggers ci/co/ca → Phase 9 (EXECUTE) → Phase 10 (FINISH)

Research Hooks (Consolidated)

| Hook | Trigger | Agents | Purpose |

|------|---------|--------|---------|

| research-start | Phase 1 (DISCOVER) | Locator + Pattern + CODEMAPS + Architecture | All initial context |

| research-verify | Phase 3→4 (DEVELOP→VERIFY) | Analyzer + Pattern + Impact + Web | Design verification |

Validation Gates

| Checkpoint | Focus | Enforcement |

|------------|-------|-------------|

| CP1 (DISCOVER) | Product alignment, no duplicate features | WARN |

| CP2 (DEFINE) | Problem clear, success measurable, scope explicit | WARN |

| CP3 (DEVELOP) | 3+ options, tech-stack alignment, risk analysis | WARN |

| CP4 (VERIFY) | Full validation + grounding + impact scan | SPEED=WARN, FULL=HALT |

A/P/C checkpoints work adaptively across the entire workflow.

State Ladder

```

INLINE → MICRO_APC → NUDGE → DS_FULL → DS_BRANCH → BRANCH_MERGE

```

| State | Description | Trigger |

|-------|-------------|---------|

| INLINE | Normal flow (conductor/beads) | Default |

| MICRO_APC | Lightweight checkpoint at boundaries | End of spec/plan section |

| NUDGE | Suggest upgrade to DS | 3+ design iterations |

| DS_FULL | Full 10-phase with A/P/C | ds command or upgrade |

| DS_BRANCH | DS attached to design branch | Design rethink in track |

| BRANCH_MERGE | Apply branch changes | Branch complete |

A/P/C in FULL Mode

At end of phases 1-4:

• [A] Advanced - Phase-specific deep dive
• [P] Party - Multi-agent feedback (BMAD v6) → [bmad/](references/bmad/)
• [C] Continue - Proceed to next phase
• [↩ Back] - Return to previous phase

| After Phase | A Option |

|-------------|----------|

| 1 (DISCOVER) | Advanced assumption audit |

| 2 (DEFINE) | Scope stress-test |

| 3 (DEVELOP) | Architecture deep-dive |

| 4 (VERIFY) | Oracle runs BEFORE showing menu |

Priority Rules

1. Explicit commands (ds) always win
2. Active DS/Branch blocks passive triggers
3. Branch safety preferred when in implementation
4. Micro A/P/C at checkpoint boundaries
5. Nudge after 3+ iterations

See [apc-checkpoints.md](references/apc-checkpoints.md) for implementation details.

When risk assessment identifies HIGH risk items:

```

HIGH risk items → MUST spawn spike Task()

│

▼

For each HIGH risk:

1. Create spike bead + dir

2. MUST spawn Task() with time-box

3. Wait for completion

4. Capture result (YES/NO)

│

▼

MUST call oracle() for 6-dimension audit

│

┌───────┴───────┐

│ │

All spikes YES Any spike NO

│ │

▼ ▼

Continue HALT - user decision

```

⚠️ MANDATORY: You MUST call oracle() at Phase 4 - see [pipeline.md](references/pipeline.md#phase-4-verify-converge)

⚠️ MANDATORY: After bv validation, you MUST call oracle() to review beads completeness.

See [pipeline.md](references/pipeline.md#phase-6-validate-execute)

```

Ready to execute. Found N tracks:

• Track A (BlueLake): 4 beads

• Track B (GreenCastle): 3 beads

[O] Orchestrate (spawn workers)

[S] Sequential (run ci manually)

[R] Ralph (autonomous loop - ca)

Default: [O] after 30s

```

> Note: [R] is available when ralph.enabled == true in track metadata.json.

⚠️ MANDATORY: If user selects [O] and ≥2 tracks exist, you MUST spawn Task() for each track.

See [pipeline.md](references/pipeline.md#phase-8-ready-complete)

⚠️ MANDATORY: Before running pl, detect input and bootstrap if needed:

```

pl triggered

│

▼

Input detection (priority order):

1. design.md exists? → ALIAS mode (skip discovery)

2. PRD file exists? → STANDALONE mode (parse PRD)

3. User file attached? → STANDALONE mode

4. No input? → BOOTSTRAP mode (prompt → create track)

```

| Input Source | Mode | Action |

|--------------|------|--------|

| design.md | ALIAS | Skip Phase 5, run 6-10 |

| PRD file | STANDALONE | Parse PRD, run 5-10 |

| User file | STANDALONE | Use as context, run 5-10 |

| None | BOOTSTRAP | Prompt → create track → run 5-10 |

BOOTSTRAP creates: conductor/tracks// with design.md + metadata.json

| Scenario | Mode | Behavior |

|----------|------|----------|

| pl after ds Phase 4 | NO-OP | Not needed - phases 5-10 auto-run in FULL mode |

| pl with design.md | ALIAS | Skip Phase 5 discovery, run 6-10 |

| pl with PRD file | STANDALONE | Parse PRD, run full 5-10 |

| pl with user request | STANDALONE | Run full discovery, phases 5-10 |

| pl without any input | ERROR | Prompt for input source |

• ❌ Jumping to solutions before understanding the problem
• ❌ Skipping verification at Phase 4 (VERIFY)
• ❌ Asking multiple questions at once
• ❌ Over-engineering simple features (use SPEED mode)
• ❌ Running pl after ds completes (no longer needed)

| Command | Description | Phase |

|---------|-------------|-------|

| ci | /conductor-implement - Execute track | Phase 9 (EXECUTE) |

| co | /conductor-orchestrate - Spawn parallel workers | Phase 9 (EXECUTE) |

| ca | /conductor-autonomous - Ralph loop | Phase 9 (EXECUTE) |

| /conductor-finish | Archive track + extract learnings | Phase 10 (FINISH) |

See [maestro-core](../maestro-core/SKILL.md) for full routing table.

Auto-loads: [maestro-core](../maestro-core/SKILL.md) for routing and fallback policies.

• [conductor](../conductor/SKILL.md) - Track creation and implementation
• [tracking](../tracking/SKILL.md) - Issue tracking after design
• [orchestrator](../orchestrator/SKILL.md) - Parallel execution in Phase 9 (EXECUTE)