Phase Management

Establish systematic progression through the mandatory 6-phase protocol for all complex tasks, ensuring quality gates and proper transitions.

The 6-Phase Protocol

Every complex task MUST progress through these phases in order:

EXPLORE → PLAN → CODE → TEST → FIX → DOCUMENT

Phase Overview

Phase 1: EXPLORE

Purpose: Gather comprehensive understanding before planning.

Activities

• •Analyze requirements and constraints
• •Research existing codebase
• •Identify dependencies and risks
• •Gather library documentation (Context7)
• •Understand domain context

Agents

• •code-explorer - Codebase analysis
• •research-agent - Documentation gathering
• •requirements-analyst - Requirement extraction

Exit Criteria

• • Requirements documented
• • Codebase context understood
• • Risks identified
• • Dependencies mapped

Outputs

explore_output:
  requirements: "Detailed requirement specification"
  codebase_context: "Relevant files and patterns"
  risks: "Identified risks and mitigations"
  dependencies: "External and internal dependencies"

Phase 2: PLAN

Purpose: Design solution and create execution plan.

Activities

• •Design architecture/approach
• •Break down into tasks
• •Create dependency graph (DAG)
• •Allocate resources
• •Estimate complexity

Agents

• •master-strategist - Overall planning
• •architect-supreme - Technical design

Exit Criteria

• • Architecture defined
• • Tasks broken down
• • DAG created
• • Resources allocated

Outputs

plan_output:
  architecture: "Technical design document"
  task_dag: "Directed acyclic graph of tasks"
  resource_allocation: "Agent assignments"
  checkpoints: "Phase boundary markers"

Phase 3: CODE

Purpose: Implement the planned solution.

Activities

• •Execute tasks per DAG
• •Write production code
• •Write unit tests
• •Handle edge cases
• •Integrate components

Agents

• •coder - Implementation (2-4 agents)
• •unit-tester - Test writing
• •integrator - Component integration

Exit Criteria

• • All tasks completed
• • Unit tests passing
• • Code compiles/runs
• • Integration successful

Outputs

code_output:
  files_created: ["list of new files"]
  files_modified: ["list of changed files"]
  tests_written: ["list of test files"]
  integration_status: "success|partial|failed"

Phase 4: TEST

Purpose: Validate implementation quality.

Activities

• •Run full test suite
• •Perform integration testing
• •Execute E2E tests (if applicable)
• •Measure coverage
• •Security scanning

Agents

• •test-runner - Test execution
• •coverage-analyst - Coverage analysis
• •security-scanner - Security validation

Exit Criteria

• • All tests pass
• • Coverage meets threshold
• • No security issues
• • Performance acceptable

Outputs

test_output:
  test_results: "pass|fail with details"
  coverage_report: "Coverage percentage by file"
  security_findings: "Any vulnerabilities found"
  performance_metrics: "Key performance indicators"

Phase 5: FIX

Purpose: Address issues found during testing.

Activities

• •Fix failing tests
• •Address security findings
• •Improve coverage
• •Optimize performance
• •Refactor as needed

Agents

• •debugger - Issue diagnosis
• •fixer - Bug resolution

Exit Criteria

• • All tests passing
• • Security issues resolved
• • Coverage improved
• • Performance optimized

Outputs

fix_output:
  issues_resolved: ["list of fixed issues"]
  regressions_avoided: "Verification status"
  final_test_status: "All tests passing confirmation"

Phase 6: DOCUMENT

Purpose: Create knowledge transfer artifacts.

Activities

• •Update README/docs
• •Create ADRs for decisions
• •Sync to Obsidian vault
• •Update API documentation
• •Log learnings

Agents

• •documentation-expert - Doc writing
• •vault-syncer - Obsidian sync

Exit Criteria

• • Docs updated
• • ADRs created
• • Vault synced
• • Knowledge captured

Outputs

document_output:
  docs_updated: ["list of documentation files"]
  adrs_created: ["architectural decision records"]
  vault_entries: ["Obsidian vault updates"]
  commit_ready: "Ready for final commit"

Phase Transitions

Transition Protocol

1. •Verify Exit Criteria: All criteria must be met
2. •Create Checkpoint: Save phase state
3. •Package Outputs: Prepare for next phase
4. •Notify Transition: Log phase completion
5. •Initialize Next Phase: Load context, spawn agents

Checkpoint Structure

checkpoint:
  phase: "EXPLORE|PLAN|CODE|TEST|FIX|DOCUMENT"
  timestamp: "ISO 8601 timestamp"
  status: "completed|partial|blocked"
  outputs: "Phase output package"
  next_phase: "Next phase to execute"
  context: "Preserved context for continuation"

Recovery from Checkpoint

If interrupted, resume from last checkpoint:

1. •Load checkpoint state
2. •Verify outputs still valid
3. •Continue from current phase
4. •Don't repeat completed work

Enforcement

The 6-phase protocol is MANDATORY and enforced via hooks:

• •Pre-task: Verify phase compliance plan
• •Post-task: Validate all phases completed
• •Phase-transition: Enforce exit criteria

Skip Prevention

Phases cannot be skipped:

• •TEST phase: Required even for "simple" changes
• •DOCUMENT phase: Required for all work
• •FIX phase: Can be minimal if no issues

Additional Resources

Reference Files

• •references/phase-details.md - Extended phase specifications
• •references/checkpoint-format.md - Checkpoint data structures

Examples

• •examples/phase-outputs.json - Sample outputs by phase
• •examples/checkpoint.json - Sample checkpoint structure