Design & Planning

Turn ideas into fully-formed, implementation-ready designs through a unified 10-phase pipeline.

Entry Points

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

Quick Reference

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 for full details.

Mode Routing

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

Core Principles

• 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

⛔ EXECUTION BLOCKS (CRITICAL)

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 for all execution blocks.

Session Flow

1. Load Core - Load maestro-core for routing table and fallback policies
2. Initialize - Load handoffs, CODEMAPS, verify conductor setup → 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
5. Execute - 10-phase pipeline with A/P/C checkpoints → 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

Adaptive A/P/C System

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/
• [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 for implementation details.

Phase 4: VERIFY - Spike Execution

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

Phase 6: VALIDATE - Oracle Beads Review

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

See pipeline.md

Phase 8: READY - Auto-Orchestration

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

pl Entry Gate

⚠️ 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/<id>/ with design.md + metadata.json

pl Compatibility

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

Anti-Patterns

• ❌ 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)

Next Steps (after Phase 8: READY)

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 for full routing table.

Dependencies

Auto-loads: maestro-core for routing and fallback policies.

Related

• conductor - Track creation and implementation
• tracking - Issue tracking after design
• orchestrator - Parallel execution in Phase 9 (EXECUTE)