When should I use finalize-phase?

finalize-phase is useful in the following scenarios: • Project Closure: Automatically moving features to 'Shipped' status in the roadmap with completion dates, versioning, and production links. • Artifact Archival: Systematically organizing and archiving specifications, plans, and reports into designated folders to prevent knowledge loss. • Documentation Maintenance: Synchronizing README files and CHANGELOGs with the latest feature details to keep user-facing documentation current. • Technical Cleanup: Managing the deletion of merged git branches and committing final state changes to maintain a clean and professional codebase.

When & Why to Use This Skill

This Claude skill provides a comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the finalization phase of development workflows. It streamlines the transition from deployment to project closure by automating roadmap updates, artifact archival, documentation synchronization, and repository cleanup, ensuring long-term knowledge preservation and organizational consistency.

Use Cases

Project Closure: Automatically moving features to 'Shipped' status in the roadmap with completion dates, versioning, and production links.
Artifact Archival: Systematically organizing and archiving specifications, plans, and reports into designated folders to prevent knowledge loss.
Documentation Maintenance: Synchronizing README files and CHANGELOGs with the latest feature details to keep user-facing documentation current.
Technical Cleanup: Managing the deletion of merged git branches and committing final state changes to maintain a clean and professional codebase.

name	finalize-phase
description	"Standard Operating Procedure for /finalize phase. Covers workflow completion, artifact archival, roadmap updates, and knowledge preservation."
allowed-tools	Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Bash

Finalize Phase: Standard Operating Procedure

Training Guide: Step-by-step procedures for completing feature workflows and preserving knowledge.

Supporting references:

reference.md - Finalization checklist, archival procedures
examples.md - Complete finalization vs rushed cleanup

Phase Overview

Purpose: Complete feature workflow, update roadmap, archive artifacts, preserve knowledge.

Inputs:

Deployed feature (production-ready)
All phase artifacts (spec, plan, tasks, reports)
Ship report with deployment details

Outputs:

Updated roadmap (moved to "Shipped")
Archived artifacts
Updated README (if applicable)
Cleaned up branches (if applicable)
Updated workflow-state.yaml

Expected duration: 10-15 minutes

Execution Steps

Step 1: Update Roadmap

Actions:

Move feature from "In Progress" to "Shipped" in roadmap
Add completion date, version, and production URL
Link to ship report and release notes

Example:

## Shipped

### Student Progress Dashboard (v1.3.0) - Shipped 2025-10-21
- **Production URL**: https://app.example.com/students/progress
- **Ship Report**: [specs/042-student-progress-dashboard/ship-summary.md]
- **Release Notes**: [v1.3.0]
- **Impact**: Teachers can now track student progress with completion rates and time spent

Step 2: Archive Artifacts

Actions: Archive all workflow artifacts in specs/NNN-slug/:

spec.md
plan.md
tasks.md
optimization-report.md
preview-checklist.md
ship-summary.md
release-notes.md
workflow-state.yaml

Step 3: Update Documentation

Actions: Update README or docs if user-facing feature:

README.md: Add feature to feature list
docs/: Create user guide (if complex feature)
CHANGELOG.md: Add release entry

Step 4: Clean Up Branches

Actions:

# Delete feature branch (if merged)
git branch -d feature/042-student-progress-dashboard

# Delete remote branch (if applicable)
git push origin --delete feature/042-student-progress-dashboard

Step 5: Commit Finalization

Actions:

git add .spec-flow/memory/roadmap.md README.md CHANGELOG.md
git commit -m "chore: finalize student-progress-dashboard feature

- Updated roadmap: Moved to Shipped (v1.3.0)
- Updated README: Added progress dashboard to features list
- Updated CHANGELOG: Added v1.3.0 release entry
- Archived all artifacts in specs/042-student-progress-dashboard/
- Cleaned up feature branch

Feature complete - workflow closed
"

Common Mistakes

🚫 Roadmap Not Updated

Impact: Roadmap stale, lost tracking Prevention: Always move to "Shipped" with completion date and links

🚫 Incomplete Documentation

Impact: Knowledge loss, onboarding friction Prevention: Update README, create user guides, preserve all artifacts

Completion Criteria

Phase is complete when:

Roadmap updated (moved to "Shipped")
All artifacts archived
Documentation updated
Branches cleaned up
Finalization committed

This SOP guides the finalize phase. Refer to reference.md for finalization checklists.