/next

description: Close current increment if ready and suggest next work. Use when saying "what's next", "next increment", or "move on".

Next Increment (Smart Workflow Transition)

**CRITICAL**: This command requires **EXPLICIT USER CONFIRMATION** before closing any increment!

Workflow

Step 1: Find Active Increment

find .specweave/increments -type f -name "spec.md" -exec grep -l "status: in-progress" {} \;

• One in-progress → Validate for closure
• Multiple in-progress → Warn about WIP limit, ask which to close
• None in-progress → Skip to Step 4 (suggest next work)

Step 2: PM Validation (3 Gates)

Gate 1: Tasks Completed

• All P1 (critical) tasks completed
• All P2 (important) tasks completed OR deferred with reason
• P3 tasks completed, deferred, or moved to backlog
• No tasks in "blocked" state

Gate 2: Tests Passing

• All test suites passing (no failures)
• Coverage meets target (default 80%+ critical paths)
• No skipped tests without documentation

Gate 3: Documentation Updated

• CLAUDE.md updated with new features
• README.md updated with usage examples
• CHANGELOG.md updated (if public API changed)

Step 3: Closure Decision

**If ALL gates pass** — use AskUserQuestion for explicit confirmation:

AskUserQuestion({
  questions: [{
    header: "Close increment?",
    question: "All PM gates passed. Ready to permanently close this increment?",
    options: [
      { label: "Yes, close it", description: "Mark as completed (irreversible)" },
      { label: "No, keep open", description: "Stay at ready_for_review status" }
    ],
    multiSelect: false
  }]
})

Only on user confirmation: update status → completed, set completion date, generate report, free WIP slot.

**If ANY gate fails** — present options:

• A. Complete remaining work (recommended)
• B. Force close and defer incomplete tasks
• C. Stay on current increment

**NEVER auto-close!** Always give user control.

Step 3.5: Post-Closure Quality Assessment

After successful closure, automatically run `sw:qa ${incrementId}`. Quality gate: PASS (≥80), CONCERNS (60-79), FAIL (<60). If FAIL, suggest creating follow-up increment.

Step 4: Suggest Next Work

1. Check for planned increments in backlog 2. Present options: start backlog item, continue in-progress work, or create new increment

Key Differences

| Command | Purpose | |---------|---------| | `sw:do` | Execute tasks in increment | | `sw:progress` | Check status (no action) | | `sw:done` | Explicit close with validation | | `sw:next` | **Smart transition** (close + QA + suggest next) |