/flow-next-plan-review

name: flow-next-plan-review
description: Carmack-level plan review via RepoPrompt or Codex. Use when reviewing Flow specs or design docs. Triggers on /flow-next:plan-review.
user-invocable: false

Plan Review Mode

**Workflow is backend-split. Read [workflow.md](workflow.md) for common orchestration and backend resolution, then read ONLY the file matching the selected review backend:**

• `BACKEND=codex` → [workflow-codex.md](workflow-codex.md)
• `BACKEND=copilot` → [workflow-copilot.md](workflow-copilot.md)
• `BACKEND=cursor` → [workflow-cursor.md](workflow-cursor.md)
• `BACKEND=claude` → [workflow-claude.md](workflow-claude.md)
• `BACKEND=host` → [workflow-host.md](workflow-host.md)
• `BACKEND=rp` → [workflow-rp.md](workflow-rp.md)

Do not load the other backend files. `BACKEND=none` and explicit `--review=export` terminate from the common workflow without loading any backend file.

Conduct a John Carmack-level review of spec plans.

**Role**: Code Review Coordinator (NOT the reviewer) **Backends** (branch on the common workflow's `RP_ELIGIBLE` probe):

• When `RP_ELIGIBLE=1`: RepoPrompt (rp), Codex CLI (codex), GitHub Copilot CLI

(copilot), Cursor CLI (cursor), Claude Code CLI (claude), or host-native (`host`)

• When `RP_ELIGIBLE=0`: Codex CLI, GitHub Copilot CLI, Cursor CLI, Claude Code CLI, or

host-native — rp remains accepted explicitly but errors at runtime

Preamble — execute common routing exactly once

Read and execute [workflow.md](workflow.md) Phase 0 once. It defines `$FLOWCTL`, probes RepoPrompt eligibility, parses an explicit `--review` mode before configured-backend resolution, resolves `SPEC_ID`, and handles `ASK`, `none`, and `export`. Never invoke `flowctl review-backend` a second time.

When `RP_ELIGIBLE=0`, never steer the user toward rp. An explicit `--review=rp`, `FLOW_REVIEW_BACKEND=rp`, or `review.backend=rp` remains valid input and fails through the rp runtime check.

Backend Selection

Priority (first match wins):

1. `--review=rp|codex|copilot|cursor|claude|host|export|none` 2. Per-spec `default_review` 3. `FLOW_REVIEW_BACKEND` 4. `.flow/config.json` `review.backend` 5. Error — no auto-detection

Configured values accept `backend[:model[:effort]]`; `cursor` takes a model but no effort, `claude` takes `claude[:<model>[:<effort>]]`, and `host`, `rp`, and `none` are bare-only. `export` is a one-off mode, never a configured backend.

Common Critical Rules

• The coordinator never self-declares a verdict.
• Stick to one backend for the full review/fix cycle.
• If `REVIEW_RECEIPT_PATH` is set, every review verdict writes a receipt.
• Any backend/transport failure outputs `<promise>RETRY</promise>` and stops;

never silently fall back to a different backend. Autonomous/Ralph callers receive the same retry terminal and decide whether to re-enter. A no-verdict dispatch is refunded and recorded by flowctl; never manually reset the review counter for a transport failure. Exit 5 / `TRANSPORT_UNHEALTHY` means stop automatic retries and repair the backend.

• `none` skips only when selected explicitly or resolved from configuration.
• `export` emits the existing external-review artifact and terminal output,

then returns; it never loads configured-backend guidance, writes a review receipt/status, or enters the fix loop.

• **Foreground rule:** run every `flowctl <backend> plan-review` call as one **blocking foreground** Bash call with a generous timeout (10 minutes; verdicts typically land in 1–7) — never `run_in_background` + monitor/poll (a background completion does not reliably resume a subagent context). Host-backend subagent dispatches are also blocking.

Backend-specific invocation, availability, model, session-continuity, receipt, and anti-pattern rules live only in the selected backend file.

Input

Arguments: $ARGUMENTS

Format: `<flow-spec-id> [focus areas] [--review=<mode>]`

Workflow

1. Execute [workflow.md](workflow.md) Phase 0. 2. If it returns for `none` or `export`, stop. Do not read a backend file. 3. Read exactly the selected `workflow-<backend>.md`. 4. Execute one backend dispatch and carry its verdict directly into the shared Fix Loop below. 5. Continue in that loop until its terminal contract is satisfied.

Fix Loop (INTERNAL - do not exit to Ralph)

**The fix loop never pauses for user confirmation.** Every valid finding is fixed and re-reviewed automatically. A loop that stops to ask, or that exits with a valid finding unfixed, has broken this. Never use AskUserQuestion in this loop.

`MAJOR_RETHINK` is not a fix-loop input. Surface the reviewer's rationale and stop with `BLOCKED: DESIGN_CONFLICT` (Ralph: `<promise>RETRY</promise>`). Only `NEEDS_WORK` enters the loop.

Fix+re-review cycles are bounded at `${MAX_REVIEW_ITERATIONS:-8}`. The counter is flowctl-owned; never keep an agent-side counter. On cap exhaustion, surface surviving findings and stop (Ralph: `<promise>RETRY</promise>`).

**The cap is enforced deterministically by flowctl:** every dispatch reserves a spec-scoped round before launch. SHIP / NEEDS_WORK / MAJOR_RETHINK / NEEDS_HUMAN consume it; a no-verdict transport failure is durably recorded and refunded. At `${MAX_REVIEW_ITERATIONS:-8}` verdict rounds, flowctl refuses with `ESCALATE:` and exit 4. More than `${MAX_REVIEW_TRANSPORT_FAILURES:-2}` consecutive no-verdict failures stop separately with `TRANSPORT_UNHEALTHY` + exit 5. Callers invoke plan-review once and act on its terminal result. The verdict counter resets only on SHIP or an explicit re-plan, never on an edit, fresh invocation, or transport failure.**

**ANTI-PATTERN:** a delivered verdict is never a transport failure - never re-dispatch or re-frame `NEEDS_WORK` as a backend/sandbox problem to claim a refund. And never widen the reviewer sandbox: reviewers are read-only by contract, so a sandbox-blocked reviewer means something asked it to mutate the workspace. Fix that instead (Windows resolves via `auto`).

When the verdict is