/flow-next-sync

name: flow-next-sync
description: Manually trigger plan-sync to update downstream task specs after implementation drift. Use when code changes outpace specs.
user-invocable: false

Manual Plan-Sync

Manually trigger plan-sync to update downstream task specs.

Preamble

**CRITICAL: flowctl is BUNDLED - NOT installed globally.** Define once; subsequent blocks use `$FLOWCTL`:

FLOWCTL="${DROID_PLUGIN_ROOT:-${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}}/scripts/flowctl"
[ -x "$FLOWCTL" ] || FLOWCTL="<plugin-root>/scripts/flowctl"   # <plugin-root> = the directory two levels above this skill's SKILL.md file (the harness gave you that file's absolute path when the skill loaded); substitute it literally
[ -x "$FLOWCTL" ] || FLOWCTL=".flow/bin/flowctl"

Input

Arguments: $ARGUMENTS Format: `<id> [--dry-run]`

• `<id>` - task ID `fn-N-slug.M` (or legacy `fn-N.M`, `fn-N-xxx.M`) or spec ID `fn-N-slug` (or legacy `fn-N`, `fn-N-xxx`), **or a resolvable tracker handle** (`wor-17` / `wor-17.M`) that `flowctl show` maps to the linked spec/task
• `--dry-run` - show changes without writing

Workflow

Step 1: Parse Arguments

REPO_ROOT="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd)"

Parse $ARGUMENTS for:

• First positional arg = `ID`
• `--dry-run` flag = `DRY_RUN` (true/false)

**Validate ID first (handle-recognition rule, R16):**

• **The id is resolved by `flowctl show`, not by a prefix check.** A session that rejects a resolvable tracker handle as an unknown id — because it gated on "must start with `fn-`" — has broken this. Route the arg through `$FLOWCTL show <ID> --json` (Step 3); flowctl's widened resolver maps a tracker key (`wor-17` / `wor-17.M`) to its linked spec/task, so a resolvable handle is the existing spec/task, never a new id. `/flow-next:sync wor-17` therefore resolves the linked spec.
• If no ID provided: "Usage: /flow-next:sync <id> [--dry-run]"
• If the arg does not resolve via `flowctl show` (Step 3): "Unknown ID. Use fn-N-slug (spec) / fn-N-slug.M (task), a tracker handle (wor-17), or legacy fn-N, fn-N-xxx."

Detect ID type (use the canonical id from `flowctl show`):

• Contains `.` (e.g., fn-1.2, fn-1-add-oauth.2, wor-17.2) -> task ID
• No `.` (e.g., fn-1, fn-1-add-oauth, wor-17) -> spec ID

Step 2: Validate Environment

test -d .flow || { echo "No .flow/ found. Run flowctl init first."; exit 1; }

If `.flow/` missing, output error and stop.

Step 3: Validate ID Exists

$FLOWCTL show <ID> --json

If command fails:

• For task ID: "Task <id> not found. Run `flowctl list` to see available."
• For spec ID: "Spec <id> not found. Run `flowctl specs` to see available."

Stop on failure.

Step 4: Find Downstream Tasks

**For task ID input:**

# Extract spec from task ID (remove .N suffix)
SPEC=$(echo "<task-id>" | sed 's/\.[0-9]*$//')

# Get all tasks in spec
$FLOWCTL tasks --spec "$SPEC" --json

Filter to `status: todo` or `status: blocked`. Exclude the source task itself.

**For spec ID input:**

$FLOWCTL tasks --spec "<spec-id>" --json

1. First, find a **source task** to anchor drift detection (agent requires `COMPLETED_TASK_ID`):

• Prefer most recently updated task with `status: done`
• Else: most recently updated task with `status: in_progress`
• Else: error "No completed or in-progress tasks to sync from. Complete a task first."

2. Then filter remaining tasks to `status: todo` or `status: blocked` (these are downstream).

**If no downstream tasks:**

No downstream tasks to sync (all done or none exist).

Stop here (success, nothing to do).

Done when

• A source task is anchored — the input task in task mode, or the most recently updated `done` (else `in_progress`) task in spec mode — or the run stopped with the documented refusal because neither exists.
• `DOWNSTREAM_TASK_IDS` holds the spec's `todo` and `blocked` tasks with the source task excluded. **An empty downstream set stops the run here.** A session that spawns the agent with nothing downstream has broken this.

Step 5: Gather glossary + decisions + strategy context

Three extra context types help the agent catch drift the spec text alone can't reveal: project-glossary terms (renames where the old spec used a term whose `_Avoid_` alias now appears in code), active decision constraints (current code may touch files mentioned in a decision's `Consequences` section), and strategic-intent drift (completed task contradicts an active `STRATEGY.md` track or approach).

GLOSSARY_JSON="$("$FLOWCTL" glossary list --json 2>/dev/null \
  || echo '{"groups":[],"file_count":0,"total_terms":0}')"
DECISIONS_JSON="$("$FLOWCTL" memory list --track knowledge --category decisions --json 2>/dev/null \
  || echo '{"entries":[],"legacy":[],"count":0,"status":"active"}')"
STRATEGY_CONTENT="$("$FLOWCTL" strategy read --json 2>/dev/null || echo '{}')"

All three calls are best-effort — empty defaults keep the agent prompt valid when flowctl returns nothing or fails.

**Husk short-circuit** — when all three of the following hold, skip the extra context entirely (pass the empty defaults; the agent's husk short-circuit at the top of Phase 3b will skip the whole section):

• `GLOSSARY_JSON.total_terms == 0` (glossary missing or husk)
• `DECISIONS_JSON.count == 0` (no decision entries)
• `STRATEGY_CONTENT.sections_filled == 0` OR `STRATEGY_CONTENT == {}` (no STRATEGY.md or husk — verify with `flowctl strategy status --json | jq '.sections_filled // 0'`)

When any of the three has signal, pass through all three (untouched) and let the agent run the matching subsection (3b.1 / 3b.2 / 3b.3) and skip the empty ones.

When `GLOSSARY_JSON.total_terms == 0` but `file_count > 0`, every group is a husk. Husks carry no signal for drift detection — pass the JSON through untouched and let the agent skip them.

Done when

• All three variables are populated — **with the documented empty default preserved on failure**, never dropped. A prompt