/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.

Read [working-rules.md](../../references/working-rules.md) first unless you already have this run; it holds for every step of this skill.

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

Parse $ARGUMENTS for:

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

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

• **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_IDS`):

• 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).

Write the three inputs to files; dispatch only their paths. Empty or failed reads use the same defaults as an absent source.

# fence:plan-sync-inputs — FLOWCTL is the resolved executable path
mkdir -p .flow/tmp
SYNC_CONTEXT=$(mktemp -d "$(pwd)/.flow/tmp/plan-sync.XXXXXX") || exit 2
GLOSSARY_JSON_FILE="$SYNC_CONTEXT/glossary.json"
DECISIONS_JSON_FILE="$SYNC_CONTEXT/decisions.json"
STRATEGY_CONTENT_FILE="$SYNC_CONTEXT/strategy.json"
if ! "$FLOWCTL" glossary list --json > "$GLOSSARY_JSON_FILE" 2>/dev/null || [ ! -s "$GLOSSARY_JSON_FILE" ]; then
  printf '%s\n' '{"groups":[],"file_count":0,"total_terms":0}' > "$GLOSSARY_JSON_FILE"
fi
if ! "$FLOWCTL" memory list --track knowledge --category decisions --json > "$DECISIONS_JSON_FILE" 2>/dev/null || [ ! -s "$DECISIONS_JSON_FILE" ]; then
  printf '%s\n' '{"entries":[],"legacy":[],"count":0,"status":"active"}' > "$DECISIONS_JSON_FILE"
fi
if ! "$FLOWCTL" strategy read --json > "$STRATEGY_CONTENT_FILE" 2>/dev/null || [ ! -s "$STRATEGY_CONTENT_FILE" ]; then
  printf '%s\n' '{}' > "$STRATEGY_CONTENT_FILE"
fi
printf '%s\n' "$GLOSSARY_JSON_FILE" "$DECISIONS_JSON_FILE" "$STRATEGY_CONTENT_FILE"

Record the printed absolute paths for the dispatch; variables do not persist across shell calls. The agent reads the files and applies its Phase 3b husk short-circuit. Keep all three files through the agent's return.

Done when

• All three files exist, prese