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/flow-next-sync

Manually trigger plan-sync to update downstream task specs after implementation drift. Use when code changes outpace specs.

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$ npx -y skills add gmickel/flow-next --skill flow-next-sync --agent claude-code

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How this skill gets triggered: by you, by Claude, or both.

  • Fires itselfAuto-invocation. Claude auto-loads it when your prompt matches the work.
  • You can call itInvoke it directly when you want it.
  • Slash command/flow-next-sync
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Manually trigger plan-sync to update downstream task specs after implementation drift. Use when code changes outpace specs.

SKILL.md

flow-next-sync.SKILL.md
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=".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 (fn-52.10, R16)
  • `--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):**

  • Do NOT gate on a hard "must start with `fn-`" check. Route the arg through `$FLOWCTL show <ID> --json` (Step 3) — flowctl's widened resolver (fn-52.10) 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. So `/flow-next:sync wor-17` 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).

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.

Step 6: Spawn Plan-Sync Agent

Read the cross-spec flag first — the same single config-leaf read `/flow-next:work` performs, so a repo that opted into cross-spec propagation (`planSync.crossSpec=true`) gets the SAME behavior from a manual `/flow-next:sync` as from the work-loop auto-trigger. Without this, `CROSS_SPEC` is unset and plan-sync skips the cross-spec phase entirely — the tool you reach for AFTER big drift silently checks only same-spec tasks:

CROSS_SPEC=$($FLOWCTL config get planSync.crossSpec --json | jq -r '.value')

Build context and spawn via Task tool:

Sync task specs from <source> to downstream tasks.

COMPLETED_TASK_ID: <source task id - the input task, or selected source for spec mode>
FLOWCTL: ${DROID_PLUGIN_ROOT:-${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}}/scripts/flowctl
SPEC_ID: <spec id>
DOWNSTREAM_TASK_IDS: <comma-separated list from step 4>
DRY_RUN: <true|false>
CROSS_SPEC: <the $CROSS_SPEC value rea
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Repeatable agentic engineering. The workflow layer that turns AI coding agents into a disciplined factory: durable specs, fresh-context workers, adversarial cross-model reviews, receipts. Everything in your repo, zero dependencies. Claude Code · Codex · Cursor · Droid.

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Repo: gmickel/flow-next