/flow-next-work

name: flow-next-work
description: Execute a Flow spec or task systematically with git setup, task tracking, quality checks, and commit workflow. Run only by /flow-next:work or when flow-next-flow routes a spec here; any other request to implement, build or work on a spec, Flow-Next named or not, goes to flow-next-flow. Triggers on /flow-next:work with Flow IDs (fn-1-add-oauth, fn-1-add-oauth.2, or legacy fn-1, fn-1.2, fn-1-xxx, fn-1-xxx.2).
user-invocable: false

Flow work

Execute a plan systematically. Focus on finishing.

**`.flow/` is the only task tracker.** A run that recorded task state in a markdown TODO, a plan file, TodoWrite, or any other tracker has broken this — all task state is read and written via `flowctl`.

Preamble

**CRITICAL: flowctl is BUNDLED — NOT installed globally.** `which flowctl` will fail (expected). Define once; subsequent blocks (here and in `phases.md`) 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"

**Hard requirements (non-negotiable):**

• **Every completed task passes through `flowctl done` and a verified `done` status.** A task treated as finished while `flowctl show <task>` still reads `todo` or `in_progress` has broken this.
• **Staging is the files you changed plus `.flow/` (`git add -- <files> .flow/`), never `git add -A`** — `.flow/` carries the run's task state; files a test run or tool wrote stay out of the diff. A commit whose diff omits the run's `.flow/` writes has broken this.
• **Completion is claimed only after `flowctl show <task>` reports `status: done`.** A completion claim printed ahead of that read has broken this.
• **`flow-next:flow-next-impl-review` is dispatched only on a green tree.** A review sent while tests or Quick commands are red has broken this.

**Role**: execution lead, plan fidelity first. **Goal**: complete every task in order with tests.

Autonomous Mode (questions off, no receipt obligations)

Before gates, treat this host-expanded block as literal prompt data, never shell:

<work-arguments> $ARGUMENTS </work-arguments>

Strip standalone whitespace token `mode:autonomous` into `WORK_ARGS`; preserve all else verbatim (spaces/quotes/globs). Set/export `AUTONOMOUS=1` if found or `FLOW_AUTONOMOUS=1`; otherwise set/export `AUTONOMOUS=0`.

Continue with `WORK_ARGS`; carry the exported marker into later shell fragments. If `AUTONOMOUS=1`: read [references/autonomous-defaults.md](references/autonomous-defaults.md) before any question, and:

• **Branch defaults deterministically to `--branch=new`** when no explicit branch option is present — under autonomy "the user's answer" never exists, and defaulting to the current branch could commit straight to main. A chained spec (`flowctl spec chain` names a parent) forks from the parent's remote tip instead of main (phases.md Phase 2). **Name the new branch exactly the spec's `branch_name` field** (`$FLOWCTL show <spec-id> --json | jq -r '.branch_name'`) — the branch matrix of `flow --auto`, its all-done PR probe, and make-pr's branch-match spec detection all key on that name; an ad-hoc name breaks continuity across hops and invocations.

Input

Full request after mode parsing: `$WORK_ARGS`

Accepts:

• Flow spec ID `fn-N-slug` (e.g., `fn-1-add-oauth`) or legacy `fn-N`/`fn-N-xxx` to work through all tasks
• Flow task ID `fn-N-slug.M` (e.g., `fn-1-add-oauth.2`) or legacy `fn-N.M`/`fn-N-xxx.M` to work on single task
• Markdown spec file path (creates spec from file, then executes)
• Idea text (creates minimal spec + single task, then executes)
• Chained instructions like "then review with /flow-next:impl-review"

If no input provided, ask for it.

FIRST: Parse Options

Option Parsing (skip questions if found in arguments)

Parse `WORK_ARGS` for these patterns. If found, use them and skip corresponding questions:

**Branch mode**:

• `--branch=current` or `--current` or "current branch" or "stay on this branch" → current branch
• `--branch=new` or `--new-branch` or "new branch" or "create branch" → new branch
• `--branch=worktree` or `--worktree` or "isolated worktree" or "worktree" → isolated worktree

**Base**: `--base=<branch>` or `--base <branch>` → `DEFAULT_BASE=origin/<branch>` (a leading `origin/` is kept once), the branch a new spec branch starts from and the run is compared against (phases.md Phase 2); an unfetchable branch, or a spec with a chain parent, stops `BLOCKED` there, before any branch is created.

**Review mode**:

• `--review=<codex|copilot|cursor|claude|host|none>`, or the same backend named in words

("review with codex", "host review", "skip review"); `--no-review` = `none`

(All non-`none` review modes route through `flow-next:flow-next-impl-review`, which resolves the configured/overridden backend — codex, copilot, cursor, claude, or host — itself.)

**No-plan (direct spec execution)**:

• `--no-plan` or "no plan" or "skip planning" or "work directly without planning" → set `NO_PLAN=1`; it pre-answers Phase 1's zero-task fork so the fork's ask never fires when intent is stated
• Implementation review, coverage, completion policy and opt-in QA remain unchanged on this route.
• The fork's semantics (ask, autonomous refusal, durable choice, implicit-task mint) live in phases.md Phase 1's gated [references/no-plan-route.md](references/no-plan-route.md), read only when the fork fires

**Autonomous mode**:

• `AUTONOMOUS=1` → use the defaults above.

If the options are absent from the arguments

**If `AUTONOMOUS=1` (autonomous mode):** ask nothing — apply the autonomous defaults and continue to the workflow.

**Otherwise (interactive)**: do not ask about the branch. Stay on the current branch when it is not th