workflow-reconciliation

Detect current workflow context, validate state file currency, and remediate gaps to prevent checkpoint amnesia.

When to Invoke This Skill

• User explicitly runs /reconcile [PluginName?]

• Other skills detect state drift (plugin-workflow, ui-mockup)

• After subagent completion if handoff file missing

• When switching between workflows

NOT invoked for normal checkpoint completion (plugin-workflow handles that internally). ONLY for detected drift or explicit /reconcile command.

Core Responsibilities

<orchestration_pattern> This skill follows a 5-phase pattern:

• Context Detection → Identify workflow, stage, plugin

• Rule Loading → Load expected state for workflow+stage

• Gap Analysis → Compare filesystem vs expected state

• Report Generation → Show gaps with proposed fixes

• Remediation → Execute user's chosen fix strategy

<progress_tracking> Copy this checklist to track reconciliation progress:

Reconciliation Progress:
- [ ] Phase 1: Context Detection
- [ ] Phase 2: Rule Loading
- [ ] Phase 3: Gap Analysis
- [ ] Phase 4: Report Generation
- [ ] Phase 5: Remediation Execution

</progress_tracking> </orchestration_pattern>

Phase 1: Context Detection

<context_detection enforcement="blocking"> <required_analysis> Detect current workflow context by analyzing:

<detection_method priority="1" source=".continue-here.md"> IF .continue-here.md exists in current plugin directory: - Extract YAML frontmatter (workflow, stage, status, phase) - This is authoritative source of workflow state </detection_method>

<detection_method priority="2" source="PLUGINS.md"> IF plugin name provided as argument: - Read PLUGINS.md entry for plugin - Extract status emoji (💡 Ideated, 🚧 Stage N, ✅ Working, 📦 Installed) </detection_method>

<detection_method priority="3" source="filesystem_analysis"> IF no handoff file found: - Analyze files created/modified in session - Infer workflow from file patterns: - .ideas/creative-brief.md → plugin-ideation - .ideas/mockups/v*-ui.html → ui-mockup - Source/.cpp changes + CHANGELOG.md → plugin-improve - plugins//CMakeLists.txt → plugin-workflow (Stage 1+) </detection_method>

</required_analysis>

IF unable to detect context: BLOCK with error showing detected values and suggest providing plugin name.

Phase 2: Rule Loading

<reconciliation_rules> <rule_loading>

1. Use jq to extract ONLY needed section from assets/reconciliation-rules.json

• Example: jq '.["plugin-workflow"].stages["2"]' reconciliation-rules.json

• Do NOT load entire 90-line file into context

2. Lookup workflow name from context detection
3. Lookup stage (for plugin-workflow) or phase (for other workflows) from context detection
4. Extract reconciliation rule for current workflow + stage/phase
5. If workflow not found in reconciliation-rules.json: BLOCK with error "Unknown workflow: {name}" </rule_loading>

<rule_application> For current workflow and stage, validate:

• All state_files exist and are current
• All required_files exist
• PLUGINS.md status matches expected
• Git commit exists for this stage completion </rule_application> </reconciliation_rules>

Phase 3: Gap Analysis

<gap_analysis enforcement="blocking"> <validation_sequence enforce_order="true">

For contract files (.ideas/*.md):

• Check if workflow is plugin-workflow AND stage is 1, 2, or 3
• If YES: WARN user that contracts are immutable during implementation
• Suggest completing current stage or rolling back to Stage 0
• BLOCK remediation of contract files during Stages 1-3

<check order="2" category="file_existence" required="true"> Use parallel Read tool calls to check all required_files simultaneously. For each required_file in reconciliation rule: - Check file exists at expected path (relative to plugins/{PluginName}/) - Example: CMakeLists.txt → plugins/{PluginName}/CMakeLists.txt - Record as GAP if missing </check>

<check order="3" category="state_file_currency" required="true"> Read .continue-here.md YAML frontmatter: - Extract: stage, phase, status, workflow, last_updated - Compare to detected context - Record as GAP if mismatch

Read PLUGINS.md entry for plugin: - Extract status emoji - Compare to expected status from reconciliation rule - Record as GAP if mismatch </check>

<check order="4" category="git_status" required="true"> Run git status: - Identify unstaged changes (modified, deleted) - Identify staged but uncommitted changes - Identify untracked files matching required_files pattern - Record as GAP if uncommitted changes exist </check>

</validation_sequence>

<gap_aggregation> Aggregate all gaps into structured report: { "file_existence_gaps": [ {"file": "CMakeLists.txt", "status": "missing", "expected_path": "plugins/{PluginName}/CMakeLists.txt"} ], "state_currency_gaps": [ {"file": ".continue-here.md", "field": "stage", "current": "2", "expected": "3"} ], "git_status_gaps": [ {"file": "Source/PluginProcessor.cpp", "status": "modified", "staged": false} ] } </gap_aggregation>

Phase 4: Report Generation

<reconciliation_report> <report_generation>

1. Aggregate gap analysis results
2. Generate proposed actions based on gaps found
3. Format report with visual dividers
4. Display report to user </report_generation>

<checkpoint_protocol> After displaying report, MUST present decision menu and WAIT.

<decision_menu format="inline_numbered_list" forbidden_tool="AskUserQuestion"> Present options based on gap severity:

<menu_options category="no_gaps_found"> 1. All good - return to workflow (recommended) 2. Show me the state files anyway 3. Force reconciliation (update timestamps) 4. Other </menu_options>

<menu_options category="minor_gaps" condition="only_timestamp_drift"> 1. Fix automatically - Update timestamps and commit 2. Show me the diffs first 3. Update .continue-here.md only 4. Skip reconciliation 5. Other </menu_options>

<menu_options category="major_gaps" condition="missing_files_or_uncommitted"> 1. Fix everything automatically - Create/update files and commit 2. Show me the diffs first - Preview before committing 3. Fix files only (no commit) - Update files but don't commit 4. Update .continue-here.md only - Minimal checkpoint 5. Skip reconciliation - I'll handle manually 6. Other </menu_options>

</decision_menu>

<blocking_wait> WAIT for user response - NEVER auto-proceed. </blocking_wait>

</checkpoint_protocol> </reconciliation_report>

Phase 5: Remediation Execution

<remediation_strategies> <shared_error_handling> For all strategies: If git operations fail, display error and return to decision menu. For persistent issues, suggest /research. </shared_error_handling>

Based on user's menu choice, execute appropriate strategy:

Reference Files

• reconciliation-rules.json - Workflow-specific expectations (includes commit message templates)

• handoff-formats.md - .continue-here.md structure per workflow

• reconciliation-examples.md - Example reports and outputs

Success Criteria

Reconciliation succeeds when:

State Files:

• .continue-here.md exists with current workflow, stage/phase, and timestamp

• PLUGINS.md status emoji matches expected state for current stage

• All required_files from reconciliation rule exist at expected paths

Git Status:

• No uncommitted workflow artifacts (all tracked files clean or committed)

• No staged but uncommitted changes

• Latest commit message follows workflow-appropriate convention

Workflow Continuity:

• Workflow can resume without context loss

• No checkpoint amnesia at workflow boundaries

• State files pass reconciliation-rules.json validation