Coordinate Handoffs

Purpose / When to Activate

Activate after each sub-agent writes its handoff artefact and terminates.

The Orchestrator cannot proceed to the next phase until it has validated the current phase's output. This skill validates artefact structure, interprets verdicts, and returns a clear next-action decision.

Process

After Planning Sub-Agent terminates

1. Check: does {id}.execution-plan.md exist?
   • No → check for {id}.plan-blocked.md
     • If blocked artefact exists: ESCALATE with block reason
     • If neither exists: RE-SPAWN Planning Sub-Agent (attempt 2)
2. Check: does the execution plan contain required sections? (Implementation Sequence, Edge Cases, Test Checkpoints, Risk Register)
   • No → RE-SPAWN Planning Sub-Agent with validation failure noted (attempt 2)
   • After 2 failed attempts: ESCALATE
3. Valid artefact: → PROCEED to Implementation phase

After Implementation Sub-Agent terminates

1. Check: does {id}.impl-report.md exist?
   • No: RE-SPAWN (attempt 2), then ESCALATE
2. Check: does impl-report contain required sections? (changes made, criteria mapping, rules applied)
   • No: RE-SPAWN with validation failure noted
3. Check: impl-report notes any blocking failures?
   • Yes: RE-SPAWN with enriched context (add failure details to bundle)
   • Note: implementation self-reported blocking failures (from impl-report) count as the first attempt. A single RE-SPAWN with enriched context is allowed. If the second attempt also reports blocking failures, escalate — do not enter QA.
4. Valid artefact: → PROCEED to QA phase

After QA Sub-Agent terminates

1. Read verdict from {id}.qa-report.md:
   • PASS: → INTEGRATE, MERGE & COMPLETE Story:
     1. Rebase on staging (in worktree): git merge staging into story branch
     2. Verify build: npx tsc --noEmit in worktree
        • If fails with errors introduced by this story → fix and re-commit
        • If fails with pre-existing errors only → proceed (not this story's problem)
        • If unclear → ESCALATE with error list
     3. Verify tests: npx vitest run in worktree
        • Same triage: story-introduced failures → fix; pre-existing → proceed; unclear → ESCALATE
     4. Push story branch to origin
     5. gh pr create --base staging --head story/{id}
     6. Wait for PR CI check to reach a terminal state (gh run watch)
        • If CI fails → diagnose: same triage as steps 2–3 (fix story issues, ignore pre-existing)
        • If CI fails on infra (missing secrets, missing bindings) → ESCALATE with logs
     7. gh pr merge --squash — immediate merge to staging
        • If merge fails (conflict): merge staging into branch, resolve, push, retry merge
        • If merge still fails after 2 attempts: ESCALATE with conflict details
        • If merge rejected (branch protection / checks required): wait for checks, then retry
     8. After successful merge: verify staging deploy CI (gh run list --branch staging --limit 1)
        • If staging deploy fails → ESCALATE with deploy logs (do not attempt infra fixes)
     9. If {id}.memory-delta.md exists in contexts/artefacts/memory-deltas/, flag it in the completion report for Discovery to action via memory-ingest.
   10. Update backlog (push with retry-rebase pattern), cleanup worktree + delete remote branch NEVER leave a PR open. NEVER merge to production (staging only).
   • FAIL: spawn count < 2? → RE-SPAWN Implementation Sub-Agent with qa-report, then re-spawn QA Sub-Agent
   • FAIL after 2 cycles: → ESCALATE
   • ESCALATE: → ESCALATE (pass QA's escalation reason to human)

After MicroDelivery Sub-Agent terminates (Tier 1)

1. Read verdict from {id}.micro-delivery-report.md:
   • PASS: → COMPLETE Story
   • FAIL (attempt 1): → RE-SPAWN MicroDelivery Sub-Agent (max 1 retry)
   • FAIL (attempt 2): → ESCALATE
   • ESCALATE (complexity escalation): → RE-EVALUATE Story as Tier 2 and re-run with Core Team

Retry Limits

Escalation Package

When escalating, the Orchestrator surfaces to the human:

• Story ID and title
• Phase where escalation occurred
• Handoff artefact path (for full context)
• Specific failure reason
• Recommended next action (back to Discovery / manual fix / scope clarification)

Non-Goals

This skill must NOT:

• Make product decisions about what to implement
• Modify acceptance criteria
• Skip QA validation even under time pressure
• Delete worktrees containing uncommitted work without confirmation

Quality Checks

• No phase transition occurs without a validated handoff artefact
• Retry counts are tracked across the full Story lifecycle (not reset between phases)
• Escalation always includes a specific, actionable failure reason
• PASS is never issued unless {id}.qa-report.md contains explicit PASS verdict