/rpi - Full Lifecycle Orchestrator

Quick ref: /discovery -> /crank -> /validation, then report.

Execute this workflow. Do not only describe it. RPI is autonomous unless --interactive is set. The user touchpoint is after validation, or after a real blocked state exhausts retries. Read references/autonomous-execution.md when you need the full autonomy contract.

Core Contract

RPI delegates via Skill(skill="discovery", ...), Skill(skill="crank", ...), and Skill(skill="validation", ...) as separate tool invocations. Keep strict delegation on by default; do not compress phases, replace phase skills with direct agent spawns, or skip validation. Read ../shared/references/strict-delegation-contract.md for the full anti-compression contract. See references/isolation-contract.md for the four-lever model and the compression patterns scripts/check-skill-isolation.sh flags. See references/best-practices.md for the principle + anti-pattern citation table.

RPI owns one lifecycle objective across all phases. Preserve the discovered epic_id when present; otherwise preserve the original goal and execution packet objective. A child bead or one ready slice is context, not a replacement objective. <promise>PARTIAL</promise> from /crank means retry Phase 2 on the same objective.

Route And Classify

Create .agents/rpi/.
Resolve --from:
- default, research, plan, pre-mortem, brainstorm -> discovery
- implementation or crank -> implementation
- validation, vibe, or post-mortem -> validation
If the input is a bead and --from is absent, resolve it with bd show:
- epic -> implementation with that epic
- child with parent -> implementation with the parent epic
Classify complexity:
- fast: short/simple goal or --fast-path
- standard: medium goal or one scope keyword
- full: --deep, complex-operation keyword, 2+ scope keywords, or >120 chars
Log RPI mode: rpi-phased (complexity: <level>).

Track state compactly:

rpi_state = {
  goal: "<goal string>",
  epic_id: null,
  phase: "<discovery|implementation|validation>",
  complexity: "<fast|standard|full>",
  test_first: <true by default; false only when --no-test-first>,
  cycle: 1,
  verdicts: {}
}

Complex-operation keywords include refactor, migrate, rewrite, redesign, rearchitect, overhaul, decouple, deprecate, split, extract module, and port. Scope keywords include all, entire, across, everywhere, every file, system-wide, global, and codebase.

Phase DAG

Enter at the routed phase and run every phase after it.

Discovery: invoke /discovery <goal> [--interactive] --complexity=<level>. On DONE, read .agents/rpi/execution-packet.json or the run archive and preserve its objective spine. On BLOCKED, stop with the discovery verdict.
Implementation: invoke /crank <epic-id> when the packet has epic_id; otherwise invoke /crank .agents/rpi/execution-packet.json. Pass --test-first or --no-test-first through. On DONE, record ao ratchet record implement 2>/dev/null || true and continue. On PARTIAL or BLOCKED, retry the same objective up to 3 total attempts.
Validation: invoke /validation <epic-id> --complexity=<level> when an epic exists; otherwise invoke /validation --complexity=<level>. Add --strict-surfaces when --quality is set. On FAIL, extract findings, re-run /crank on the same objective, then re-run /validation, up to 3 total validation attempts. On DONE, record ao ratchet record vibe 2>/dev/null || true.
Report: summarize phase verdicts and epic status using references/report-template.md. With --loop, restart from discovery on FAIL while cycle < max_cycles. With --spawn-next, read .agents/rpi/next-work.jsonl and suggest the next command without invoking it.

Phase Data Contract

The execution packet carries the repo execution profile through contract_surfaces, done_criteria, and queue claim/finalize metadata. Keep the latest alias at .agents/rpi/execution-packet.json and read references/phase-data-contracts.md for schemas and archive paths.

Complexity-Scaled Gates

Pre-mortem

complexity == "low" or "fast": inline review, no spawning (--quick)
complexity == "medium" or "standard": inline fast default (--quick)
complexity == "high" or "full": full council, 2-judge minimum; max 3 total attempts

Final Vibe

complexity == "low" or "fast": inline review, no spawning (--quick)
complexity == "medium" or "standard": inline fast default (--quick)
complexity == "high" or "full": full council, 2-judge minimum; max 3 total attempts

Post-mortem (STEP 2)

complexity == "low" or "fast": inline review, no spawning (--quick)
complexity == "medium" or "standard": inline fast default (--quick)
complexity == "high" or "full": full council, 2-judge minimum; max 3 total attempts

Flags

| Flag | Default | Purpose | |------|---------|---------| | --from=<phase> | discovery | Start at discovery, implementation, or validation | | --discovery-artifact=<path> | unset | With implementation start, convert an existing artifact into the handoff packet | | --interactive | off | Human gates in discovery/validation | | --auto | on | Fully autonomous default | | --loop --max-cycles=<n> | off / 3 | Iterate when validation fails | | --spawn-next | off | Surface follow-up work after reporting | | --test-first | on | Pass strict-quality preference to /crank | | --no-test-first | off | Explicitly opt out of strict-quality | | --fast-path / --deep | auto | Force fast or full complexity | | --quality | off | Make validation strict surfaces blocking | | --dry-run / --no-budget | off | Report only, or disable phase time budgets |

Examples

User says: /rpi "add user authentication" Run discovery, implementation, validation, then report.

User says: /rpi --from=implementation ag-23k Resolve the bead scope, run implementation and validation, then report.

User says: /rpi --deep "refactor payment module" Use full council gates across the lifecycle.

Read references/examples.md for resume, interactive, loop, and artifact-mode examples.

Troubleshooting

| Problem | Response | |---------|----------| | Discovery BLOCKED | Stop and report discovery's manual-intervention reason | | /crank returns PARTIAL | Retry /crank on the same objective; do not narrow to a child slice | | Validation FAIL | Re-crank with findings, then re-validate, up to 3 total attempts | | Packet shape unclear | Read references/phase-data-contracts.md |