cycle-start

Begin a cycle for a bet pitch — initializes the hill chart and transitions the pitch to building.

Usage: /cycle-start <pitch-id>

Steps

1. Parse arguments

<pitch-id> is the directory name under specs/pitches/. If absent, list pitches with bet_status: bet and ask.

2. Verify state

Read specs/pitches/<pitch-id>/pitch.md. Required:

• bet_status: bet. Refuse if any other status.
• cycle: non-empty.

Run bash ~/.claude/templates/sdd/validate-pitch.sh --pitch-id <pitch-id>. Refuse on validator failure.

3. Parse scopes

From pitch.md, extract every ### S<N>: <name> heading under the ## Scopes section. Build the scope list as [{id: "S1", name: "..."}, ...].

Refuse if fewer than 3 or more than 7 scopes are found — that's a malformed pitch.

4. Generate hill.json

Write specs/pitches/<pitch-id>/hill.json matching the schema in ~/.claude/templates/sdd/hill-chart.json:

{
  "pitch_id": "<pitch-id>",
  "cycle": "<NN>",
  "updated_at": "<ISO-8601 now>",
  "scopes": [
    {
      "id": "S1",
      "name": "<scope name from pitch.md>",
      "status": "uphill",
      "last_updated": "<ISO-8601 now>"
    }
  ]
}

All scopes start at uphill. Refuse to overwrite an existing hill.json — that means the cycle was already started; the user should /hill to update existing scopes, not re-init.

5. Update pitch frontmatter

In pitch.md:

• bet_status: from bet → building

6. Append to bet log

Add a row: | <YYYY-MM-DD> | building | Cycle NN started; hill chart initialized. |

7. Re-validate

bash ~/.claude/templates/sdd/validate-pitch.sh --pitch-id <pitch-id>. Refuse if it fails — restore prior state.

8. Report

Print:

• Pitch id, title, cycle number
• Number of scopes initialized to uphill
• Path to the new hill.json
• Next step: "Use the scope-executor agent on a scope to begin work, or /hill <scope> down to mark a scope mechanical."