chaining-spells

Chaining Spells

What this does

Builds and runs a chain — a workflow spell whose stages each invoke another existing spell. The chain handles handoffs, loop-backs, and stop-on-failure.

When to use

• User says "do X then Y then Z" where each is a known spell
• User wants to formalize a multi-spell workflow they keep doing manually
• Loading a default chain (e.g. general-research-loop)

What you bring (Inputs)

• The names of the spells to chain (in order)
• The handoff artifact between each pair

What you get (Output)

A new chain spell (kind: workflow, complexity: chained) saved to $WIZARD_HOME, plus a runnable execution path.

How it works (Steps)

This is a workflow — and the resulting chain is also a workflow. Don't confuse the two.

Stages

Stage 1: Identify constituents

List the spells in the order they'll run. Verify each exists (in $WIZARD_HOME or bundled). Reject the chain if any are missing — offer to build them first.

Stage 2: Define handoffs

For each adjacent pair (A → B):

• What does A produce?
• What does B require as input?
• Do they match, or does a translation step exist?

If they don't match, the chain isn't yet runnable. Either:

• Edit B's What you bring (Inputs) to accept A's output, OR
• Insert a translator spell between them, OR
• Reject the chain and tell the user

Stage 3: Define stage gates

For each transition, name what must be true to pass to the next stage. Default: "the constituent spell's Quality bar was met."

Stage 4: Define loop-back conditions

When does the chain return to an earlier stage?

Default: "if any stage's Quality bar is not met after the constituent finishes, return to that stage and re-run."

Document any custom loop-backs.

Stage 5: Build the chain SKILL.md

Use templates/spell-template-chained.md. Set composes: to the list of constituent names.