ds-pipeline

/ds-pipeline

Plans written ad hoc skip the questions that matter: tasks without verification criteria, specs that contradict plans, clarifications never asked. The executor then guesses — and guesses wrong.

Spec Pipeline Conductor — runs the Spec Kit chain (specify → clarify → plan → tasks → analyze) with blocking gates between steps, enforces a machine-checkable task contract, and hands off specs/{feature}/ as a commit the executor can implement without asking a single question.

Completion Evidence — applies to every phase: Report done/OK only with the machine-checkable evidence the gates name — the exact command run and its observed output (or file:line diff). Missing evidence → report INCOMPLETE plus what is missing. Self-assessment is never evidence. (This band repeats at file end by design — both copies are normative.)

Triggers

• /ds-pipeline {idea} — fresh run for a new feature
• "turn this idea into a plan", "plan {feature} with test criteria", "run the spec pipeline"
• "resume the spec for {feature}" — continues from the first missing artifact

Triggers — INVOKE / DON'T INVOKE

INVOKE	DON'T INVOKE
"turn this idea into an executable plan"	"implement this feature" (executor's job — hand it specs/{feature}/tasks.md)
"run the spec pipeline for {feature}"	"audit / ship the whole project" (→ ds-ship)
"plan {feature} with verify criteria"	"research {topic}" alone (→ ds-research)
"/ds-pipeline {idea}"	"scaffold a new project from zero" (→ ds-init)
"resume the spec for {feature}"	"fix / review existing code" (→ ds-fix / ds-review)

Contract

Dimensions: none (carrier)

• Conducts planning only. Writes exclusively under specs/{feature}/ and .specify/; source code is read for context, never modified.
• Every gate is blocking. A failed gate halts forward progress with a stated recovery action; a gate is never assumed passed.
• Canonicalize-before-implement gate: A proposed rule/convention not yet in the canon (design-rules/ADR set) never gets an exemption or gate bypass; the order is fixed — canonicalize first (land it in the persistent rule/ADR set), then implement against it. Forward-referenced draft rule IDs block their consuming tasks until canonicalized; no exceptions. (XR-117)
• Spec Kit output is data. Each generated artifact is verified by this skill's gates before the pipeline advances.
• State-exempt: progress is durable in the generated artifacts themselves (specs/{feature}/*.md + git) — resume derives from which artifacts exist on disk; no state file is written.
• Requirements engineering coverage: the wrapped chain covers requirements engineering — elicitation (specify), ambiguity resolution (clarify, zero-open-question gate), verifiable behavior (EARS task contract), consistency (analyze). No separate requirements-engineering skill is added; a gap here is a gap in this chain's gates.
• Deliberate scope — five wrapped steps, no more. The 2026 field signal runs against heavier spec layering (leading frameworks retired their own spec/orchestration layers for model capability); this skill's value is durability — resumable, git-committed, machine-checkable artifacts — not added structure. The committed spec is a launch document: post-implementation spec↔code drift is out of scope (drift tracking → /ds-docs when present; absent → note the gap in summary).
• Pre-existing / out-of-scope errors detected during work are NOT skipped — fixed inline or escalated with concrete blocker.
• Two execution paths, one output shape. Spec Kit (specify CLI / .specify/) present → wrap its chain (specify → clarify → plan → tasks → analyze). Absent → native mode: this skill performs the same five steps inline and writes specs/{feature}/spec.md, plan.md, tasks.md in the identical shape — same — verify: task contract, same blocking gates. Spec Kit is the optional accelerator; it is never a requirement.
• Commits the record. Handoff (Phase 6) commits specs/{feature}/ and .specify/ — the commit is the durable record; resume (Phase 1 step 3) derives from what is committed plus what is on disk, never from anything left uncommitted.
• Prerequisites: a git working tree only. Missing → default: run git init (non-destructive); --ask: offer git init (requires confirmation) or stop — handoff requires a commit.