• User runs

  /plan

  command
• User wants to break down a design into tasks
• A design document exists and needs implementation steps
• User says "plan the implementation" or similar
• Auto-chained from

  /ideate

  after design completion
• Auto-chained from plan-review with

  --revise

  flag (gaps found)

1. Set

   planReview.revisionsExhausted = true

2. Output: "Plan revision failed after 3 attempts. Design may be incomplete."
3. Escalate: Suggest

   /ideate --redesign

   to revisit design

MANDATORY: Before accepting any rationalization for skipping tests, planning, or TDD steps, consult

references/rationalization-refutation.md

. Every common excuse is catalogued with a counter-argument and the correct action.

NO PRODUCTION CODE WITHOUT A FAILING TEST FIRST

1. Start with writing a failing test
2. Specify the expected failure reason
3. Only then implement minimum code to pass

exarchos_orchestrate({
  action: "check_tdd_compliance",
  featureId: "<featureId>",
  taskId: "<taskId>",
  branch: "feature/<name>"
})

• passed: true

  — All commits have test files before or alongside implementation

• passed: false

  — Violations found; commits have implementation without corresponding tests

• Problem Statement — Context (no tasks, but informs scope)
• Chosen Approach — Architectural decisions to implement
• Technical Design — Core implementation requirements
• Integration Points — Integration and glue code tasks
• Testing Strategy — Test coverage requirements
• Open Questions — Decisions to resolve or explicitly defer

references/spec-tracing-guide.md

exarchos_orchestrate({
  action: "generate_traceability",
  designFile: "docs/designs/<feature>.md",
  planFile: "docs/plans/<date>-<feature>.md",
  output: "docs/plans/<date>-<feature>-traceability.md"
})

• passed: true

  — Matrix generated; review and fill in "Key Requirements" column

• passed: false

  — Parse error; design document may lack expected

  ##

  /

  ###

  headers

references/task-template.md

• Each task: 2-5 minutes of focused work
• One test = one behavior
• Prefer many small tasks over few large ones

testingStrategy

references/testing-strategy-guide.md

propertyTests

benchmarks

1. Foundation first (types, interfaces, data structures)
2. Core behaviors second
3. Edge cases and error handling third
4. Integration and glue code last

exarchos_orchestrate({
  action: "check_plan_coverage",
  featureId: "<id>",
  designPath: "docs/designs/<feature>.md",
  planPath: "docs/plans/<date>-<feature>.md"
})

• passed: true — All design sections covered; proceed to 5a-ii
• passed: false — Gaps found; add tasks for uncovered sections or defer with rationale
• error — Usage error or empty design; check arguments

Implements:

exarchos_orchestrate({
  action: "check_provenance_chain",
  featureId: "<id>",
  designPath: "docs/designs/<feature>.md",
  planPath: "docs/plans/<date>-<feature>.md"
})

• passed: true — All DR-N requirements traced; proceed to 5b
• passed: false — Block: gaps or orphan references found. Add

  **Implements:** DR-N

  to tasks for each uncovered requirement before proceeding. Every DR-N requirement MUST trace to at least one task.
• error — No DR-N identifiers in design (exit 2); if design doesn't use DR-N identifiers, this check is skipped (exempt)

exarchos_orchestrate({
  action: "check_task_decomposition",
  featureId: "<id>",
  planPath: "docs/plans/<date>-<feature>.md"
})

• passed: true — All tasks well-decomposed; proceed to 5b
• passed: false — Findings recorded as D5 gate events for the ConvergenceView. Present findings to the user for awareness but do not block plan approval.
• error — Input error (missing file, no task headers); check arguments

exarchos_orchestrate({
  action: "spec_coverage_check",
  planFile: "docs/plans/<date>-<feature>.md",
  repoRoot: ".",
  threshold: 80
})

• passed: true

  — All planned tests found and passing; plan verification complete

• passed: false

  — Missing test files or test failures; create missing tests or fix failures

references/spec-tracing-guide.md

• Design document read and understood
• Spec traceability table created (

  exarchos_orchestrate({ action: "generate_traceability" })

  )
• Scope declared (full or partial with rationale)
• Tasks decomposed to 2-5 min granularity
• Each task starts with failing test
• Dependencies mapped
• Parallel groups identified
• Plan verification passed —

  exarchos_orchestrate({ action: "check_plan_coverage" })

  returns passed: true
• Provenance chain checked —

  exarchos_orchestrate({ action: "check_provenance_chain" })

  passed (blocking; gaps must be resolved before proceeding)
• Task decomposition checked —

  exarchos_orchestrate({ action: "check_task_decomposition" })

  run (advisory; findings presented but non-blocking)
• Spec coverage check passed —

  exarchos_orchestrate({ action: "spec_coverage_check" })

  passed: true
• Coverage thresholds met —

  exarchos_orchestrate({ action: "check_coverage_thresholds" })

  passed: true:

exarchos_orchestrate({
  action: "check_coverage_thresholds",
  coverageFile: "coverage/coverage-summary.json",
  lineThreshold: 80,
  branchThreshold: 70,
  functionThreshold: 100
})

• Plan saved to

  docs/plans/

• State file updated with plan path and tasks

.phase

plan-review

overhaul-plan-review

• Gaps found: set

  .planReview.gaps

  , auto-loop back to

  /plan --revise

• No gaps: present to user for approval (human checkpoint)
• On approval: set

  .planReview.approved = true

  , invoke

  /delegate

exarchos_orchestrate({ action: "check_plan_coverage" })

/plan --revise

plan-review

overhaul-plan-review

/delegate

• Complete each step fully before advancing — quality over speed
• Do not skip validation checks even when the change appears trivial
• Trace every design section to at least one task. Do not leave uncovered sections without explicit rationale.