Execute all plans in a phase with intelligent parallelization.
Analyzes plan dependencies to identify independent plans that can run in parallel.
Use /gsd:execute-phase when:
- Phase has multiple unexecuted plans (2+)
- Want "walk away, come back to completed work" execution
- Plans have clear dependency boundaries
Use /gsd:execute-plan when:
- Executing a single specific plan
- Want sequential, interactive execution
- Need checkpoint interactions
Read STATE.md before any operation to load project context.
Before any operation, read project state:
```bash
cat .planning/STATE.md 2>/dev/null
```
**If file exists:** Parse and internalize:
- Current position (phase, plan, status)
- Accumulated decisions (constraints on this execution)
- Deferred issues (context for deviations)
- Blockers/concerns (things to watch for)
**If file missing but .planning/ exists:**
```
STATE.md missing but planning artifacts exist.
Options:
1. Reconstruct from existing artifacts
2. Continue without project state (may lose accumulated context)
```
**If .planning/ doesn't exist:** Error - project not initialized.
**Identify the phase to execute from argument or roadmap.**
**1. Parse phase argument:**
```bash
# From command argument: /gsd:execute-phase 10
# Or: /gsd:execute-phase .planning/phases/10-parallel-execution/
PHASE_ARG="$1"
```
**2. Find phase directory:**
```bash
# If numeric: find matching directory
if [[ "$PHASE_ARG" =~ ^[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)?$ ]]; then
PHASE_DIR=$(ls -d .planning/phases/${PHASE_ARG}-* 2>/dev/null | head -1)
else
PHASE_DIR="$PHASE_ARG"
fi
# Verify exists
if [ ! -d "$PHASE_DIR" ]; then
echo "Error: Phase directory not found: $PHASE_DIR"
exit 1
fi
```
**3. List all PLAN.md files:**
```bash
PLANS=($(ls "$PHASE_DIR"/*-PLAN.md 2>/dev/null | sort))
echo "Found ${#PLANS[@]} plans in phase"
```
**4. Identify unexecuted plans:**
```bash
UNEXECUTED=()
for plan in "${PLANS[@]}"; do
summary="${plan//-PLAN.md/-SUMMARY.md}"
if [ ! -f "$summary" ]; then
UNEXECUTED+=("$plan")
fi
done
echo "Unexecuted: ${#UNEXECUTED[@]} plans"
```
**5. Check if parallelization is appropriate:**
| Condition | Action |
|-----------|--------|
| 0 unexecuted plans | "All plans complete. Nothing to execute." |
| 1 unexecuted plan | "Single plan - use /gsd:execute-plan instead" |
| 2+ unexecuted plans | Proceed to dependency analysis |
**Analyze plan dependencies to determine parallelization.**
**1. Find all unexecuted plans:**
```bash
UNEXECUTED=()
for plan in .planning/phases/${PHASE}-*/*-PLAN.md; do
summary="${plan//-PLAN.md/-SUMMARY.md}"
[ ! -f "$summary" ] && UNEXECUTED+=("$plan")
done
echo "Found ${#UNEXECUTED[@]} unexecuted plans"
```
**2. For each plan, extract dependency info:**
```bash
# Initialize associative arrays for tracking
declare -A PLAN_REQUIRES # plan -> required plans
declare -A PLAN_FILES # plan -> files modified
declare -A PLAN_CHECKPOINTS # plan -> has checkpoints
for plan in "${UNEXECUTED[@]}"; do
plan_id=$(basename "$plan" -PLAN.md)
# Extract frontmatter requires (handles YAML array syntax)
REQUIRES=$(awk '/^---$/,/^---$/' "$plan" | grep -E "^\s*-\s*phase:" | grep -oP '\d+' | tr '\n' ',')
PLAN_REQUIRES["$plan_id"]="${REQUIRES%,}"
# Extract files from elements (all occurrences)
FILES=$(grep -oP '(?<=)[^<]+(?=)' "$plan" | tr '\n' ',' | tr -d ' ')
PLAN_FILES["$plan_id"]="${FILES%,}"
# Check for SUMMARY references in @context
SUMMARY_REFS=$(grep -oP '@[^@]*\d+-\d+-SUMMARY\.md' "$plan" | grep -oP '\d+-\d+' | tr '\n' ',')
if [ -n "$SUMMARY_REFS" ]; then
PLAN_REQUIRES["$plan_id"]="${PLAN_REQUIRES[$plan_id]},${SUMMARY_REFS%,}"
fi
# Check for checkpoint tasks
if grep -q 'type="checkpoint' "$plan"; then
PLAN_CHECKPOINTS["$plan_id"]="true"
else
PLAN_CHECKPOINTS["$plan_id"]="false"
fi
done
```
**3. Build dependency graph:**
For each plan, determine:
- `requires`: Prior phases/plans this depends on
- `files_modified`: Files from `` elements
- `has_checkpoints`: Contains checkpoint tasks
```
Example dependency graph:
┌─────────┬───────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┬──────────────┐
│ Plan │ Requires │ Files Modified │ Checkpoints │
├─────────┼───────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼──────────────┤
│ 10-01 │ [] │ [workflows/execute-plan.md] │ false │
│ 10-02 │ [10-01] │ [workflows/execute-phase.md]│ false │
│ 10-03 │ [10-02] │ [commands/execute-phase.md] │ false │
│ 10-04 │ [] │ [templates/agent-history.md]│ false │
└─────────┴───────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┴──────────────┘
```
**4. Detect file conflicts:**
```bash
# Build file-to-plan mapping
declare -A FILE_TO_PLANS
for plan_id in "${!PLAN_FILES[@]}"; do
IFS=',' read -ra files <<< "${PLAN_FILES[$plan_id]}"
for file in "${files[@]}"; do
[ -n "$file" ] && FILE_TO_PLANS["$file"]="${FILE_TO_PLANS[$file]},$plan_id"
done
done
# Detect conflicts (same file modified by multiple plans)
declare -A CONFLICTS
for file in "${!FILE_TO_PLANS[@]}"; do
plans="${FILE_TO_PLANS[$file]}"
plan_count=$(echo "$plans" | tr ',' '\n' | grep -c .)
if [ "$plan_count" -gt 1 ]; then
CONFLICTS["$file"]="${plans#,}"
fi
done
# Add conflict dependencies (later plan depends on earlier)
for file in "${!CONFLICTS[@]}"; do
IFS=',' read -ra conflict_plans <<< "${CONFLICTS[$file]}"
for ((i=1; i<${#conflict_plans[@]}; i++)); do
# Each plan depends on previous one in conflict set
prev="${conflict_plans[$((i-1))]}"
curr="${conflict_plans[$i]}"
PLAN_REQUIRES["$curr"]="${PLAN_REQUIRES[$curr]},${prev}"
done
done
```
**File conflict rules:**
- If Plan A and Plan B both modify same file → B depends on A (ordered by plan number)
- If Plan B reads file created by Plan A → B depends on A
- If Plan B references Plan A's SUMMARY in @context → B depends on A
**5. Categorize plans:**
| Category | Criteria | Action |
|----------|----------|--------|
| independent | No dependencies, no file conflicts | Can run in parallel |
| dependent | Requires another plan | Wait for dependency |
| has_checkpoints | Contains checkpoint tasks | Foreground or skip checkpoints |
**6. Build execution waves (topological sort):**
```bash
# Calculate wave for each plan
declare -A PLAN_WAVE
calculate_wave() {
local plan="$1"
[ -n "${PLAN_WAVE[$plan]}" ] && echo "${PLAN_WAVE[$plan]}" && return
local deps="${PLAN_REQUIRES[$plan]}"
local max_dep_wave=0
if [ -n "$deps" ]; then
IFS=',' read -ra dep_array <<< "$deps"
for dep in "${dep_array[@]}"; do
[ -z "$dep" ] && continue
# Only consider deps in current phase (unexecuted)
if [[ " ${!PLAN_FILES[*]} " =~ " $dep " ]]; then
dep_wave=$(calculate_wave "$dep")
[ "$dep_wave" -gt "$max_dep_wave" ] && max_dep_wave="$dep_wave"
fi
done
fi
PLAN_WAVE[$plan]=$((max_dep_wave + 1))
echo "${PLAN_WAVE[$plan]}"
}
# Calculate waves for all plans
for plan_id in "${!PLAN_FILES[@]}"; do
calculate_wave "$plan_id" > /dev/null
done
# Group by wave
declare -A WAVES
for plan_id in "${!PLAN_WAVE[@]}"; do
wave="${PLAN_WAVE[$plan_id]}"
WAVES[$wave]="${WAVES[$wave]} $plan_id"
done
# Output wave structure
echo "Execution waves:"
for wave in $(echo "${!WAVES[@]}" | tr ' ' '\n' | sort -n); do
plans="${WAVES[$wave]}"
checkpoint_note=""
for p in $plans; do
[ "${PLAN_CHECKPOINTS[$p]}" = "true" ] && checkpoint_note=" (has checkpoints)"
done
echo " Wave $wave:$plans$checkpoint_note"
done
```
**Example output:**
```
Execution waves:
Wave 1: 10-01 10-04
Wave 2: 10-02
Wave 3: 10-03
```
**7. Handle checkpoints in parallel context:**
Plans with checkpoints require special handling:
- `checkpoint_handling: "foreground"` → Run in main context (not parallel)
- `checkpoint_handling: "skip"` → Skip checkpoints during parallel (not recommended)
```bash
# Separate checkpoint plans
PARALLEL_PLANS=()
FOREGROUND_PLANS=()
for plan_id in "${!PLAN_CHECKPOINTS[@]}"; do
if [ "${PLAN_CHECKPOINTS[$plan_id]}" = "true" ]; then
FOREGROUND_PLANS+=("$plan_id")
else
PARALLEL_PLANS+=("$plan_id")
fi
done
if [ ${#FOREGROUND_PLANS[@]} -gt 0 ]; then
echo "Plans requiring foreground execution: ${FOREGROUND_PLANS[*]}"
fi
```
**8. Safety rule:**
If dependency detection is uncertain (e.g., complex file patterns, unclear requires), default to sequential execution within that wave.
**Read parallelization configuration.**
```bash
cat .planning/config.json 2>/dev/null
```
**Config schema (parallelization section):**
```json
{
"parallelization": {
"enabled": true,
"max_concurrent_agents": 3,
"checkpoint_handling": "foreground",
"commit_strategy": "orchestrator"
}
}
```
**Config options:**
| Option | Values | Default | Description |
|--------|--------|---------|-------------|
| enabled | true/false | true | Enable parallel execution |
| max_concurrent_agents | 1-5 | 3 | Max simultaneous background agents |
| checkpoint_handling | "foreground"/"skip" | "foreground" | How to handle plans with checkpoints |
| commit_strategy | "orchestrator"/"agent" | "orchestrator" | Who commits changes |
**If parallelization.enabled is false:**
- Fall back to sequential execution
- Use /gsd:execute-plan for each plan in order
**Checkpoint handling modes:**
- `foreground`: Plans with checkpoints run in foreground (not parallel)
- `skip`: Skip checkpoints during parallel execution (not recommended)
**Commit strategy:**
- `orchestrator`: Agents don't commit. Orchestrator collects all changes and commits.
- `agent`: Each agent commits its own changes (may cause conflicts)
**Spawn independent plans as parallel background agents.**
**1. Record pre-spawn git state:**
```bash
PRE_SPAWN_COMMIT=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
echo "All agents start from commit: $PRE_SPAWN_COMMIT"
```
**2. Generate parallel group ID:**
```bash
PARALLEL_GROUP="pg-$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S)-$(uuidgen | cut -d- -f1)"
```
**3. Initialize tracking:**
```bash
# Ensure agent-history.json exists
if [ ! -f .planning/agent-history.json ]; then
echo '{"version":"1.2","max_entries":50,"entries":[]}' > .planning/agent-history.json
fi
```
**4. For each wave, spawn independent plans:**
For Wave 1 (no dependencies):
```
For each independent plan in Wave 1:
1. Check max_concurrent_agents limit
2. Spawn via Task tool with run_in_background: true
3. Record in agent-history.json
4. Track spawned agent IDs
```
**Agent spawn prompt (for plans WITHOUT checkpoints):**
```
"You are running as a PARALLEL agent executing plan: {plan_path}
**CRITICAL INSTRUCTIONS:**
1. Execute ALL tasks in the plan
2. DO NOT commit any changes - the orchestrator will handle commits
3. Track all files you create or modify
4. Follow all deviation rules from the plan
5. Create SUMMARY.md when complete (do not commit it)
**When done, report:**
- Plan name
- Tasks completed (count and names)
- Files created/modified (full paths)
- Deviations encountered
- SUMMARY.md path
- Any issues or blockers
**Do NOT:**
- Run git commit
- Run git add (except to check status)
- Push to remote
- Modify files outside plan scope"
```
**5. Record spawn in agent-history.json:**
```json
{
"agent_id": "[from Task response]",
"task_description": "Parallel: Execute {phase}-{plan}-PLAN.md",
"phase": "{phase}",
"plan": "{plan}",
"parallel_group": "{PARALLEL_GROUP}",
"granularity": "plan",
"wave": 1,
"timestamp": "[ISO]",
"status": "spawned",
"files_modified": [],
"completion_timestamp": null
}
```
**6. Queue dependent plans:**
Plans in Wave 2+ are queued, not spawned yet.
They spawn after their dependencies complete.
**Poll for agent completion and spawn dependents.**
**1. Polling loop:**
```
running_agents = [list of spawned agent IDs]
while running_agents.length > 0:
for agent_id in running_agents:
result = TaskOutput(task_id=agent_id, block=false, timeout=5000)
if result.status == "completed":
# Capture results
files_modified = parse_files_from_result(result)
# Update agent-history.json
update_entry(agent_id, status="completed", files_modified=files_modified)
# Remove from running list
running_agents.remove(agent_id)
# Check if dependents can now start
spawn_ready_dependents()
elif result.status == "failed":
log_failure(agent_id, result.error)
running_agents.remove(agent_id)
# Continue with other agents - don't kill batch
sleep(10) # Poll every 10 seconds
```
**2. Spawn ready dependents:**
```
For each queued plan in Wave 2+:
if all dependencies completed:
if under max_concurrent_agents limit:
spawn_agent(plan)
move from queue to running_agents
```
**3. Handle failures:**
- Log failed agent to agent-history.json with status="failed"
- Continue monitoring other agents
- Report failures in final summary
- Do NOT automatically retry (user decision)
**4. Completion:**
When all agents complete (running_agents empty and queue empty):
- Proceed to orchestrator_commit step
**Batch commit after all agents complete.**
**1. Collect files from all agents:**
```bash
# Read agent-history.json
# For each agent in this parallel_group:
# Collect files_modified arrays
# Merge into master list
ALL_FILES=()
for entry in $(jq -r ".entries[] | select(.parallel_group==\"$PARALLEL_GROUP\") | .files_modified[]" .planning/agent-history.json); do
ALL_FILES+=("$entry")
done
```
**2. Check for merge conflicts:**
```bash
# Files modified by multiple agents = potential conflict
CONFLICTS=$(echo "${ALL_FILES[@]}" | tr ' ' '\n' | sort | uniq -d)
if [ -n "$CONFLICTS" ]; then
echo "WARNING: Multiple agents modified same files:"
echo "$CONFLICTS"
echo "Manual conflict resolution may be needed."
fi
```
**3. Stage and commit per-plan:**
```bash
# For each completed agent (in execution order):
for agent in $(jq -r ".entries[] | select(.parallel_group==\"$PARALLEL_GROUP\" and .status==\"completed\") | .agent_id" .planning/agent-history.json | sort); do
PLAN=$(jq -r ".entries[] | select(.agent_id==\"$agent\") | .plan" .planning/agent-history.json)
FILES=$(jq -r ".entries[] | select(.agent_id==\"$agent\") | .files_modified[]" .planning/agent-history.json)
# Stage files for this plan
for f in $FILES; do
git add "$f"
done
# Commit with plan context
git commit -m "feat({phase}-{plan}): [plan name from PLAN.md]
- [task 1]
- [task 2]
- [task 3]
Executed by parallel agent: $agent"
done
```
**4. Stage and commit metadata:**
```bash
# Stage all SUMMARY.md files created
git add .planning/phases/${PHASE_DIR}/*-SUMMARY.md
# Stage STATE.md and ROADMAP.md
git add .planning/STATE.md
git add .planning/ROADMAP.md
# Commit metadata
git commit -m "docs(${PHASE}): complete phase via parallel execution
Plans executed: ${#COMPLETED[@]}
Parallel group: $PARALLEL_GROUP
Agents:
$(for a in "${COMPLETED[@]}"; do echo "- $a"; done)"
```
**5. Generate timing stats:**
```bash
START_TIME=$(jq -r ".entries[] | select(.parallel_group==\"$PARALLEL_GROUP\") | .timestamp" .planning/agent-history.json | sort | head -1)
END_TIME=$(jq -r ".entries[] | select(.parallel_group==\"$PARALLEL_GROUP\") | .completion_timestamp" .planning/agent-history.json | sort -r | head -1)
echo "Parallel execution stats:"
echo "- Plans executed: ${#COMPLETED[@]}"
echo "- Wall clock time: $(time_diff $START_TIME $END_TIME)"
echo "- Sequential estimate: $(sum of individual plan durations)"
echo "- Time saved: ~X%"
```
**Aggregate results into phase-level summary.**
After all plans complete, create a phase summary that aggregates:
**1. Collect individual SUMMARY.md files:**
```bash
SUMMARIES=($(ls "$PHASE_DIR"/*-SUMMARY.md | sort))
```
**2. Update STATE.md:**
- Update Current Position
- Add any decisions from individual summaries
- Update session continuity
**3. Update ROADMAP.md:**
- Mark phase as complete
- Add completion date
- Update progress table
**4. Report completion:**
```
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════
Phase {X}: {Phase Name} Complete (Parallel Execution)
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════
Plans executed: {N}
- {phase}-01: [name] - {duration}
- {phase}-02: [name] - {duration}
- {phase}-03: [name] - {duration}
Execution mode: Parallel ({max_concurrent} agents)
Wall clock time: {total_duration}
Estimated sequential time: {sum_of_durations}
Time saved: ~{percent}%
Files modified: {total_count}
Commits created: {commit_count}
```
**Present next steps after phase completion.**
Read ROADMAP.md to determine milestone status.
**If more phases remain in milestone:**
```
## ✓ Phase {X}: {Phase Name} Complete
All {N} plans finished via parallel execution.
---
## ▶ Next Up
**Phase {X+1}: {Next Phase Name}** — {Goal from ROADMAP.md}
`/gsd:plan-phase {X+1}`
`/clear` first → fresh context window
---
**Also available:**
- `/gsd:verify-work {X}` — manual acceptance testing
- `/gsd:discuss-phase {X+1}` — gather context first
```
**If milestone complete:**
```
🎉 MILESTONE COMPLETE!
All {N} phases finished.
`/gsd:complete-milestone`
```
**Agent failure during parallel execution:**
- Log failure but continue with other agents
- Failed plans can be retried individually with /gsd:execute-plan
- Do not automatically retry (may cause cascade failures)
**Merge conflict detected:**
- Stop orchestrator_commit
- Present conflicting files to user
- Options:
1. Manual resolution
2. Re-run sequential with /gsd:execute-plan
**Max concurrent limit reached:**
- Queue excess plans
- Spawn as agents complete
- First-in-first-out ordering within each wave
**Config.json missing:**
- Use defaults: enabled=true, max_concurrent=3, orchestrator commits
- All plans in phase executed
- All agents completed (no failures)
- Commits created for all plans
- STATE.md updated
- ROADMAP.md updated
- No merge conflicts