msd-core/docs/superpowers/specs/2026-06-27-msd-smart-entry-design.md

Design: /msd Smart Entry

Date: 2026-06-27 Status: Approved — ready for implementation planning Origin: Adapted from the /msd smart-entry wizard in open-gsd/gsd-pi, redesigned for msd-core's markdown-first, multi-runtime architecture.

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Summary

A /msd-next command that acts as msd-core's state-aware front door. It reads project + workflow state, classifies the user's situation, and presents a small menu of the right next actions — then dispatches to an existing command. The "smart" part is deterministic detection living in Node (a new msd-tools smart-entry subcommand); the presentation is an idiomatic markdown command + workflow using AskUserQuestion with a --text fallback for non-Claude runtimes.

This is a launcher / router, not an executor. It never does the work itself.

Implementation note (command name): the command-contract (ADR-0002) requires name: to be msd:* or msd-* prefixed; a bare /msd is not expressible. The frontmatter is therefore name: msd:next, surfacing as /msd-next (file commands/msd/next.md, backed by msd-core/workflows/smart-entry.md). The "smart entry" concept and behavior are unchanged; only the surfaced name differs from the original /msd sketch.

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Motivation

gsd-pi ships a /msd smart-entry wizard — a state-aware menu that branches on detected project state (phase loop, blockers, stranded work) and surfaces one well-chosen set of options with a single recommended action. It is the command users run first. msd-core has no equivalent front door: users must already know whether to reach for progress, plan-phase, execute-phase, quick, or new-project.

We want the same daily-driver feel — "run /msd, get told what to do next" — without fighting msd-core's nature. msd-core is a markdown prompt framework installed into AI agents, not a Node CLI app. So gsd-pi's full-screen TUI and its imperative TypeScript branch tree do not port directly. What ports is the behavior: detect state → classify situation → offer contextual options → dispatch.

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Resolved design decisions

These were chosen during brainstorming and are fixed inputs to this spec:

1. Approach: Hybrid. Detection + classification as a new msd-tools smart-entry --json subcommand (deterministic, unit-tested in Node); presentation + dispatch as a markdown command + workflow that shells out to it via the existing msd_run shim. This mirrors how msd-core/workflows/do.md already drives tooling. Rationale: code-driven detection is reliable and testable; the markdown surface keeps multi-runtime reach (Codex, Gemini, Copilot) and adds zero dependencies.

2. Priority: workflow routing ("what now?"). The wizard optimizes for the ongoing-work menu (gsd-pi's showSmartEntry), not first-run onboarding (gsd-pi's showProjectInit). Onboarding routes to the existing /msd-new-project, which already handles project detection and setup. We are not building an init wizard.

3. Richness: phase + smart signals. The classifier branches on msd-core's phase loop and richer gsd-pi-style signals (blocked/recover, idle/stranded, paused, complete). All 10 situations below are in scope.

4. Relationship to /msd-progress: complementary, not redundant. /msd-next is the front door / launcher — a state-aware menu the user picks the next action from. /msd-progress remains the detailed situational report + auto-advance (--next chaining). /msd-next will frequently recommend /msd-progress; it does not replace or deprecate it.

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Non-goals

• No init/onboarding wizard. /msd-new-project already owns first-run project setup. /msd-next routes to it.
• No new prompt/TUI library. AskUserQuestion (Claude) + --text numbered-list fallback (other runtimes) — matching repo convention. No inquirer/clack/ink.
• No copy of gsd-pi's branch tree. gsd-pi's milestone/slice/task model does not exist here. The situation table is redesigned for msd-core's phase loop (.planning/).
• No execution. Pure launcher. Picked action dispatches to an existing command and stops.
• No new state storage. Reads existing artifacts (.planning/STATE.md, ROADMAP.md, git). Writes nothing.

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Architecture

/msd-next   (commands/msd/next.md — thin markdown dispatcher)
  │
  ▼
workflow: msd-core/workflows/smart-entry.md        ◄── presentation + dispatch
  │   step 1: resolve msd_run shim
  │   step 2: msd_run smart-entry --json
  │   step 3: render AskUserQuestion (or TEXT_MODE list)
  │   step 4: show MSD ► ROUTING banner
  │   step 5: dispatch + stop
  ▼
msd-tools smart-entry --json               ◄── NEW deterministic detection
  │   reads: state-snapshot (.planning/STATE.md)
  │         + .planning/ existence
  │         + git status / branch / unpushed
  │         + verify signals
  │   emits: { situation, recommended, summary, actions[] }
  ▼
(existing command: progress / plan-phase / execute-phase / quick / ship …)

Two artifacts, one contract — the JSON shape in §"JSON contract". The workflow is thin because all branching logic lives in Node.

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The classifier — msd-tools smart-entry

New src/smart-entry.cts → compiled (build-at-publish, ADR-457) to msd-core/bin/lib/smart-entry.cjs. Registered in msd-tools.cjs as case 'smart-entry': (≈2 lines, delegating to smartEntry.run(cwd, { json: true }, raw)).

Contract

• Pure detection → classification. No side effects. No writes. No process.exit() (throw ExitError per repo convention; the runMain wrapper translates exit codes).
• Output modes: --json (machine, used by the workflow) and default (human-readable summary line, for msd-tools users / debugging).
• Idempotent, fast, no network. Read-only filesystem + git calls only.
• Never throws in --json mode when .planning/ is absent — it returns situation: "no-project" so the workflow always has a menu to render.

Inputs

input	source	what we read
workflow state	msd_run query state.load / cmdStateSnapshot	current_phase, total_phases, current_plan, total_plans_in_phase, status, progress, blockers[], paused_at, last_activity, session
planning dir	filesystem at cwd	existence of .planning/, .planning/STATE.md, .planning/ROADMAP.md
git signals	git status --porcelain, git branch, git log @{u}.. (guarded)	dirty tree, branch, unpushed commits
verify signals	filesystem	latest phase's verify report presence; STATUS: marker on most recent summary

Git calls are guarded — any git error (not a repo, no upstream, detached HEAD) is swallowed and treated as "no git signal," never fatal.

Situations (priority order — first match wins)

This is the msd-core analog of gsd-pi's phase enum. Evaluated top-down; the first matching row is the situation.

#	situation	when (predicate over inputs)	recommended action
1	no-project	.planning/ absent	new-project
2	paused	paused_at set (non-empty)	resume-work
3	blocked	blockers[] non-empty	debug
4	verify-failed	latest verify report STATUS: indicates failure/blocked	verify-work
5	needs-first-phase	STATE exists but total_phases ≤ 0 or no ROADMAP.md	discuss-phase
6	planning	status = planning (phase has no plan yet)	plan-phase
7	executing	status = executing / active	execute-phase
8	verify-pending	status = needs-verify / review-pending	verify-work
9	idle-stranded	clean tree + unpushed/stranded commits OR stale last_activity with committed-but-unshipped work	ship
10	complete	total_phases > 0 and current phase ≥ total and status = complete	new-milestone
—	unknown	fallback (no predicate matched)	progress

Note on idle-stranded: this is the richest heuristic and the most likely to need tuning. Predicates: working tree clean AND (git log @{u}.. non-empty OR last_activity older than threshold with non-complete status). Threshold: 72h (configurable later via config; hardcoded for v1). If this proves brittle in testing it is the first situation to relax — but it is in scope per the richness decision.

Action set per situation

Each situation produces an ordered actions[] array. The recommended action is always first and carries recommended: true; the workflow shows the top 4 (AskUserQuestion cap). Every situation always includes progress ("Show progress") and quick ("Quick task") as escape hatches, and help is appended when room remains.

no-project       → new-project*, map-codebase, quick, help
paused           → resume-work*, progress, quick, help
blocked          → debug*, verify-work, capture, progress
verify-failed    → verify-work*, debug, code-review, progress
needs-first-phase→ discuss-phase*, plan-phase, quick, progress
planning         → plan-phase*, discuss-phase, quick, progress
executing        → execute-phase*, "progress --next", quick, code-review
verify-pending   → verify-work*, code-review, "ship", progress
idle-stranded    → ship*, complete-milestone, progress, capture
complete         → new-milestone*, extract-learnings, quick, progress
unknown          → progress*, "progress --next", quick, help
(* = recommended)

JSON contract (machine output, --json)

{
  "situation": "executing",
  "recommended": "execute-phase",
  "summary": "Phase 2 of 5 · plan 1/3 · 60% · active",
  "signals": {
    "current_phase": 2,
    "total_phases": 5,
    "status": "executing",
    "progress": 60,
    "has_planning": true,
    "git_dirty": false,
    "paused": false,
    "blockers": []
  },
  "actions": [
    { "id": "execute-phase", "label": "Continue executing phase 2", "command": "/msd-execute-phase", "recommended": true },
    { "id": "progress-next", "label": "Advance to the next step", "command": "/msd-progress --next", "recommended": false },
    { "id": "quick", "label": "Quick task", "command": "/msd-quick", "recommended": false },
    { "id": "code-review", "label": "Review recent work", "command": "/msd-code-review", "recommended": false }
  ]
}

• situation, recommended, actions[] are the contract the workflow depends on.
• signals is informational (shown in the summary banner); the workflow does not branch on it.
• summary is a one-line human string; the workflow may show it verbatim or reformat.
• actions[].command is the full slash command string the workflow dispatches, including flags (e.g. /msd-progress --next).

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The markdown layer

Command — commands/msd/next.md (NEW)

Thin dispatcher, modeled on commands/msd/progress.md and commands/msd/help.md. Backed by msd-core/workflows/smart-entry.md (named for the smart-entry classifier + msd-tools smart-entry subcommand; does not collide with the existing workflows/next.md, which is the progress --next sub-workflow).

Frontmatter:

• name: msd:next (surfaces as /msd-next; the command-contract requires a msd:*/msd-* prefix — a bare /msd is not expressible, see ADR-0002)
• description: "MSD smart entry — the state-aware front door. Reads your project state and routes you to the right next action."
• argument-hint: "" (no args for v1; reserved)
• effort: low
• allowed-tools: Read, Bash, Glob, SlashCommand, AskUserQuestion
• No requires: [phase] (unlike progress) — must work pre-project.
• <execution_context> → @~/.claude/msd-core/workflows/smart-entry.md + @~/.claude/msd-core/references/ui-brand.md

Body: a short <objective> stating this is a state-aware launcher, then <process> delegating entirely to the workflow. No inline logic.

Workflow — msd-core/workflows/smart-entry.md (NEW)

Five steps. Must stay under 32 KiB (NEW_FILE_CAP) — lean, because all branching is in Node.

Step 1 — resolve (resolve the msd_run shim): Copy the check_project-style shim-resolution block verbatim from msd-core/workflows/do.md:29 (the long _MSD_SHIM_NAME resolver). This finds msd-tools.cjs across all supported runtime homes. It is a proven, required block; do not paraphrase.

Step 2 — detect (run the classifier):

SNAPSHOT=$(msd_run smart-entry --json 2>/dev/null)

Parse SNAPSHOT as JSON. If missing or unparseable → fall back to /msd-progress (Step 5, with a one-line note "smart-entry unavailable — showing progress"). The agent never gets stuck.

Step 3 — present (render the menu):

TEXT_MODE handling copied verbatim from do.md:15 (set TEXT_MODE=true when --text in $ARGUMENTS or text_mode from init JSON is true; replace every AskUserQuestion with a numbered list).

Present via AskUserQuestion:

• header: derived from situation (e.g. executing → "Continue work").
• question: the summary line + "What next?"
• options: the first 4 of actions[], label = action label, recommended first. (AskUserQuestion shows the first option as recommended.)
• Always allow the user to type a custom command ("Other" is provided automatically by the tool).

In TEXT_MODE: print summary, then a numbered list of all actions[] (not capped — text has no 4-option limit), ask the user to type a number.

Step 4 — display (routing banner): Copy the display step from do.md:77-89 verbatim — the MSD ► ROUTING banner showing input / routing-to / reason. Input here is the chosen label; routing-to is the chosen command.

Step 5 — dispatch: Invoke the chosen command. Pass $ARGUMENTS through if the user typed a custom command. Then stop — the dispatched command owns everything from here. (Same contract as do.md:91-99.)

TEXT_MODE / multi-runtime

The --text fallback is mandatory and is the reason we keep menus small and logic in Node. The fallback is copied from do.md, not reinvented.

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Error handling

failure	behavior
msd_run shim not found	the shim block itself errors with the standard install hint (from do.md:29); not our concern
smart-entry command missing (older msd-core)	workflow sees empty/unparseable output → falls back to /msd-progress with a note
smart-entry throws	same: caught by the 2>/dev/null + parse check → fallback to /msd-progress
.planning/ absent	smart-entry returns situation: "no-project" → menu offers new-project
git unavailable / not a repo	classifier swallows git errors; works without git signals
AskUserQuestion unavailable (non-Claude)	TEXT_MODE numbered list

Invariant: /msd always produces some actionable menu and never strands the user. The ultimate fallback is /msd-progress, which is always safe and always exists.

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Testing

Per CONTRIBUTING: node:test + node:assert/strict, behavior assertions only, no source-grep tests.

tests/smart-entry.unit.test.cjs (NEW)

Fixture-driven: create temp dirs with crafted .planning/STATE.md + optional git repo, run the classifier, assert situation + recommended + action set. Cases (one per situation at minimum):

• no-project — empty cwd → situation no-project, recommended new-project, actions include map-codebase.
• paused — STATE.md with paused_at set → situation paused, recommended resume-work.
• blocked — STATE.md with blockers → situation blocked, recommended debug.
• verify-failed — latest summary STATUS: blocked → situation verify-failed.
• needs-first-phase — STATE.md present, total_phases: 0 → situation needs-first-phase.
• planning / executing / verify-pending — respective status values.
• idle-stranded — clean tree + unpushed commits → situation idle-stranded, recommended ship.
• complete — current ≥ total, status complete → situation complete, recommended new-milestone.
• unknown — malformed state → situation unknown, recommended progress.
• Priority ordering — a STATE.md that is both paused AND blocked resolves to paused (earlier row wins).
• JSON shape — actions[].command always starts with /msd:; exactly one action has recommended: true.

tests/msd-workflow.structure.test.cjs (NEW)

Invariants over the markdown layer (these are structural/format assertions on shipped artifacts, not source-grep of logic — permitted since they test the contract the workflow exposes):

• commands/msd/next.md exists with frontmatter name: msd:next, no requires field, allowed-tools includes AskUserQuestion.
• msd-core/workflows/smart-entry.md exists and is under 32 KiB (NEW_FILE_CAP).
• Every command string referenced by the classifier's action table resolves to a real existing slash command file in commands/msd/ (guard against dead routes).
• The workflow contains the TEXT_MODE fallback clause and the shim-resolution block (contract assertions).
• The workflow dispatches exactly one command and then stops (no inline execution).

Coverage & baseline

• The new .cjs enters the c8 coverage gate (--lines 70 --branches 60).
• After adding workflows/smart-entry.md, run npm run size:baseline to update tests/workflow-size-baseline.json; justify the new entry in the PR.

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File changes

file	change	size budget
src/smart-entry.cts	NEW — detection + classifier; --json + human output	—
msd-core/bin/lib/smart-entry.cjs	generated by build:lib (gitignored)	—
msd-core/bin/msd-tools.cjs	add case 'smart-entry': (~2 lines)	—
commands/msd/next.md	NEW — thin dispatcher command (name: msd:next → /msd-next)	small
msd-core/workflows/smart-entry.md	NEW — presentation + dispatch	< 32 KiB
tests/smart-entry.unit.test.cjs	NEW — classifier behavior	—
tests/msd-workflow.structure.test.cjs	NEW — markdown-layer invariants	—
tests/workflow-size-baseline.json	regenerate via npm run size:baseline	—
docs/superpowers/specs/2026-06-27-msd-smart-entry-design.md	this document	—

No existing command or workflow is modified. No new npm dependencies.

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Open questions for implementation

None blocking. Two noted for the implementer's judgment (not spec-level):

1. idle-stranded threshold — 72h hardcoded for v1. If brittle in practice, relax to "unpushed commits only" (drop the staleness clause).
2. Action label wording — exact strings are an implementation/tuning detail; the contract is id + command.

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Success criteria

• msd-tools smart-entry --json classifies all 10 situations + unknown correctly from fixtures.
• /msd in a real project shows a situation-appropriate menu and dispatches the chosen command.
• /msd pre-project offers new-project.
• /msd works under TEXT_MODE (no AskUserQuestion).
• Any smart-entry failure falls back to /msd-progress without erroring.
• New workflow under 32 KiB; size:baseline updated; coverage gate passes.
• No new dependencies; no existing command modified.