msd-core/gsd-core/workflows/next.md

Detect current project state and automatically advance to the next logical GSD workflow step. Reads project state to determine: discuss → plan → execute → verify → complete progression.

<required_reading> Read all files referenced by the invoking prompt's execution_context before starting. </required_reading>

Read project state to determine current position:

_GSD_SHIM_NAME="gsd-tools.cjs"; _GSD_RUNTIME_ROOT="${RUNTIME_DIR:-$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd)}"; GSD_TOOLS="${_GSD_RUNTIME_ROOT}/gsd-core/bin/${_GSD_SHIM_NAME}"; if [ -f "$GSD_TOOLS" ]; then gsd_run() { node "$GSD_TOOLS" "$@"; }; elif [ -f "${_GSD_RUNTIME_ROOT}/.claude/gsd-core/bin/${_GSD_SHIM_NAME}" ]; then GSD_TOOLS="${_GSD_RUNTIME_ROOT}/.claude/gsd-core/bin/${_GSD_SHIM_NAME}"; gsd_run() { node "$GSD_TOOLS" "$@"; }; elif command -v gsd-tools >/dev/null 2>&1; then GSD_TOOLS="$(command -v gsd-tools)"; gsd_run() { "$GSD_TOOLS" "$@"; }; elif [ -f "$HOME/.claude/gsd-core/bin/${_GSD_SHIM_NAME}" ]; then GSD_TOOLS="$HOME/.claude/gsd-core/bin/${_GSD_SHIM_NAME}"; gsd_run() { node "$GSD_TOOLS" "$@"; }; else echo "ERROR: gsd-tools.cjs not found at $GSD_TOOLS and gsd-tools is not on PATH. Run: npx -y @opengsd/gsd-core@latest --claude --local" >&2; exit 1; fi
# Get state snapshot
gsd_run query state.json 2>/dev/null || echo "{}"

Also read:

• .planning/STATE.md — current phase, progress, plan counts
• .planning/ROADMAP.md — milestone structure and phase list

Extract:

• current_phase — which phase is active
• plan_of / plans_total — plan execution progress
• progress — overall percentage
• status — active, paused, etc.

If no .planning/ directory exists:

No GSD project detected. Run `/gsd:new-project` to get started.

Exit.

Run hard-stop checks before routing. Exit on first hit unless `--force` was passed.

If --force flag was passed, skip all gates, Route 0, and the prior-phase completeness prompt. Print a one-line warning: ⚠ --force: skipping safety gates Then proceed directly to determine_next_action. (Route 0 and prior_phase_completeness are NOT reached under --force.)

Gate 1: Unresolved checkpoint Check if .planning/.continue-here.md exists:

[ -f .planning/.continue-here.md ]

If found:

⛔ Hard stop: Unresolved checkpoint

`.planning/.continue-here.md` exists — a previous session left
unfinished work that needs manual review before advancing.

Read the file, resolve the issue, then delete it to continue.
Use `--force` to bypass this check.

Exit (do not route).

Gate 2: Error state Check if STATE.md contains status: error or status: failed: If found:

⛔ Hard stop: Project in error state

STATE.md shows status: {status}. Resolve the error before advancing.
Run `/gsd:health` to diagnose, or manually fix STATE.md.
Use `--force` to bypass this check.

Exit.

Gate 3: Unchecked verification Check if the current phase has a VERIFICATION.md with any FAIL items that don't have overrides: If found:

⛔ Hard stop: Unchecked verification failures

VERIFICATION.md for phase {N} has {count} unresolved FAIL items.
Address the failures or add overrides before advancing to the next phase.
Use `--force` to bypass this check.

Exit.

After all three hard-stop gates pass, continue to resume_incomplete_phase.

**Hard invariant: any phase with PLAN.md files lacking matching SUMMARY.md files must be completed before `/gsd:progress --next` routes to any forward action.**

This catches the common failure mode where a session died mid-execution (hang, token exhaustion, API connection drop) and STATE.md's current_phase got advanced past the phase that actually has unfinished work. Without this gate, /gsd:progress --next would route by current_phase and silently skip the partially-executed phase.

Skip if --no-resume was passed (fall through to prior_phase_completeness). (--force already bypassed all gates and Route 0 at safety_gates — it never reaches this step.)

Why Route 0 runs here (after Gates 1-3, before the prior-phase defer prompt): This step is a hard invariant independent of current_phase's value — it must run before any routing rule that reads current_phase. Gates 1-3 are cheap repo/state validity checks that must always run — skipping them on the resume path would risk advancing into a broken-state project. The prior-phase completeness-scan DEFER PROMPT, however, must NOT run in the default (no-flag) case when Route 0 is about to resume the phase automatically: that would force a double-decision (prompt first, then resume anyway), overriding the user's choice. Route 0 placed here means: default = resume silently (no defer prompt); --no-resume = skip Route 0 and fall through to the prior-phase defer prompt in prior_phase_completeness; --force = jump straight to determine_next_action at safety_gates (never reaches Route 0 or prior_phase_completeness at all).

Scan ALL phases in ROADMAP order (lowest-numbered to highest) for incomplete-execution state. Use gsd_run query roadmap.analyze to get the phase list, then for each phase number N query gsd_run query find-phase <N> JSON and inspect its plans and summaries arrays. A phase is incomplete-execution when plans.length > summaries.length (at least one PLAN.md has no matching SUMMARY.md).

Stop at the first such phase. Record its phase number as INCOMPLETE_PHASE. This is the lowest-numbered phase that needs continued execution.

Illustrative bash:

INCOMPLETE_PHASE=""
ROADMAP_JSON=$(gsd_run query roadmap.analyze)
if [ $? -ne 0 ] || [ -z "$ROADMAP_JSON" ]; then
  echo "⚠ WARNING: resume-incomplete-phase scan could not run (roadmap.analyze failed)." >&2
  echo "  The incomplete-phase invariant (#160) could not be verified." >&2
  echo "  Proceeding to prior-phase completeness check — review project state carefully." >&2
  # Fall through to prior_phase_completeness rather than silently skipping
else
  for PHASE_NUM in $(echo "$ROADMAP_JSON" | jq -r '.phases[] | (.number // .phase_number // empty)'); do
    PHASE_JSON=$(gsd_run query find-phase "$PHASE_NUM")
    if [ $? -ne 0 ] || [ -z "$PHASE_JSON" ]; then
      echo "⚠ WARNING: Could not query phase $PHASE_NUM — skipping in resume scan." >&2
      continue
    fi
    PLAN_COUNT=$(echo "$PHASE_JSON" | jq '(.plans // []) | length')
    SUMMARY_COUNT=$(echo "$PHASE_JSON" | jq '(.summaries // []) | length')
    if [ "${PLAN_COUNT:-0}" -gt "${SUMMARY_COUNT:-0}" ]; then
      INCOMPLETE_PHASE="$PHASE_NUM"
      break
    fi
  done
fi

If INCOMPLETE_PHASE is non-empty: route to /gsd:execute-phase $INCOMPLETE_PHASE and exit. Display a one-line notice before invoking:

▶ Resuming incomplete Phase ${INCOMPLETE_PHASE} (plans without summaries detected)
  /gsd:execute-phase ${INCOMPLETE_PHASE}
  (use --no-resume to skip this check and defer via the prior-phase prompt)

Then invoke via SlashCommand. Do not continue to subsequent steps.

If INCOMPLETE_PHASE is empty: continue to prior_phase_completeness.

**Prior-phase completeness scan (runs when `--no-resume` was passed and Route 0 was skipped, or when Route 0 found no incomplete-execution phases in the default case). NOT reached under `--force` — that flag jumps directly to `determine_next_action` at `safety_gates`.**

Prior-phase completeness scan: Scan all phases that precede the current phase in ROADMAP.md order for incomplete work. For each prior phase number N, use gsd_run query find-phase <N> JSON (plans, summaries, incomplete_plans, etc.) to inspect that phase.

Detect three categories of incomplete work:

1. Plans without summaries — a PLAN.md exists in a prior phase directory but no matching SUMMARY.md exists (execution started but not completed).
2. Verification failures not overridden — a prior phase has a VERIFICATION.md with FAIL items that have no override annotation.
3. CONTEXT.md without plans — a prior phase directory has a CONTEXT.md but no PLAN.md files (discussion happened, planning never ran).

If no incomplete prior work is found, continue to determine_next_action silently with no interruption.

If incomplete prior work is found, show a structured completeness report:

⚠ Prior phase has incomplete work

Phase {N} — "{name}" has unresolved items:
  • Plan {N}-{M} ({slug}): executed but no SUMMARY.md
  [... additional items ...]

Advancing before resolving these may cause:
  • Verification gaps — future phase verification won't have visibility into what prior phases shipped
  • Context loss — plans that ran without summaries leave no record for future agents

Options:
  [C] Continue and defer these items to backlog
  [S] Stop and resolve manually (recommended)
  [F] Force advance without recording deferral

Choice [S]:

If the user chooses "Stop" (S or Enter/default): Exit without routing.

If the user chooses "Continue and defer" (C):

1. For each incomplete item, create a backlog entry in ROADMAP.md under ## Backlog using the existing 999.x numbering scheme:

### Phase 999.{N}: Follow-up — Phase {src} incomplete plans (BACKLOG)

**Goal:** Resolve plans that ran without producing summaries during Phase {src} execution
**Source phase:** {src}
**Deferred at:** {date} during /gsd:progress --next advancement to Phase {dest}
**Plans:**
- [ ] {N}-{M}: {slug} (ran, no SUMMARY.md)

2. Commit the deferral record:

gsd_run query commit "docs: defer incomplete Phase {src} items to backlog"

3. Continue routing to determine_next_action immediately — no second prompt.

If the user chooses "Force" (F): Continue to determine_next_action without recording deferral.

Check for pending spike/sketch work and surface a notice (does not change routing):

# Check for pending spikes (verdict: PENDING in any README)
PENDING_SPIKES=$(grep -rl 'verdict: PENDING' .planning/spikes/*/README.md 2>/dev/null | wc -l | tr -d ' ')

# Check for pending sketches (winner: null in any README)
PENDING_SKETCHES=$(grep -rl 'winner: null' .planning/sketches/*/README.md 2>/dev/null | wc -l | tr -d ' ')

If either count is > 0, display before routing:

⚠ Pending exploratory work:
  {PENDING_SPIKES} spike(s) with unresolved verdicts in .planning/spikes/
  {PENDING_SKETCHES} sketch(es) without a winning variant in .planning/sketches/

  Resume with `/gsd:spike` or `/gsd:sketch`, or continue with phase work below.

Only show lines for non-zero counts. If both are 0, skip this notice entirely.

Apply routing rules based on state:

Route 1: No phases exist yet → discuss If ROADMAP has phases but no phase directories exist on disk: → Next action: /gsd:discuss-phase <first-phase>

Route 2: Phase exists but has no CONTEXT.md or RESEARCH.md → discuss If the current phase directory exists but has neither CONTEXT.md nor RESEARCH.md: → Next action: /gsd:discuss-phase <current-phase>

Route 3: Phase has context but no plans → plan If the current phase has CONTEXT.md (or RESEARCH.md) but no PLAN.md files: → Next action: /gsd:plan-phase <current-phase>

Route 4: Phase has plans but incomplete summaries → execute If plans exist but not all have matching summaries: → Next action: /gsd:execute-phase <current-phase>

Route 5: All plans have summaries → verify and complete If all plans in the current phase have summaries: → Next action: /gsd:verify-work

Route 6: Phase complete, next phase exists → advance If the current phase is complete and the next phase exists in ROADMAP: → Next action: /gsd:discuss-phase <next-phase>

Route 7: All phases complete → complete milestone If all phases are complete: → Next action: /gsd:complete-milestone

Route 8: Paused → resume If STATE.md shows paused_at: → Next action: /gsd:resume-work

Display the determination:

## GSD Next

**Current:** Phase [N] — [name] | [progress]%
**Status:** [status description]

▶ **Next step:** `/gsd-[command] [args]`
  [One-line explanation of why this is the next step]

Then immediately invoke the determined command via SlashCommand. Do not ask for confirmation — the whole point of /gsd:progress --next is zero-friction advancement.

If --auto was passed: after the determined command completes, automatically re-invoke /gsd:progress --next --auto to continue chaining to the next step. Repeat until one of:

• A milestone completes (/gsd:complete-milestone is reached)
• A blocking decision is required (safety gate triggers, prior-phase completeness prompt, user input needed)
• An error or paused state is detected

When stopping due to a blocker, display:

⛔ Auto-chain stopped: [reason — e.g. safety gate, blocking decision required]

Resume with: `/gsd:progress --next --auto` once resolved.

<success_criteria>

• Project state correctly detected
• Gates 1-3 (repo/state validity) run first — always, even on the resume path
• Route 0 (resume_incomplete_phase) runs AFTER Gates 1-3 and BEFORE the prior-phase defer prompt — no double-decision in the default (no-flag) case
• Default (no flag): Route 0 resumes incomplete phase silently, exits — user never sees the prior-phase defer prompt
• --no-resume: Route 0 skipped, prior_phase_completeness defer prompt runs as before
• --force: everything skipped (Gates, Route 0, prior_phase_completeness) → straight to determine_next_action
• Scan uses gsd_run (canonical resolver form); errors are surfaced rather than suppressed
• Predicate is plans-without-summaries (plans.length > summaries.length) — consistent with determine_next_action Route 4
• Next action correctly determined from routing rules
• Command invoked immediately without user confirmation
• Clear status shown before invoking </success_criteria>