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

Import Workflow

External plan ingestion with conflict detection and agent delegation.

• --from: Import external plan → conflict detection → write PLAN.md → validate via gsd-plan-checker

Future: --prd mode (PRD extraction into PROJECT.md + REQUIREMENTS.md + ROADMAP.md) is planned for a follow-up PR.

---

Display the stage banner:

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 GSD ► IMPORT
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Parse $ARGUMENTS to determine the execution mode:

• If --from is present: extract FILEPATH (the next token after --from), set MODE=plan
• If --prd is present: display message that --prd is not yet implemented and exit:

  GSD > --prd mode is planned for a future release. Use --from to import plan files.
  

• If neither flag is found: display usage and exit:

Usage: /gsd:import --from <path>

  --from <path>   Import an external plan file into GSD format

Validate the file path:

Verify the path does not contain traversal sequences and the file exists:

case "{FILEPATH}" in
  *..* ) echo "SECURITY_ERROR: path contains traversal sequence"; exit 1 ;;
esac
test -f "{FILEPATH}" || echo "FILE_NOT_FOUND"

If FILE_NOT_FOUND: display error and exit:

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  ERROR                                                       ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

File not found: {FILEPATH}

**To fix:** Verify the file path and try again.

---

Path A: MODE=plan (--from)

Load project context for conflict detection:

1. Read .planning/ROADMAP.md — extract phase structure, phase numbers, dependencies
2. Read .planning/PROJECT.md — extract project constraints, tech stack, scope boundaries. If PROJECT.md does not exist: skip constraint checks that rely on it and display:

   GSD > Note: No PROJECT.md found. Conflict checks against project constraints will be skipped.
   

3. Read .planning/REQUIREMENTS.md — extract existing requirements for overlap and contradiction checks. If REQUIREMENTS.md does not exist: skip requirement conflict checks and continue.
4. Glob for all CONTEXT.md files across phase directories:

   find .planning/phases/ -name "*-CONTEXT.md" -o -name "CONTEXT.md" 2>/dev/null
   

   Read each CONTEXT.md found — extract locked decisions (any decision in a <decisions> block)

Store loaded context for conflict detection in the next step.

Read the imported file at FILEPATH.

Determine the format:

• GSD PLAN.md format: Has YAML frontmatter with phase:, plan:, type: fields
• Freeform document: Any other format (markdown spec, design doc, task list, etc.)

Extract from the imported content:

• Phase target: Which phase this plan belongs to (from frontmatter or inferred from content)
• Plan objectives: What the plan aims to accomplish
• Tasks listed: Individual work items described in the plan
• Files modified: Any files mentioned as targets
• Dependencies: Any referenced prerequisites

Run conflict checks against the loaded project context. The report format, severity semantics, and safety-gate behavior are defined by references/doc-conflict-engine.md — read it and apply it here. Operation noun: import.

BLOCKER checks (any one prevents import):

• Plan targets a phase number that does not exist in ROADMAP.md → [BLOCKER]
• Plan specifies a tech stack that contradicts PROJECT.md constraints → [BLOCKER]
• Plan contradicts a locked decision in any CONTEXT.md <decisions> block → [BLOCKER]
• Plan contradicts an existing requirement in REQUIREMENTS.md → [BLOCKER]

WARNING checks (user confirmation required):

• Plan partially overlaps existing requirement coverage in REQUIREMENTS.md → [WARNING]
• Plan has depends_on referencing plans that are not yet complete → [WARNING]
• Plan modifies files that overlap with existing incomplete plans → [WARNING]
• Plan phase number conflicts with existing phase numbering in ROADMAP.md → [WARNING]

INFO checks (informational, no action needed):

• Plan uses a library not currently in the project tech stack → [INFO]
• Plan adds a new phase to the ROADMAP.md structure → [INFO]

Render the full Conflict Detection Report using the format in references/doc-conflict-engine.md.

If any [BLOCKER] exists: apply the safety gate from the reference — exit WITHOUT writing any files. No PLAN.md is written when blockers exist.

If only WARNINGS and/or INFO (no blockers):

Text mode (workflow.text_mode: true in config or --text flag): Set TEXT_MODE=true if --text is present in $ARGUMENTS OR text_mode from init JSON is true. When TEXT_MODE is active, replace every AskUserQuestion call with a plain-text numbered list and ask the user to type their choice number. This is required for non-Claude runtimes (OpenAI Codex, Gemini CLI, etc.) where AskUserQuestion is not available.

Ask via AskUserQuestion using the approve-revise-abort pattern (see references/gate-prompts.md):

• question: "Review the warnings above. Proceed with import?"
• header: "Approve?"
• options: Approve | Abort

If user selects "Abort": exit cleanly with message "Import cancelled."

Convert the imported content to GSD PLAN.md format.

Ensure the PLAN.md has all required frontmatter fields:

---
phase: "{NN}-{slug}"
plan: "{NN}-{MM}"
type: "feature|refactor|config|test|docs"
wave: 1
depends_on: []
files_modified: []
autonomous: true
must_haves:
  truths: []
  artifacts: []
---

Reject PBR naming conventions in source content: If the imported plan references PBR plan naming (e.g., PLAN-01.md, plan-01.md), rename all references to GSD {NN}-{MM}-PLAN.md convention during conversion.

Apply GSD naming convention for the output filename:

• Format: {NN}-{MM}-PLAN.md (e.g., 04-01-PLAN.md)
• NEVER use PLAN-01.md, plan-01.md, or any other format
• NN = phase number (zero-padded), MM = plan number within the phase (zero-padded)

Determine the target directory by querying init.phase-op for the phase number extracted in plan_read_input. This ensures the project_code prefix from .planning/config.json is applied:

_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 $GSD_TOOLS and gsd-tools is not on PATH. Run: npx -y @opengsd/gsd-core@latest --claude --local" >&2; exit 1; fi
INIT=$(gsd_run query init.phase-op "{NN}")
if [[ "$INIT" == @file:* ]]; then INIT=$(cat "${INIT#@file:}"); fi
expected_phase_dir=$(echo "$INIT" | node -e "process.stdout.write(JSON.parse(require('fs').readFileSync('/dev/stdin','utf8')).expected_phase_dir)")

If the directory does not exist, create it:

mkdir -p "${expected_phase_dir}"

Set phase_dir="${expected_phase_dir}" for use in subsequent steps.

Write the PLAN.md file to the target directory.

Delegate validation to gsd-plan-checker:

Print: "Delegating to gsd-plan-checker (runs in a subagent — no output until it returns, ~1–5 min; expected, not a freeze)"

Agent({
  subagent_type: "gsd-plan-checker",
  prompt: "Validate: .planning/phases/{phase}/{plan}-PLAN.md — check frontmatter completeness, task structure, and GSD conventions. Report any issues."
})

ORCHESTRATOR RULE — CODEX RUNTIME: After calling Agent() above, stop working on this task immediately. Do not read more files, edit code, or run tests related to this task while the subagent is active. Wait for the subagent to return its result. This prevents duplicate work, conflicting edits, and wasted context. Only resume when the subagent result is available.

If the checker returns errors:

• Display the errors to the user
• Ask the user to resolve issues before the plan is considered imported
• Do not delete the written file — the user can fix and re-validate manually

If the checker returns clean:

• Display: "Plan validation passed"

Update .planning/ROADMAP.md to reflect the new plan:

• Add the plan to the Plans list under the correct phase section
• Include the plan name and description

Update .planning/STATE.md if appropriate (e.g., increment total plan count).

Commit the imported plan and updated files:

gsd_run query commit "docs({phase}): import plan from {basename FILEPATH}" --files .planning/phases/{phase}/{plan}-PLAN.md .planning/ROADMAP.md

Display completion:

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 GSD ► IMPORT COMPLETE
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Show: plan filename written, phase directory, validation result, next steps.

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Anti-Patterns

Do NOT:

• Violate the shared conflict-engine contract in references/doc-conflict-engine.md (no markdown tables, no new severity labels, no bypass of the BLOCKER gate)
• Write PLAN.md files as PLAN-01.md or plan-01.md — always use {NN}-{MM}-PLAN.md
• Use pbr:plan-checker or pbr:planner — use gsd-plan-checker and gsd-planner
• Write .planning/.active-skill — this is a PBR pattern with no GSD equivalent
• Reference pbr-tools, pbr:, or PLAN-BUILD-RUN anywhere
• Write any PLAN.md file when blockers exist — the safety gate must hold
• Skip path validation on the --from file argument