msd-core/get-shit-done/workflows/execute-phase.md

Execute all plans in a phase with intelligent parallelization. Analyzes plan dependencies to identify independent plans that can run in parallel.

<when_to_use> 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 </when_to_use>

<required_reading> Read STATE.md before any operation to load project context. </required_reading>

Before any operation, read project state:

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:

# From command argument: /gsd:execute-phase 10
# Or: /gsd:execute-phase .planning/phases/10-parallel-execution/
PHASE_ARG="$1"

2. Find phase directory:

# 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:

PLANS=($(ls "$PHASE_DIR"/*-PLAN.md 2>/dev/null | sort))
echo "Found ${#PLANS[@]} plans in phase"

4. Identify unexecuted plans:

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:

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:

# 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 <files> elements (all occurrences)
  FILES=$(grep -oP '(?<=<files>)[^<]+(?=</files>)' "$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 <files> 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:

# 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):

# 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)

# 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.**

cat .planning/config.json 2>/dev/null

Config schema (parallelization section):

{
  "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:

PRE_SPAWN_COMMIT=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
echo "All agents start from commit: $PRE_SPAWN_COMMIT"

2. Generate parallel group ID:

PARALLEL_GROUP="pg-$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S)-$(uuidgen | cut -d- -f1)"

3. Initialize tracking:

# 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:

{
  "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:

# 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:

# 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:

# 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:

# 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:

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:

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}`

<sub>`/clear` first → fresh context window</sub>

---

**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`

<error_handling>

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

</error_handling>

<success_criteria>

• All plans in phase executed
• All agents completed (no failures)
• Commits created for all plans
• STATE.md updated
• ROADMAP.md updated
• No merge conflicts </success_criteria>