phase-plan

Phase agent for the plan step of the 9-phase orchestrator pipeline (CTL-450). Wraps /catalyst-dev:create-plan and produces thoughts/shared/plans/<date>-<ticket>.md, then emits phase.plan.complete.<ticket>. Reads the prior research document from thoughts/shared/research/ as its prior-phase artifact. Spawned via plugins/dev/scripts/phase-agent-dispatch, which invokes it via slash command — hence `user-invocable: true`.

9 stars

Best use case

phase-plan is best used when you need a repeatable AI agent workflow instead of a one-off prompt.

Phase agent for the plan step of the 9-phase orchestrator pipeline (CTL-450). Wraps /catalyst-dev:create-plan and produces thoughts/shared/plans/<date>-<ticket>.md, then emits phase.plan.complete.<ticket>. Reads the prior research document from thoughts/shared/research/ as its prior-phase artifact. Spawned via plugins/dev/scripts/phase-agent-dispatch, which invokes it via slash command — hence `user-invocable: true`.

Teams using phase-plan should expect a more consistent output, faster repeated execution, less prompt rewriting.

When to use this skill

  • You want a reusable workflow that can be run more than once with consistent structure.

When not to use this skill

  • You only need a quick one-off answer and do not need a reusable workflow.
  • You cannot install or maintain the underlying files, dependencies, or repository context.

Installation

Claude Code / Cursor / Codex

$curl -o ~/.claude/skills/phase-plan/SKILL.md --create-dirs "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/coalesce-labs/catalyst/main/plugins/dev/skills/phase-plan/SKILL.md"

Manual Installation

  1. Download SKILL.md from GitHub
  2. Place it in .claude/skills/phase-plan/SKILL.md inside your project
  3. Restart your AI agent — it will auto-discover the skill

How phase-plan Compares

Feature / Agentphase-planStandard Approach
Platform SupportNot specifiedLimited / Varies
Context Awareness High Baseline
Installation ComplexityUnknownN/A

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this skill do?

Phase agent for the plan step of the 9-phase orchestrator pipeline (CTL-450). Wraps /catalyst-dev:create-plan and produces thoughts/shared/plans/<date>-<ticket>.md, then emits phase.plan.complete.<ticket>. Reads the prior research document from thoughts/shared/research/ as its prior-phase artifact. Spawned via plugins/dev/scripts/phase-agent-dispatch, which invokes it via slash command — hence `user-invocable: true`.

Where can I find the source code?

You can find the source code on GitHub using the link provided at the top of the page.

SKILL.md Source

# phase-plan

You are the **plan phase agent**. You run inside `claude --bg` and own a single
responsibility: produce `thoughts/shared/plans/<date>-<ticket>.md` that meets the
schema enforced by [[create-plan]], then emit `phase.plan.complete.<ticket>` and
exit. Built on the [[_phase-agent-template]] contract.

Plans are TDD-structured: Tests First (Red) → Implementation (Green) → Refactor →
Success Criteria for every phase, with success criteria split into Automated and
Manual Verification.

## Prelude

```bash
set -uo pipefail

: "${CATALYST_ORCHESTRATOR_DIR:?required (set by phase-agent-dispatch)}"
: "${CATALYST_ORCHESTRATOR_ID:?required}"
: "${CATALYST_PHASE:?required}"
: "${CATALYST_TICKET:?required}"

ORCH_DIR="$CATALYST_ORCHESTRATOR_DIR"
ORCH_ID="$CATALYST_ORCHESTRATOR_ID"
PHASE="$CATALYST_PHASE"
TICKET="$CATALYST_TICKET"
CHANNEL="orch-${ORCH_ID}"

SIGNAL_FILE="${ORCH_DIR}/workers/${TICKET}/phase-${PHASE}.json"
[[ -f "$SIGNAL_FILE" ]] || { echo "phase-${PHASE}: signal file missing" >&2; exit 1; }

PLUGIN_ROOT="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT:-$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/../../.." && pwd)}"

# Join comms channel (best-effort).
COMMS="${PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/catalyst-comms"
[[ -x "$COMMS" ]] || COMMS="$(command -v catalyst-comms 2>/dev/null || true)"
if [[ -n "$COMMS" ]]; then
  "$COMMS" join "$CHANNEL" --as "$TICKET" \
    --capabilities "phase-${PHASE}: ${TICKET}" \
    --orch "$ORCH_ID" --parent orchestrator --ttl 3600 >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
  "$COMMS" send "$CHANNEL" "phase-plan started" --as "$TICKET" --type info \
    --orch "$ORCH_ID" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
fi

# Start session.
SESSION_SCRIPT="${PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/catalyst-session.sh"
if [[ -x "$SESSION_SCRIPT" ]]; then
  CATALYST_SESSION_ID=$("$SESSION_SCRIPT" start \
    --skill "phase-${PHASE}" \
    --ticket "$TICKET" \
    --workflow "${CATALYST_SESSION_ID:-}")
  export CATALYST_SESSION_ID
fi

TS=$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)
TMP="${SIGNAL_FILE}.tmp.$$"
# CTL-496: persist catalystSessionId so orchestrate-roll-usage --phase can
# attribute cost to the right session_metrics row.
jq --arg ts "$TS" --arg sid "${CATALYST_SESSION_ID:-}" '
  .status = "running"
  | .updatedAt = $ts
  | if $sid != "" then .catalystSessionId = $sid else . end
' "$SIGNAL_FILE" > "$TMP" \
  && mv "$TMP" "$SIGNAL_FILE"

# Prior-phase artifact: the research document. Dispatcher gates this via glob;
# we re-read it here so we can fail loudly on race. Two-step match (CTL-494)
# mirrors the dispatcher: lowercase-tail form first, wider *${TICKET}*.md
# fallback with nocaseglob to also accept the canonical create-plan
# filename convention (uppercase ticket + descriptive suffix).
shopt -s nullglob
RESEARCH_MATCHES=( thoughts/shared/research/*-${TICKET,,}.md )
if [[ ${#RESEARCH_MATCHES[@]} -eq 0 ]]; then
  RESEARCH_MATCHES=( thoughts/shared/research/*${TICKET}*.md )
  if [[ ${#RESEARCH_MATCHES[@]} -eq 0 ]]; then
    shopt -s nocaseglob
    RESEARCH_MATCHES=( thoughts/shared/research/*${TICKET}*.md )
    shopt -u nocaseglob
  fi
fi
shopt -u nullglob
if [[ ${#RESEARCH_MATCHES[@]} -eq 0 ]]; then
  echo "phase-plan: research document missing for $TICKET" >&2
  "${PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/phase-agent-emit-complete" \
    --phase "$PHASE" --ticket "$TICKET" --status failed \
    --reason "prior_artifact_missing:research_doc"
  exit 1
fi
RESEARCH_DOC="${RESEARCH_MATCHES[-1]}"
```

<!-- Linear status is written by the coordinator (CTL-558): the execution-core
     scheduler / orchestrate-phase-advance applies the mapped state on every
     committed phase transition. The phase agent no longer transitions Linear. -->

## /goal

```
/goal "I have written thoughts/shared/plans/<date>-${ticket-lower}.md containing the
       full plan with: Overview, Phase 1..N sections each with Tests First (Red),
       Implementation (Green), Refactor, and Success Criteria (Automated + Manual).
       I have printed the path on stdout."
```

## Work block

Generate the plan by **invoking the canonical skill** rather than reimplementing it.
The body of [[create-plan]] is the single source of truth.

Phase agents run inside `claude --bg` — there is no interactive user. Pass the
research document as the input and operate non-interactively:

1. Read `$RESEARCH_DOC` to understand the problem.
2. Invoke `/catalyst-dev:create-plan` against the research document. When that skill
   asks for clarifications, answer from the research document; if the research
   document is silent on a point, default to the most conservative reasonable choice
   and record the assumption in the plan's "Open questions" section.
3. Confirm the artifact exists. Two-step match (CTL-494) — try lowercase-tail
   first, then the wider `*${TICKET}*.md` pattern with `nocaseglob` fallback
   so canonical create-plan filenames (uppercase ticket + descriptive
   suffix) are accepted alongside the phase-plan prose convention:
   ```bash
   shopt -s nullglob
   PLAN_MATCHES=( thoughts/shared/plans/*-${TICKET,,}.md )
   if [[ ${#PLAN_MATCHES[@]} -eq 0 ]]; then
     PLAN_MATCHES=( thoughts/shared/plans/*${TICKET}*.md )
     if [[ ${#PLAN_MATCHES[@]} -eq 0 ]]; then
       shopt -s nocaseglob
       PLAN_MATCHES=( thoughts/shared/plans/*${TICKET}*.md )
       shopt -u nocaseglob
     fi
   fi
   shopt -u nullglob
   [[ ${#PLAN_MATCHES[@]} -gt 0 ]] || {
     "${PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/phase-agent-emit-complete" \
       --phase "$PHASE" --ticket "$TICKET" --status failed \
       --reason "plan_doc_not_written"
     exit 1
   }
   PLAN_DOC="${PLAN_MATCHES[-1]}"
   ```

If [[create-plan]] runs into a question it cannot resolve from the research
document, post a `question` comms message to the orchestrator with `--re <msg_id>`
correlation; do not block waiting for a reply — record the assumption and proceed.

### Inbox check (CTL-749)

After `/catalyst-dev:create-plan` Task returns, check for mid-flight context updates from the human:

1. If `${ORCH_DIR}/workers/${TICKET}/inbox.jsonl` exists and is non-empty, read it fully.
2. Parse each JSONL line — entries have `kind: "comment"` or `kind: "description_changed"`.
3. For each entry, decide:
   - **Absorb and continue**: the update is additive context (clarification, extra constraints,
     "also handle X") — fold it into your working context and continue. Post a brief reply comment
     acknowledging the update (one sentence).
   - **Pause and replan**: the update fundamentally changes scope or invalidates the current
     approach — emit `failed` with `reason: "mid_flight_replan_needed"` via
     `${PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/phase-agent-emit-complete` and post the reason to Linear as a
     comment before exiting.
4. After reading, archive processed entries:
   ```bash
   [[ -f "${ORCH_DIR}/workers/${TICKET}/inbox.jsonl" ]] && \
     mv "${ORCH_DIR}/workers/${TICKET}/inbox.jsonl" \
        "${ORCH_DIR}/workers/${TICKET}/inbox.processed-$(date +%s).jsonl" || true
   ```
5. If no inbox file or it is empty, continue normally.

## End block

```bash
TS=$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)
TMP="${SIGNAL_FILE}.tmp.$$"
jq --arg ts "$TS" --arg doc "$PLAN_DOC" \
  '.updatedAt = $ts | .artifact = $doc' \
  "$SIGNAL_FILE" > "$TMP" && mv "$TMP" "$SIGNAL_FILE"
```

Mirror the phase output to Linear as a single comment (CTL-632). Fail-open
and idempotent via the per-phase marker file. Uniquely-named fence so the
e2e test can extract just this block.

```bash phase-plan-mirror
LINEAR_MIRROR_MARKER="${ORCH_DIR}/workers/${TICKET}/.linear-mirror-${PHASE}"
if [[ ! -e "${LINEAR_MIRROR_MARKER}" ]]; then
  PLAN_TITLE="$(awk '/^# /{print; exit}' "${PLAN_DOC}" | sed 's/^# //')"
  PLAN_PHASES_COUNT="$(grep -c '^## Phase ' "${PLAN_DOC}" || true)"
  : "${PLAN_PHASES_COUNT:=0}"
  MIRROR_BODY="$(cat <<EOF
**Phase Plan**

- **Document**: \`${PLAN_DOC}\`
- **Title**: ${PLAN_TITLE:-_untitled_}
- **Phases**: ${PLAN_PHASES_COUNT}
- **Research backlink**: \`${RESEARCH_DOC}\`

_Posted automatically by phase-plan (CTL-632)._
EOF
)"
  MIRROR_FOOTER=""
  if [[ -n "${PLUGIN_ROOT:-}" && -x "${PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/lib/phase-mirror-footer.sh" ]]; then
    MIRROR_FOOTER="$("${PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/lib/phase-mirror-footer.sh" --orch-dir "${ORCH_DIR}" --ticket "${TICKET}" --phase "${PHASE}" 2>/dev/null || true)"
  fi
  [[ -n "${MIRROR_FOOTER}" ]] && MIRROR_BODY="${MIRROR_BODY}
${MIRROR_FOOTER}"
  COMMENT_POST="${CATALYST_COMMENT_POST_HELPER:-${PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/lib/linear-comment-post.sh}"
  if [[ ! -x "$COMMENT_POST" ]]; then COMMENT_POST="$(command -v linear-comment-post.sh 2>/dev/null || true)"; fi
  if [[ -n "$COMMENT_POST" && -x "$COMMENT_POST" ]] && "$COMMENT_POST" "${TICKET}" "${MIRROR_BODY}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    : > "${LINEAR_MIRROR_MARKER}"
  else
    echo "phase-plan: linear-comment-post failed (continuing)" >&2
  fi
fi
```

```bash
"${PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/phase-agent-emit-complete" \
  --phase "$PHASE" --ticket "$TICKET" --status complete

[[ -n "$COMMS" ]] && "$COMMS" done "$CHANNEL" --as "$TICKET" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
```

## Failure handling

```bash
"${PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/phase-agent-emit-complete" \
  --phase "$PHASE" --ticket "$TICKET" --status failed \
  --reason "<short reason>"
[[ -n "$COMMS" ]] && "$COMMS" send "$CHANNEL" \
  "phase-plan failed: <reason>" --as "$TICKET" --type attention \
  --orch "$ORCH_ID" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
exit 1
```

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from coalesce-labs/catalyst

Phase-agent that fixes a failing verify verdict so the pipeline self-heals instead of stalling to needs-human (CTL-653). Reads `${ORCH_DIR}/workers/<ticket>/verify.json`, fixes the `findings[]` (every severity:"high" plus the regression_risk drivers) directly via Edit/Write, commits the remediation, and emits `phase.remediate.complete.<ticket>`. The scheduler's router then re-dispatches `verify` to re-check (the verify⇄remediate cycle, cap 3). Dispatched as a `claude --bg` job by `phase-agent-dispatch`, which invokes it via slash command — hence `user-invocable: true`.

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from coalesce-labs/catalyst

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phase-monitor-deploy

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from coalesce-labs/catalyst

Phase agent that watches the post-merge deployment for a ticket. Reads the merge SHA from phase-monitor-merge.json (the signal file phase-monitor-merge writes after `gh pr merge` confirms via REST), subscribes via `catalyst-events wait-for` to deploy events on that SHA, then delegates a live verification check to the /canary skill (gstack). Emits phase.monitor-deploy.complete.<TICKET> on canary success, phase.monitor-deploy.failed.<TICKET> on deploy or canary failure, and phase.monitor-deploy.skipped.<TICKET> when no deploy event arrives before the timeout. Dispatched by the phase-agent orchestrator (CTL-452) via slash command — `user-invocable: true` so the dispatcher's `claude --bg "/catalyst-dev:phase-monitor-deploy ..."` resolves.

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9
from coalesce-labs/catalyst

Phase-agent wrapper that drives TDD implementation from an approved plan (CTL-449 Initiative 1 Phase 3). Reads `thoughts/shared/plans/*-<ticket>.md`, delegates the red→green→refactor cycle to `/catalyst-dev:implement-plan`, commits each plan phase as it lands, and transitions the Linear ticket to `inProgress`. Dispatched as a `claude --bg` job by `phase-agent-dispatch`, which invokes it via slash command — hence `user-invocable: true`.