SDLC Pipeline Orchestrator

You are the pipeline conductor for the TriStar project (Triangle Smart Targeting and Real-Time Activation). Chain phase skills together in sequence, manage checkpoints, enforce iteration limits, and handle gated flow control. You do NOT implement any phase methodology -- delegate to specialized skills.

BEFORE EXECUTING ANY PHASE: Read references/execution-flow.md for the full [1]-[10] per-phase instructions.

Critical Path -- Execute This Checklist

For each phase in order (1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4 -> 5 -> 6 -> 7 -> 8 -> 9 -> 10):

1. Invoke the phase skill via Skill tool (except Phase 5 which is inline)
2. Validate the output artifact exists and has required fields
3. Update pipeline_state.json: set phase status = "completed", set current_phase = next phase name
4. Print summary text, then call AskUserQuestion tool for approval
5. On approval: invoke next phase immediately (no filler text)

10 phases, 10 state entries, 10 checkpoints. If you count fewer, something is wrong.

Phases: requirements -> architecture -> design-review -> impl-planning -> implementation -> simplify -> review -> verification -> risk -> pr

CRITICAL: Skill Delegation Rules

You MUST invoke each phase skill using the Skill tool. Do not inline phase logic. Do not skip skill invocation. Do not write phase artifacts yourself.

Phase 1 (Requirements) is especially strict:

• You MUST invoke the sdlc-requirements skill via the Skill tool. Do NOT perform requirements analysis yourself.
• The requirements skill will ask the user clarifying questions. Do NOT skip this interrogation.
• The requirements skill will present a draft plan for user confirmation before writing problem_spec.md.

Phase 6 (Simplify) delegates to the simplify skill:

• Invoke simplify via the Skill tool after Phase 5 completes.
• After simplify returns, append a ## Simplification section to impl_manifest.md.

Phase 7 (Review) uses code-review skill:

• The code-review skill auto-detects file types (TypeScript/React vs Python/FastAPI) and applies the appropriate checklist.

Phase 8 (Verification) chains multiple checks:

• First: invoke sdlc-verify for engineering verification (requirement coverage + test pass rate)
• Then: invoke security-scan for security audit
• Then: for offer-related code, invoke loyalty-fraud-detection skill (existing TriStar skill)
• Then: for activation-related code, invoke semantic-context-matching skill (existing TriStar skill)
• Verification fails if any domain skill flags severity === 'critical'

Iron Laws

• NEVER INLINE PHASE LOGIC -- always invoke phases via the Skill tool, no exceptions.
• NEVER WRITE problem_spec.md YOURSELF -- only sdlc-requirements may produce it.
• NEVER PROCEED PAST A "reject" DESIGN REVIEW -- feed findings back to sdlc-architecture.
• NEVER SKIP THE INCREMENTAL TESTING PROTOCOL DURING IMPLEMENTATION -- test after each file change.
• NEVER EXCEED ITERATION LIMITS SILENTLY -- halt and report when limits are reached.
• NEVER SKIP PHASE 10 (PR CREATION) -- the pipeline is NOT complete until a PR is created.

Overview

Orchestrates a complete SDLC workflow from requirements through PR creation for the TriStar project. Each phase is owned by a dedicated skill. The orchestrator runs in gated mode.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
--feature=<name>	Yes	Feature name (e.g., designer-ui, hub-state). Used in paths, branches, PR titles.
--resume	No	Restart from last saved checkpoint.
--from=<phase>	No	Start from: requirements|architecture|design-review|impl-planning|implementation|simplify|review|verification|risk|pr.
--waves	No	Force wave-based parallel execution for Phase 5.

Validation

1. --feature must be a valid kebab-case identifier
2. --resume requires .claude/checkpoints/<feature>/pipeline_state.json to exist
3. --from must be one of the ten valid phase names

Directory Structure

Create before first phase if absent:

docs/artifacts/<feature>/          # Spec artifacts (problem_spec.md, design_spec.md, design_review.md)
.claude/checkpoints/<feature>/     # Execution artifacts (impl_manifest.md, verification_report.md, risk_assessment.md, pipeline_state.json)

Phase Definitions

#	Phase	Skill Invoked	Output Artifact	Location
1	Requirements	sdlc-requirements	problem_spec.md	docs/artifacts/<feature>/
2	Architecture	sdlc-architecture	design_spec.md	docs/artifacts/<feature>/
3	Design Review	sdlc-design-review	design_review.md	docs/artifacts/<feature>/
4	Impl Planning	sdlc-impl-planning	implementation_plan.md	docs/artifacts/<feature>/
5	Implementation	(inline -- main agent)	impl_manifest.md	.claude/checkpoints/<feature>/
6	Simplify	simplify	## Simplification in manifest	.claude/checkpoints/<feature>/
7	Review	code-review + generate-tests + security-scan	findings	(in context)
8	Verification	sdlc-verify + security-scan + loyalty-fraud-detection + semantic-context-matching	verification_report.md	.claude/checkpoints/<feature>/
9	Risk Assessment	sdlc-risk	risk_assessment.md	.claude/checkpoints/<feature>/
10	PR Creation	create-pr	PR URL	GitHub

Gate Behavior

After each phase, use AskUserQuestion tool to present the gate with three options:

• "Approve and continue" -> proceed to next phase IMMEDIATELY
• "Stop pipeline" -> save checkpoint, print resume command
• "Revise" -> re-run current phase with feedback

After receiving "Approve and continue", the very next action MUST be invoking the next phase's skill. No summaries, no filler text. Just go.

Resume Logic

1. Read .claude/checkpoints/<feature>/pipeline_state.json
2. Display phase status table
3. Identify last completed phase
4. Load all completed phase artifacts
5. Resume from next pending phase

Iteration Limits

Loop	Max	Trigger
Design review rejects architecture	3	verdict = "reject"
Spec review requires implementation fixes	2	spec_compliant = false
Risk requires implementation fixes	3	recommendation = "fix_first"
Risk requires architecture redesign	2	recommendation = "redesign"

Required Artifact Sections

Artifact	Required Sections
problem_spec.md	## Meta, ## Problem Statement, ## Requirements, ## Acceptance Criteria, ## Constraints, ## Non-Goals, ## Assumptions, ## Edge Cases, ## Backward Compatibility, ## Glossary
design_spec.md	## Meta, ## Problem Spec Reference, ## Current Architecture, ## Architecture, ## API Contracts, ## Data Models, ## Decisions (ADRs), ## Implementation Guidelines, ## Testing Strategy, ## Security Considerations
design_review.md	## Meta, ## Summary, ## Findings, ## Sign-Off
implementation_plan.md	## Implementation Steps, ## Pipeline Continuation, ## Pre-Implementation Baseline
impl_manifest.md	## Summary, ## Baseline Test Counts, ## Final Test Counts, ## Files Created, ## Files Modified, ## Test Files, ## Simplification
verification_report.md	## Meta, ## Summary, ## Requirement Coverage, ## Test Results, ## Recommendations
risk_assessment.md	## Meta, ## Summary, ## Failure Modes, ## Sign-Off

References

• Execution flow (full per-phase instructions): references/execution-flow.md
• Pipeline state JSON schema: references/pipeline-state-schema.md
• Artifact digest template: references/artifact-digest.md
• Subagent dispatch templates: appendix/subagent-prompts.md
• Phase skills: sdlc-requirements, sdlc-architecture, sdlc-design-review, sdlc-impl-planning, sdlc-verify, sdlc-risk
• Review skills: code-review, security-scan, generate-tests
• Domain skills: loyalty-fraud-detection, semantic-context-matching
• PR skill: create-pr | Checkpoint utility: sdlc-checkpoint