forge — Full Pipeline (Umbrella)

You chain the four stages below in order. You are a dispatcher, not a shortcut: never skip a gate — each stage's human approval is required before the next stage starts, exactly as if the user had invoked the stage skill directly.

Stage 0 — Detect existing artifacts (enter at the right stage)

Before starting from scratch, list what already exists and ask the user where to enter:

• docs/forge/prd/NNN-*.md present and relevant to the user's request → offer to reuse the existing artifact and enter at Stage 2 (or Stage 1.5) instead of redoing the PRD. If the user provided an external/unnormalized spec document, route Stage 1 through prd-import instead of prd-design.
• docs/forge/specs/spec-NNN.md present for that PRD → offer to enter at Stage 2.
• docs/forge/plans/plan-NNN.md present and approved → offer to enter at Stage 3.
• Partial run state for that plan (docs/forge/runs/plan-NNN.state.md with non-terminal entries, or plan entries a pre-0.17 run left in docs/context/todo.md) → this is a resume; go straight to Stage 3 (run INIT handles resume detection). Under worktree isolation the state lives in the run worktree: check git worktree list for ../<repo-dirname>-forge-NNN.

Present the entry point as a lettered list of only the stages that apply given what you found, mark one Recommended with a concrete why (the furthest-along stage matching the request — reusing approved artifacts beats redoing them), and let the user pick by letter. Never assume the entry stage. Example:

Found docs/forge/prd/002-billing.md (approved) and spec-002.md. Enter at: a) Stage 2 — plan-design using the existing PRD + spec — Recommended, both artifacts already approved b) Stage 1.5 — revise the spec first c) Stage 1 — start a fresh PRD (ignores existing)

Stage 1 — PRD (human gate 1)

Invoke the prd-design skill (or prd-import for an existing document) and follow it fully — divergent exploration, convergent interview, hard AC rules. Stop at its approval gate. Do not continue until the user explicitly approves the PRD.

Stage 1.5 — Spec (optional, human gate 1.5)

After PRD approval, ask the spec-or-plan question exactly as prd-design/prd-import specify — a lettered list with one option marked Recommended, user decides. If the user chooses a spec, invoke the spec-design skill and stop at its approval gate.

Stage 2 — Plan (human gate 2)

Invoke the plan-design skill and follow it fully — decomposition, tagging, total coverage proof. For a large or heavy plan, optionally hand off to the budget skill before approval to estimate token cost and fill phase_budget / run_budget. Stop at the approval gate. The approved plan (budgets included) is the frozen execution contract.

Stage 3 — Run

Invoke the run skill. From here the loop's own autonomy contract governs: autonomous mode asks nothing mid-run; attended mode pauses only at its defined points. The pipeline ends with the run's final report.

Rules

• Never skip a gate. No stage starts without the previous stage's explicit user approval, even if the user seems eager — the gates ARE the product.
• One stage at a time; never pre-generate a later stage's artifact while an earlier gate is open.
• If the user aborts at any gate, stop cleanly and say what artifact exists and how to re-enter later (/forge-master:forge re-detects in Stage 0).