Implement

Use implement for a slice and deliver for the full delivery loop.

Entry

Start from an approved spec: outcome, acceptance criteria with how each is verified, non-goals, risk tier and write authority (the tracker issue or the scope digest). Missing inputs go back to scope. Do not invent owner decisions; record an engineering call as Decided (<source>): <reason> and proceed.

Show provenant tracker lint N advice before starting an issue unless already supplied; unavailable checks do not block work.

Read repository checks, commit rules and review floors in AGENTS.md and runbooks. Run targeted checks locally; leave full suites to CI.

How it runs

Register a writer worktree first (provenant worktree create slice --base BASE). Save slice.toml, replacing the path, scope and brief:

use = "implement"
tier = "junior"
worktree = "/absolute/project/.worktrees/slice"
write_scope = ["src"]
brief = "Meet the approved criteria; run the named checks, commit and report."

Run provenant run --route junior --file slice.toml --explain, then omit --explain to submit.

Check authority, write scopes and gates in the explanation, then submit without --explain. deliver is the default composite; use implement for one slice, implement.fix for a known defect, and batch for parallel slices into one integration branch. Use plan when the shape is open. See templates.

Follow provenant status, collect provenant output TARGET, and use retry for unfinished work. edit changes unstarted nodes. Landing uses provenant land N --head SHA --wait after the integrated head meets its gates.

Writing the brief

The writer sees only the brief. Put in it the issue path, the acceptance criteria, the files and owners already found, the checks to run, and the instruction to stop and report instead of widening scope. One writer per worktree. Name the method skill: test-design for observable behaviour, refactor for restructuring, diagnose for an unknown cause.

A separate fresh writer attempt repairs qualified review findings; the raising lenses re-review the delta. max_repair_cycles defaults to three and accepts one to three, independently of the CI repair limit. A recurring finding or an evidenced design defect escalates early to read-only principal scoping. Proceed within approved scope: the principal records repair_design booleans within_scope and one_way_door in its findings block. The host notifies the owner and bypasses its decide wait only for explicit approved scope with no one-way door. Changed scope, one-way doors and missing assessments wait on that host decision before any continuation writer. Approval retains the original literal write authority. A failed replanned panel feeds its qualified findings into the remaining repair cycles. If no separate route is available, continue in a fresh attempt on the available route with a recorded separation warning.

Writer rules

• The implementer may not edit a failing acceptance test or weaken an assertion to pass. A changed test is reported with the reason.
• Update the owned docs in the same PR: behaviour, architecture, operations. A settled decision moves to its durable home (see engineering-docs).
• Keep compatibility only for published or persisted contracts. Otherwise change the callers and delete the old path.
• Report checks that did not run as unverified, never as passing.
• A repair that leaves failures unchanged or larger twice in a row stops the run. Return the evidence to scope when the spec turns out wrong.

Done

Exact-head CI and the review the tier requires meet acceptance. Finish with the outcome report owned by deliver. Promotion needs separate authority (release).