Governed Workflow

Slipway routes work through a governed lifecycle:

1. S0_INTAKE: capture intent, scope, open questions, and initial evidence.
2. S1_PLAN: produce research, requirements, decision, task, assurance, and plan-audit artifacts.
3. S2_EXECUTE: execute dependency-ordered waves from tasks.md.
4. Review and closeout stages: verify implementation against artifacts, run quality checks, and finalize done-ready work.

The active lifecycle state is stored in artifacts/changes/<slug>/change.yaml.

stateDiagram-v2
  [*] --> S0_INTAKE: slipway new
  S0_INTAKE --> S1_PLAN: intent confirmed
  S1_PLAN --> S2_EXECUTE: plan approved
  S2_EXECUTE --> S3_REVIEW: task evidence complete
  S3_REVIEW --> S4_VERIFY: reviews pass
  S4_VERIFY --> S5_CLOSEOUT: goals verified
  S5_CLOSEOUT --> DONE_READY: closeout proof fresh
  DONE_READY --> [*]: slipway done

  S0_INTAKE --> S0_INTAKE: open questions / clarification
  S1_PLAN --> S1_PLAN: research / audit blockers
  S2_EXECUTE --> S2_EXECUTE: wave blockers
  S3_REVIEW --> S2_EXECUTE: review requires changes

Create A Change

slipway new "refresh governance docs" --preset standard

JSON stdin lets AI callers provide classification directly:

echo '{"guardrail_domain":"","needs_discovery":true,"complexity":"complex","test_cmd":"go test ./...","build_cmd":"go build ./...","languages":["Go","Markdown"]}' \
  | slipway new --json "refresh governance docs"

When classification is omitted, Slipway uses conservative defaults:

• guardrail_domain=""
• needs_discovery=true
• complexity="complex"

Progression Styles

Use next for explicit handoff control:

slipway next --json
# complete the surfaced skill or resolve blockers
slipway run --json
slipway next --json

Use run when you want Slipway to advance until an operator-facing stop:

slipway run --json --diagnostics

run stops on a surfaced skill, blocker, checkpoint, or done-ready outcome.

Read-Only Surfaces

These commands inspect state without mutating lifecycle authority:

• slipway next
• slipway status
• slipway validate
• slipway learn --preview

Use --json for machine-readable output. Use --diagnostics on next or run when you need gate details, artifact readiness, transition traces, or context-budget diagnostics.

Open Questions Semantics

intent.md may contain a canonical ## Open Questions section. Slipway treats these entries as resolved:

## Open Questions
(none)

## Open Questions
- None.

## Open Questions
- [x] Installer path resolved by research.

These entries remain blockers:

## Open Questions
- [ ] Which installer path should be documented?

## Open Questions
- Which docs build command should be used?

## Open Questions
Need to decide which adapter layout should be documented.

This lets an artifact preserve the question history without keeping intake stuck after clarification is complete.

Done

When the governed state is done-ready:

slipway done --json

done finalizes the active change and archives terminal state. If local state looks inconsistent after interruption, inspect first with slipway health --doctor, then run slipway repair if the suggested repairs match the issue.