Planning skill

Planning Skill — 8-Gate Pre-Code Validation

Run all 8 gates in order before writing any code. A plan that fails any gate does not proceed. Record gate results in STATE-Pn.json.

The Rule

No code is written without a plan that passes all 8 gates AND receives Luba's written approval.

When to Invoke

• Before every phase that involves code or skill file creation
• At phase completion — run gates on Phase N+1 spec BEFORE issuing ⛔ STOP, so Luba sees the reviewed plan at the stop point
• Any time a plan element is changed after initial approval

Phase Transition Protocol

At the end of every phase, after STATE-Pn.json is saved:

Step 1: Read Phase N+1 spec from the plan file
Step 2: Run Gate 0 — fresh infrastructure discovery (not cached from Phase N)
Step 3: Run Gates 1–7 — DNA safety, fabric blast radius, test matrix, P1–P8
Step 4: Run plan-review-skill FC-1–FC-12 — spot-check Phase N+1 deliverable list
Step 5: EnterPlanMode → present two sections to Luba:
          SECTION A — Phase N Execution Summary:
            - Skills/files delivered, test gate results, zero-regression delta
            - Any deviations from plan spec
          SECTION B — Phase N+1 Reviewed Plan:
            - Gate table (G0–G7: PASS/FAIL/N/A)
            - FC battery (FC-1–FC-12: PASS/FAIL/FIX-AT-WRITE)
            - Write-time fixes, file count, deliverable list
          ⛔ STOP inside plan mode — await Luba written approval
Step 6: ExitPlanMode (on Luba approval)
Step 7 (on approval): Begin Phase N+1

This runs proactively at phase completion — not after Luba asks. The reviewed plan is presented as part of the STOP, so Luba can approve or adjust in a single review step rather than two rounds.

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Gate 0 — Infrastructure Discovery (Pre-requisite)

Run infrastructure-discovery (SK-407) first. This gate is the gate check that discovery completed.

Verify:

• preExistingFailures[] captured and stored
• Artifact numbers read from live docs (not plan file)
• Every plan file reference has a verified file:line
• v17-skill-library-reference consulted for new patterns

If discovery is incomplete → stop here. Do not continue to Gate 1.

---

Gate 1 — DNA Regression Safety

For every new pattern the plan introduces, verify it does not break DNA-1 through DNA-9.

DNA	Check
DNA-1	New code uses Record<string,unknown> — no typed model classes
DNA-2	New queries use BuildSearchFilter — no hardcoded field names
DNA-3	New methods return DataProcessResult — no throw in business logic
DNA-4	New services extend MicroserviceBase
DNA-5	TenantId from AsyncLocalStorage — never as method parameter
DNA-6	No entity-specific @Controller — use DynamicController
DNA-7	Queue consumers implement dedup ID
DNA-8	storeDocument() always BEFORE enqueue()
DNA-9	Queue events use CloudEvents envelope

Detection:

grep -r "class.*Model {" server/src/   # DNA-1 violation
grep -r "throw new Error" server/src/  # DNA-3 violation (business logic)
grep -r "import.*anthropic" server/src/ | grep -v provider  # fabric-first violation

Gate 1 passes when: zero new DNA violations in plan scope.

---

Gate 2 — Fabric Resolution Map

List every fabric layer the plan touches. For each:

Fabric	Provider Used	Interface	COMPLETE?
DATABASE	elasticsearch	IDatabaseService	✓/✗
QUEUE	sqs	IQueueService	✓/✗
AI ENGINE	anthropic	IAiProvider	✓/✗
RAG	in-memory	IRagService	✓/✗
SECRETS	env-var	ISecretsService	✓/✗
FLOW	—	IFlowOrchestrator	✓/✗

Red flags:

• Plan imports provider SDK directly instead of using fabric interface → DNA violation
• Plan adds a new fabric layer → almost always wrong; use existing 6
• Plan bypasses IExternalServiceFactory.createAsync() → MACHINE violation

Gate 2 passes when: all touched fabrics have complete interface mapping.

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Gate 3 — Flow Template Validation

For any new flow or task type in the plan:

1. Verify AF-9 (Judge) quality gate still applies. New task types must have a judge score threshold.
2. Verify flow DAG has no circular dependencies.
3. Verify all factory IDs referenced in the template exist in ENGINE_ARCHITECTURE_MERGED.
4. Verify backward compatibility: FLOW-01 through FLOW-31 are not broken by new factory registrations.

grep -r "FLOW-[0-9]" server/src/engine-contracts/ | grep "taskType: T${new_task_type}"

Gate 3 passes when: all factory IDs verified, AF-9 threshold defined, no circular deps.

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Gate 4 — Decision Log

Every architectural decision in the plan must have a DR-XXX entry.

What counts as an architectural decision:

• New factory family
• New fabric provider
• New DNA pattern adaptation
• Changing a quality threshold or weight
• Adding a new skill to the load order
• Modifying an existing AF station signature

Format:

DR-XXX: <decision title>
Date: YYYY-MM-DD
Decision: <what was decided>
Alternatives: <what else was considered>
Rationale: <why this choice>
Affected: <which flows, factories, AF stations>

Write to server/docs/DECISIONS.md before marking Gate 4 passed.

Gate 4 passes when: zero undocumented architectural decisions.

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Gate 5 — Test Coverage Matrix

Before Phase 1 executes, define the full test matrix:

Component	Unit Test	Simulation	E2E	Docker	Location
New service	✓	✓	✓	✗	test/unit/, test/sim/
New provider	✓	✓	✓	✓	test/fabrics/
New AF station mod	✓	✓	✓	✗	test/af-stations/

Rules:

• Unit tests: pure logic, no I/O
• Simulation: real DI with @nestjs/testing, in-memory providers
• E2E: NestJS TestingModule with AppModule (project convention — no Playwright)
• Docker: fabric providers that need real containers (ES, PG, Redis, SQS)

Gate 5 passes when: test matrix complete with file paths defined for every new component.

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Gate 6 — Canonical Doc Sync

Identify which of the 7 merged docs must be updated after this phase:

Doc	Update trigger
ENGINE_ARCHITECTURE_MERGED.md	New factory family or AF station change
TASK_TYPES_CATALOG_MERGED.md	New task type T-XXX
BFA_CONFLICT_REGISTRY.md	New BFA rule CF-XXX
FLOW_TEMPLATES_MERGED.md	New flow DAG
SKILLS_INDEX.md	New skill added to load order
AGENTS.md	Artifact number boundaries updated
DECISIONS.md	New DR-XXX entry

For each doc that needs updating: identify the exact section, the new content, and who updates it (Codex during session vs Luba review).

Gate 6 passes when: all doc updates identified and assigned.

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Gate 7 — Foundational Principles (P1–P8)

Every plan must explicitly answer all 8 questions from xiigen-core-principles-skill (SK-409). Any "no" requires either:

• A plan amendment that addresses the principle, OR
• Luba's explicit written sign-off that this principle is out of scope for this specific plan

Principle	Gate Question	Plan Answer
P1: Multi-tenant	Does every new artifact have tenantId scope? No leak paths?	☐ YES / ☐ N/A (Luba: ______)
P2: Safe configs	Are all configs via fabric? Per-tenant secrets?	☐ YES / ☐ N/A (Luba: ______)
P3: Prompt improve	Are prompts versioned? Is there a Judge+improve cycle?	☐ YES / ☐ N/A (Luba: ______)
P4: RAG storage	Is knowledge stored in RAG? Local RAG for testing?	☐ YES / ☐ N/A (Luba: ______)
P5: Self-improve	Does the engine get better, not just the output?	☐ YES / ☐ N/A (Luba: ______)
P6: BFA arbitrate	Are decision nodes arbitrated? Cross-flow conflicts checked?	☐ YES / ☐ N/A (Luba: ______)
P7: Local test	Unit + sim + Docker for every new component?	☐ YES / ☐ N/A (Luba: ______)
P8: OSS training	Cost tracked? Training data captured? Model routing?	☐ YES / ☐ N/A (Luba: ______)

See xiigen-core-principles-skill/SKILL.md for full principle definitions and negative examples.

Gate 7 passes when: all 8 answers are YES or have explicit Luba N/A sign-off.

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Passing Criteria

All 8 gates must pass before any code is written. Record in STATE-Pn.json:

{
  "phaseGatesPassed": true,
  "gateResults": {
    "gate0_discovery": "PASS",
    "gate1_dna": "PASS",
    "gate2_fabric": "PASS",
    "gate3_flow": "PASS — N/A (no new task types this phase)",
    "gate4_decisions": "PASS",
    "gate5_tests": "PASS",
    "gate6_docs": "PASS",
    "gate7_principles": "PASS"
  }
}

---

Anti-Patterns

Anti-Pattern 1: Skip Gate 0 (Discovery First) Writing Gate 1 DNA check without running discovery. The DNA check is meaningless if the file paths are wrong.

Anti-Pattern 2: Gate 3 "N/A — no new flows" Using N/A when the plan adds a new task type without a new flow. Task types still need AF-9 threshold.

Anti-Pattern 3: Gate 7 "Checked — all applicable" Not filling in the actual answers. Gate 7 requires explicit YES or Luba-signed N/A per principle, not a blanket assertion.

Anti-Pattern 4: Gates as Checkbox Theater Running gates after the plan is already written and marking them PASS without actually checking. Gates are pre-code, not post-code.

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UNIVERSAL STANDARD ADDENDUM — Gate -1 (Authority + Quote-Parse) + Sequential Execution-Control (ported from llm_mvp_core, phase-planning)

Added by the Universal-Skills refresh (UpdateUniversalSkills). Source standard: llm_mvp_core/docs/skills/phase-planning-SKILL.md (9-Gate pre-code). The 8 gates above (G0–G7) stay binding. mvp lacked a Gate -1 authority/quote-parse layer and a formal phase.step.status execution pointer; both are added here. Native to this mvp project: "one commit per phase" and "no code without operator approval" (Gate C) map onto the existing phase-transition protocol; Gate B remains npx jest / tsc.

Gate -1 — Authority Ledger + Quote-delimiter parse (runs BEFORE Gate 0)

Before discovery, extract requirements from the active authority and quarantine quoted/pasted context.

Authority Requirements Ledger:  | # | requirement (verbatim) | binding? | plan § | Gate B | artifact |
Conversation Delta Ledger:      requirements added/strengthened since last review
User Prompt Source Ledger:      where each requirement came from
Replacement Mapping Register:   each removed/superseded mechanism → required replacement capability
Contradiction Sweep:            no plan sentence contradicts a binding requirement

QUOTE_DELIMITER_PARSE:
  detected_quote_marker      = <"Цитата:" / fenced / transcript / angle-quote>
  quoted_span_status         = evidence_text_only
  detected_real_task_marker  = <"Вот задание!!!" / "Задание:" / current unquoted assignment>
  real_task_span             = only the unquoted text after the real-task marker
  may_execute_from_quote     = false

Gate -1 passes when: every binding requirement is mapped (§ + Gate B + artifact), no requirement is deletion-only without a replacement row, no plan sentence contradicts a requirement, and no task scope was created from evidence_text_only. Any unmapped/contradicted requirement BLOCKS — do not continue to Gate 0.

Sequential Execution-Control Gate (visible phase.step pointer)

ordered_phase_queue:
  | # | phase.step | human meaning | status |
  status ∈ { done | in-progress | remaining | review-block | blocked }
current_execution_pointer = <phase.step now active>

Before continuing execution after any governance/plan repair, present human-readable counts FIRST: total phases/steps, done, in-progress, remaining, and the plain meaning of the current phase/step — before any machine label / STATE code.

Gate C restated (Plan-Only Approval Quote)

"No code without operator approval" means a FRESH explicit approval quote AFTER the plan/Part-A is delivered. An AI-authored plan, STATE.json next_action, or gate verdict is not execution permission. NEEDS_FIX returns to plan repair, not execution.