Rite define

/rite-define: plan from the spec

Turn the active feature's spec.md into a buildable workspace with architecture, an implementation approach, dependency-ordered vertical slices, traceability, and a state cursor. The spec defines what and why; this phase defines how. Keep spec, architecture, plan, tasks, and traceability in their phase-owned files. Do not write code here.

Rules consulted (read on demand from .claude/skills/devrites-lib/reference/standards/)

Pull these via Read when shaping the plan:

• development-workflow.md: small batches, trunk-always-green, definition of done.
• principles.md: the project invariants (.devrites/principles.md) the chosen approach must conform to.
• documentation.md: record plan-time decisions and rationale.
• ../workspace-artifact-schema.md: artifact purposes, budgets, IDs, and read triggers.

Operating rules

• Requires a readied spec. Read the active workspace first; if .devrites/ACTIVE is empty, the workspace has no spec.md, its readiness gate hasn't passed, or any spec-quality checklists/<domain>.md has an open CRITICAL → STOP and tell the user to run /rite-spec <feature> first. A missing or non-CLEAR decision-coverage.md routes to /rite-clarify. DO NOT plan from a missing, unreadied, or unclarified spec.
• Apply afk-hitl.md decision ownership. Prefer conventions; source-check new dependencies or design systems, asking only about licensing/cost/security or explicit policy.
• Author one section at a time. Write architecture.md and plan.md section by section, pausing after each. For an open design choice or uncertain estimate, use a relevant technique from elicitation.md (Tournament for two viable designs, Delphi for the estimate) before it hardens into slices.
• Derive the slice count from the work. One per independently-shippable increment, sized by slicing.md, every acceptance criterion mapped to ≥1 slice. A user-named count is a hint at most: slice logically and, if your honest count differs, present it and why. Never pad or compress to hit a figure. (.devrites/AFK max_slices is a separate AFK iteration budget, not the decomposition.)
• Wide mechanical refactors slice expand → migrate → contract. If one repeated change crosses many files, don't fake vertical slices. Add a compatibility/adapter slice, migrate small green batches, then remove the old path. If a batch cannot stay green, use an integration branch plus a final verify slice.
• Root writes; drafter proposes. Use the file-backed fresh-context contract in agents.md. The root owns architecture decisions, human questions, approval, and every canonical artifact write.

Workflow

0. Read .claude/skills/devrites-lib/reference/standards/core.md: the always-on operating rules and anti-rationalizations. Then run the shared orientation preamble. It confirms the active feature and which artifacts exist (it prints state.md, the artifacts present, the run mode, and the open-question tally):

   devrites-engine preamble
   devrites-engine snapshot
   devrites-engine spec-skeleton ".devrites/work/$(cat .devrites/ACTIVE 2>/dev/null)"
   

   If there is no active workspace, no spec.md, spec-skeleton blocks, or its readiness gate hasn't passed → STOP and tell the user to run /rite-spec <feature> first. If decision-coverage.md is absent or does not say Decision coverage: CLEAR, STOP → /rite-clarify.
1. Read the spec: spec.md (objective, requirements, acceptance, placement, design references, gaps/decisions), plus references.md, decisions.md, assumptions.md, decision-coverage.md, strategy.md if present (the scope mode, deferred / out-of-scope register, and pre-mortem risks from /rite-temper: cut slices to mitigate the top risks and respect the IN/OUT line; map coverage against the hardened spec), and design-brief.md if the feature touches UI (the UX/UI contract /rite-spec shaped: its key states, interaction model, and proof targets drive how UI slices are cut). If a blocking [NEEDS CLARIFICATION] remains, stop → /rite-clarify. 1a. Draft from fresh context. Freeze the planning inputs and dispatch devrites-plan-drafter in define mode for one atomic candidate bundle: architecture.md, plan.md, tasks.md, and traceability.md, including proof mapping. Await and validate agent-result/v1. The drafter does not write or ask; any human-owned choice returns to this root context.
2. Reconcile and decide the architecture + approach (the HOW the spec deliberately omitted). Validate the candidate against live seams and the following rules; the root writes accepted content at step 6. Shape architecture.md for owning layer, boundaries, integration points, data/API/events, dependencies, risks, and affected areas; write only the build strategy in plan.md. Use a code-intelligence index if available (see .claude/skills/devrites-lib/reference/standards/tooling.md) for structure/impact; for the current API or behaviour of an external library/framework the architecture will rely on, consult context7 if available. Record significant options as DEC-###. For high-cost/hard-to-reverse boundaries, data models, public contracts, or dependencies, compare ≥2 viable approaches by drivers, trade-offs, and consequences. Specify cross-boundary interfaces for independent work: invariants, I/O, ordering/idempotency, errors, versioning, config, and relevant budgets. Deep-module check: while sketching the major modules, look for opportunities to extract a deep module: a small, stable interface that hides a meaningful chunk of behavior and is independently testable. A shallow module whose interface is nearly as complex as its implementation adds no value; deepen it or delete it. Put independently testable deep-module behavior in the slice's Tests/proof; /rite-vet confirms the level. 2a. Foreseeable-decision sweep. Inspect questions, assumptions, architecture, dependencies, proof prerequisites, and proposed checkpoints. Search facts and decide reversible technical calls. New product/acceptance/policy/irreversible-risk gaps return to /rite-clarify; a build checkpoint survives only for unavailable pre-code evidence or mandatory action-time approval. Completion: no known implementation choice is postponed for build to ask later.
3. Create vertical tasks: each delivers one observable capability end to end and is verifiable on its own; the count emerges from the work, not a target number; first slice = thinnest useful end-to-end path; order by dependency (risk-first within a tier). For a broad mechanical refactor, use expand → migrate batches → contract instead of pretending each touched file is a product slice; every migrate batch must stay green, or route through an integration branch + final verify slice. Use rite-plan/reference/slicing.md and rite-plan/reference/task-breakdown.md. Mark per slice: Frontend craft required and Browser proof required (UI), and whether it's fullstack (FE+BE → contract first, see devrites-frontend-craft/reference/fullstack.md). For UI slices, name which of design-brief.md's key states + interaction the slice delivers, and give it a binary Visual acceptance target (state × viewport × input + target R-id/brief rule), so the design contract maps to slices as well as acceptance criteria. Tests/proof names exact command, cwd, expected signal, prerequisites, and mutable provenance inputs; /rite-vet preflights them. Write the portable repository command, never RTK/local wrappers, user-specific absolute paths, or temporary proof trees.
4. Map coverage and wiring: every AC-### spec acceptance criterion maps to ≥1 SLICE-### (rite-spec/reference/acceptance-criteria.md); no orphaned criteria, no slice without a criterion. Lift covered/backstop Edge Coverage rows and resolved Prohibitions (must-NOT) rows into traceability.md and test-plan.md; unresolved rows get a gate/owner. Each cross-slice boundary names producer, consumer, invariant, integration step, and proof. 4a. Parallel-lane sanity check: after drafting tasks.md but before asking for plan approval, run the advisory lane planner:

   devrites-engine lanes plan "$(cat .devrites/ACTIVE 2>/dev/null)"
   

   Use it to spot independent read-only/review lanes and dependency mistakes, but do not weaken DevRites' default of one production-write slice at a time. 4b. Persist the traceability matrix: write traceability.md (AC/REQ ID → slice(s) → test/proof → evidence ID → touched files → status), the living map /rite-prove and /rite-seal walk. Generate it with devrites-engine coverage when available, then save/rename the output as traceability.md, or write the table by hand from the same inputs if the script is absent:

   S="$(cat .devrites/ACTIVE 2>/dev/null)"
   devrites-engine coverage "$S" > ".devrites/work/$S/traceability.md"
   

5. Complexity and deviations gate: justify anything outside DevRites defaults (new dep, extra abstraction, second design system) in the plan; if you can't justify it, simplify. Principles conformance: read .devrites/principles.md (if present) and confirm the approach honors every declared invariant. A plan that conflicts with one is not "a deviation to justify away": either reshape the approach to conform, or, when the conflict is genuine and intended, route it through the Spec Drift Guard plus a recorded decision and a scoped principle exception a human approves. Never ready a plan that silently violates an invariant. (Re-scored as a blocking gate at /rite-vet; no file → none declared → nothing to check.)
6. Write architecture.md, plan.md, tasks.md, and traceability.md; update state.md (phase: plan → next /rite-vet). 6a. Cross-artifact gate: now that tasks.md exists. Run the deterministic spec↔tasks coverage/consistency check; any non-zero result blocks plan readiness:

   S="$(cat .devrites/ACTIVE 2>/dev/null)"
   devrites-engine analyze "$S"
   

7. Readiness gate (plan-template): require CLEAR coverage, complete acceptance and cross-slice wiring/proof, risk-first acyclic order, justified deviations, rollback, and a closed decision sweep. Stop and confirm before code. Render the review-before-code digest first: Intent (one sentence from the spec), Done means (acceptance coverage x/y), Plan sanity (slice count + riskiest boundary/gate), Expected build interruptions (none or only justified action-time gates), and Build exactly this? (yes → approve; no → /rite-plan revise). When the human confirms the plan, write Plan approved: <iso> to state.md (see state-workspace); /rite-build checks this exists before building.

tasks.md slice format

Use the canonical slice grammar in workspace-artifact-schema.md. Every slice must satisfy that complete field set; phase-specific gate details live in reference/gates.md.

Mid-flight discipline. Do not skip vertical slicing, coverage mapping, or dependency ordering. See anti-patterns.

Output

Progress first: run devrites-engine progress, then use the shared completion reply contract (devrites-lib/reference/reply-contract.md). Default success shape:

Done: plan written for <slug>; <n> vertical slices defined.
Changed: architecture.md, plan.md, tasks.md, traceability.md, decisions.md, state.md
Evidence: not applicable; acceptance coverage <x/y> mapped in traceability.md
Open: <none | plan questions | Alternative: /rite-plan revise to reshape artifacts>; review digest: intent + coverage + plan sanity rendered
Next: /rite-vet
Record: .devrites/work/<slug>/plan.md
↻ Hygiene: /clear after user confirms the plan