priivacy-ai/spec-kitty-runtime-next

spec-kitty-runtime-next

This skill teaches agents how to advance a Spec Kitty mission through the canonical runtime control loop, including doctrine-aware context loading at each step boundary.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when the user wants to:

• Advance a mission to its next step
• Understand what the runtime will do next
• Unblock a stalled mission
• Interpret runtime outcomes (step, blocked, decision_required, terminal)

---

How the Runtime-Next System Works

The spec-kitty next command is the single entry point for agent-driven mission execution. Each call returns a deterministic decision about what action the agent should take next.

Decision Algorithm

The runtime evaluates state in this order:

1. Mission state machine — Current phase and available transitions (from mission-runtime.yaml DAG)
2. WP iteration check — For implement and review steps, the CLI bridge manages WP-level iteration WITHOUT advancing the runtime. The runtime only advances when ALL WPs reach terminal/handoff lanes.
3. Guard conditions — Required artifacts, prerequisites, dependency graph
4. Priority ordering — Reviews before implementations, higher-priority WPs first, dependency-free WPs before dependent ones

WP Iteration Logic (Critical)

The CLI bridge (not the runtime) manages WP-level iteration:

• If current step is implement or review
• AND there are WPs in planned or in_progress lanes
• THEN return a WP-level decision without advancing the runtime step
• The runtime step only advances when ALL WPs are in terminal/handoff lanes (done, approved, or for_review)

This means multiple calls to spec-kitty next during implementation will return different WP IDs but the same step_id (e.g., "implement") until all WPs are done.

Mission Runtime YAML Schema

Missions define steps as a DAG (directed acyclic graph) with dependencies:

mission:
  key: software-dev
  name: Software Dev Kitty
  version: "2.1.0"

steps:
  - id: discovery
    title: Discovery & Research
    depends_on: []
    prompt_template: research.md

  - id: specify
    depends_on: [discovery]
    prompt_template: specify.md

  - id: plan
    depends_on: [specify]
    prompt_template: plan.md

  - id: tasks_outline
    depends_on: [plan]
    prompt_template: tasks.md

  - id: tasks_packages
    depends_on: [tasks_outline]

  - id: tasks_finalize
    depends_on: [tasks_packages]

  - id: implement
    depends_on: [tasks_finalize]
    prompt_template: implement.md

  - id: review
    depends_on: [implement]
    prompt_template: review.md

  - id: accept
    depends_on: [review]
    prompt_template: accept.md

The 4 Decision Kinds

Every call to spec-kitty next returns exactly one decision kind:

| Kind | Meaning | Agent Action | |---|---|---| | step | Normal action available | Read prompt_file and execute | | decision_required | Runtime needs input | Answer with --answer and --decision-id | | blocked | Guards failing, cannot proceed | Read reason + guard_failures, resolve blockers | | terminal | Mission complete | Run /spec-kitty.accept; if it passes, merge, then: mission review → author or verify retrospective (retrospect create) → surface findings (summary aggregates; synthesize reviews proposals) |

Decision Output Fields

{
  "kind": "step",
  "agent": "claude",
  "mission_slug": "042-test-mission",
  "mission": "software-dev",
  "mission_state": "implementing",
  "action": "implement",
  "wp_id": "WP02",
  "workspace_path": ".worktrees/042-test-mission-lane-b",
  "prompt_file": "/tmp/spec-kitty-next-claude-042-test-mission-implement-WP02.md",
  "reason": null,
  "guard_failures": [],
  "progress": {
    "total_wps": 5,
    "done_wps": 1,
    "approved_wps": 0,
    "in_progress_wps": 1,
    "planned_wps": 3,
    "for_review_wps": 0
  },
  "run_id": "abc123",
  "step_id": "implement",
  "decision_id": null,
  "question": null,
  "options": null
}

6 Guard Primitives

Guards block step transitions by returning failure descriptions:

| Guard | Syntax | Checks | |---|---|---| | artifact_exists | artifact_exists("spec.md") | File exists relative to mission dir | | gate_passed | gate_passed("review_gate") | Gate event in mission-events.jsonl | | all_wp_status | all_wp_status("approved_or_done") | All WPs in a specific lane or named accepted-ready set | | any_wp_status | any_wp_status("for_review") | At least one WP in lane | | input_provided | input_provided("architecture") | Input exists in runtime model | | event_count | event_count("review", 1) | Minimum event count threshold |

Guards never raise exceptions — they return false on missing context.

Prompt File Generation

The runtime generates a temp file at: /tmp/spec-kitty-next-{agent}-{mission_slug}-{action}[-{wp_id}].md

Template actions (specify, plan, tasks): Mission context header + governance context + action-specific template content.

WP actions (implement, review): Full isolation-aware prompt containing:

1. WP header with workspace path
2. Governance context (paradigms, directives, tools)
3. WP Isolation Rules — DO only modify this WP's status, DO NOT change other WPs or react to their status changes
4. Working directory and review commands
5. WP file content (from tasks/WP##.md)
6. Completion instructions

Decision prompts: Question text, options, and the --answer command to run.

Run Persistence

Runtime state is persisted between calls:

.kittify/runtime/
├── mission-runs.json       # Index: {"mission-slug": {"run_id": "...", "run_dir": "..."}}
└── runs/
    └── <run_id>/
        └── state.json      # Runtime snapshot (current step, inputs, etc.)

Mission Detection

When --mission is omitted, the runtime detects the mission via (in order):

1. SPECIFY_MISSION environment variable
2. Git branch name (mission and lane branches both encode the mission slug)
3. Current directory path (walks up looking for ###-mission-name)
4. Single mission auto-detect (only if exactly one mission exists)
5. Error with guidance if ambiguous

NOTE: Always use --mission <slug> in multi-mission repositories.

---

Doctrine-Aware Step Execution

The runtime-next loop should load doctrine context iteratively — not all at once. Each step boundary is a context loading opportunity.

Agent Profile at Init

At the start of a session, resolve the active agent profile. This scopes your role, boundaries, and initialization context.

Load the profile using the Python API — do NOT read YAML files directly:

from doctrine.agent_profiles import AgentProfileRepository
from doctrine.service import DoctrineService

repo = AgentProfileRepository()
profile = repo.resolve_profile("<profile-id>")  # e.g. "implementer"

# Internalize identity — acknowledge this at session start
print(profile.initialization_declaration)

# Respect scope boundaries
profile.specialization.primary_focus       # What you actively do
profile.specialization.avoidance_boundary  # What you must NOT do
profile.collaboration.handoff_to           # Roles to defer to when out of scope

# Load only the directives this profile references
service = DoctrineService(shipped_root, project_root)
for ref in profile.directive_references:
    directive = service.directives.get(f"DIRECTIVE_{ref.code}")

Discovery (if you don't know your profile-id):

spec-kitty agent profile list
spec-kitty agent profile show <profile-id>

Action-Scoped Context at Each Step

At each step boundary (when spec-kitty next returns a step decision), load governance context scoped to the current action — not the full doctrine:

# Load only what's relevant to this action (compact after first load)
spec-kitty charter context --action implement --json

The context system uses two depth levels:

| Depth | When | Content | |---|---|---| | bootstrap (depth-2) | First load for this action | Full policy summary + reference list | | compact (depth-1) | Subsequent loads | Resolved paradigms, directives, tools only |

First-load state is tracked per action in .kittify/charter/context-state.json. This means implement and review each get their own first-load bootstrap independently.

Pull Specific Doctrine On Demand

When you need governance guidance mid-step (e.g., how to structure tests, which review criteria apply), pull the specific tactic or directive by ID rather than re-loading the full context:

from doctrine.service import DoctrineService

service = DoctrineService(shipped_root, project_root)

# Pull a specific tactic when it becomes relevant
tactic = service.tactics.get("tdd-red-green-refactor")

# Pull a specific directive
directive = service.directives.get("TEST_FIRST")

The action index (actions/<action>/index.yaml) tells you which doctrine artifacts are relevant to the current step. Load the index to discover what to pull:

from doctrine.missions.action_index import load_action_index

index = load_action_index(missions_root, "software-dev", "implement")
# index.directives → ["TEST_FIRST", ...]
# index.tactics → ["tdd-red-green-refactor", ...]
# index.procedures → [...]

Anti-Pattern: Upfront Context Dump

Do NOT load all doctrine into context at session start. This wastes tokens and dilutes relevance. Instead:

1. At init: Load agent profile + initialization declaration.
2. At each step boundary: Call charter context --action <action>.
3. When stuck or need guidance: Pull specific tactic/directive by ID.
4. When reviewing: Pull review-scoped doctrine, not implement-scoped.

---

Step 1: Load Runtime Context

Before invoking the runtime, gather the current state.

Commands:

# Check WP status for a mission
spec-kitty agent tasks status --mission <mission-slug>

# Check current context for an action
spec-kitty agent context resolve --action implement --mission <mission-slug> --json

What to look for:

• Active mission slug and mission type
• Current WP lane status (planned, claimed, in_progress, for_review, in_review, approved, done, blocked, canceled)
• Whether there are WPs ready for implementation or review
• Any blocked WPs that need attention first

---

Step 2: Run the Next Command

# Run the next step
spec-kitty next --agent <agent> --mission <mission-slug> --json

# After completing a step successfully
spec-kitty next --agent <agent> --mission <mission-slug> --result success --json

# After a step failed
spec-kitty next --agent <agent> --mission <mission-slug> --result failed --json

# After a step was blocked
spec-kitty next --agent <agent> --mission <mission-slug> --result blocked --json

Note: --feature is a hidden deprecated alias for --mission. Always use --mission in new scripts.

The --result flag tells the runtime the outcome of the previous step. If omitted, spec-kitty next returns current state without advancing (query mode). It does not report success for the previous step.

---

Step 3: Interpret the Result

See references/runtime-result-taxonomy.md for the complete taxonomy.

| Kind | Next Action | |------|-------------| | step | Read and execute prompt_file (always non-empty and resolvable on disk) | | decision_required | Answer with --answer and --decision-id | | blocked | Read reason + guard_failures, resolve blockers | | terminal | Run /spec-kitty.accept for final validation, then merge if acceptance passes |

Always check guard_failures — this field may appear on any decision kind, not just blocked.

The kind="step" prompt-file contract is a hard runtime invariant (C1/C2). A kind="step" envelope MUST carry a prompt_file (or its consumer-side prompt_path alias) that is non-null, non-empty, and resolves on disk. If the runtime cannot produce an actionable step (no composed action, guard failure, blocked dependency, prompt build error, etc.), it returns kind="blocked" with a non-empty reason (and optional machine-readable code such as no_prompt_template). There is no third state: an agent loop should never observe a kind="step" decision with prompt_file == null.

Always check progress for completion. If progress.done_wps equals progress.total_wps but kind is not terminal, the mission is actually complete (known issue #335). The runtime may not detect completion when no prior run state exists. Treat this as terminal and run /spec-kitty.accept; if acceptance passes, run /spec-kitty.merge, then run mission review and the retrospective workflow.

---

Step 4: Handle decision_required

When the runtime needs input:

# The decision includes question, options, and decision_id
# Answer using:
spec-kitty next --agent <agent> --mission <mission-slug> \
  --answer "<choice>" --decision-id "<decision_id>" --json

If the agent cannot determine the answer, escalate to the user with the question and options.

---

Step 5: Handle Blocked States

See references/blocked-state-recovery.md for detailed recovery patterns.

Quick diagnostic:

# Check WP status and dependency graph
spec-kitty agent tasks status --mission <mission-slug>

# Check specific WP dependencies
spec-kitty agent tasks list-dependents WP## --mission <mission-slug>

Common blockers:

| Blocker | Recovery | |---|---| | Missing artifacts (spec.md, plan.md) | Run the planning workflow first | | Upstream WP not done | Implement or review the upstream WP | | Review feedback not addressed | Re-implement, address feedback, move to for_review | | Stale agent (WP in doing, no activity) | Move WP to planned with --force | | Circular dependencies | Break cycle in WP frontmatter, re-run finalize-tasks |

---

Step 6: The Agent Loop

The complete agent loop pattern:

# 1. Start the loop
DECISION=$(spec-kitty next --agent claude --mission 042-mission --json)
KIND=$(echo "$DECISION" | jq -r '.kind')

# 2. Loop until terminal or unresolvable block
while [ "$KIND" = "step" ] || [ "$KIND" = "decision_required" ]; do

  # Workaround #335: check progress for completion even if kind != terminal
  DONE=$(echo "$DECISION" | jq -r '.progress.done_wps // 0')
  TOTAL=$(echo "$DECISION" | jq -r '.progress.total_wps // 0')
  if [ "$TOTAL" -gt 0 ] && [ "$DONE" -eq "$TOTAL" ]; then
    break  # Mission is actually complete
  fi

  if [ "$KIND" = "step" ]; then
    PROMPT=$(echo "$DECISION" | jq -r '.prompt_file')

    # Contract (C1/C2, post-#336 fix): kind=step always carries a
    # non-empty prompt_file resolvable on disk. If a prompt cannot be
    # resolved, the runtime emits kind=blocked with a populated reason.

    # Read and execute the prompt...
    RESULT="success"  # or "failed" or "blocked"
  elif [ "$KIND" = "decision_required" ]; then
    # Answer the question...
    RESULT="success"
  fi

  DECISION=$(spec-kitty next --agent claude --mission 042-mission --result "$RESULT" --json)
  KIND=$(echo "$DECISION" | jq -r '.kind')
done

# 3. Handle terminal state — canonical post-merge sequence
if [ "$KIND" = "terminal" ] || [ "$DONE" -eq "$TOTAL" ]; then
  # Run /spec-kitty.accept.
  # If acceptance passes, run /spec-kitty.merge.
  # After merge, follow the canonical post-merge sequence:
  #   a. Mission review: /spec-kitty-mission-review
  #   b. Author or verify retrospective:
  #      spec-kitty retrospect create --mission 042-mission  # if record absent
  #      OR verify: cat .kittify/missions/<mission_id>/retrospective.yaml
  #   c. Surface findings:
  #      spec-kitty retrospect summary                                   # read-only aggregation
  #      spec-kitty agent retrospect synthesize --mission 042-mission  # dry-run by default; --apply to mutate
  # Note: summary aggregates; synthesize applies proposals — neither authors records.
fi

The loop continues until:

• terminal — mission complete, exit loop
• blocked — cannot proceed without external resolution
• decision_required — only if the agent cannot answer (escalate to user)

---

Important: Runtime Precedence Rules

1. Always use spec-kitty next rather than manually sequencing phases
2. Always pass --mission in multi-mission repositories
3. Respect mission state machine transitions — do not skip steps
4. Read the prompt_file — it contains the full context the agent needs
5. Check guard_failures on every decision, not just blocked ones
6. Reviews before implementations — the runtime prioritizes unblocking downstream work
7. WP isolation — only modify the WP you were assigned, ignore other WPs

---

Known Issues

#335 — Completed missions return step instead of terminal. When spec-kitty next is called on a mission with all WPs done but no prior runtime run state, it creates a new run starting at discovery instead of recognizing the mission is complete. Workaround: Check progress.done_wps == progress.total_wps as a secondary completion signal.

#336 — fixed. prompt_file is always non-empty and resolvable on disk on kind: step decisions. When no prompt is available, the runtime now emits a structured kind: blocked decision with a non-empty reason (and optional machine-readable code such as no_prompt_template). Agent loops no longer need to defensively null-check prompt_file; a kind: step decision with a null prompt is a runtime bug.

---

Standalone Invocations (Outside Missions)

Not all governed work happens inside an active mission. When a user asks for help with a task that has no active spec-kitty next loop — a code review, a quick implementation, an ad-hoc analysis — you should still invoke Spec Kitty's governance layer via the profile invocation surface.

Spec Kitty never spawns a parallel LLM call. You are the host; Spec Kitty routes, assembles governance context, and records the trail.

When to use which command

| Situation | Command | |-----------|---------| | Request is clear, profile unknown | spec-kitty do "<request>" --json | | Request is clear, profile known | spec-kitty ask <profile> "<request>" --json | | Need routing decision only (no implementation) | spec-kitty advise "<request>" --json |

The governance injection loop

1. Get context:

   spec-kitty do "implement the login handler" --json
   # or:
   spec-kitty ask pedro "review WP05" --json
   

   Response includes invocation_id, governance_context_text, and governance_context_available.

2. Inject governance: Read governance_context_text and treat it as binding governance context for your task. Follow any directives and constraints it contains. If governance_context_available is false, note this to the user but proceed with the task.

3. Execute: Do the work. Generate the code, analysis, or plan.

4. Close the record:

   spec-kitty profile-invocation complete \
     --invocation-id <invocation_id> \
     --outcome done
   

   Use failed or abandoned as appropriate.

Trail produced

Every standalone invocation writes a Tier 1 JSONL file to:

.kittify/events/profile-invocations/<invocation_id>.jsonl

Viewable at any time with spec-kitty invocations list --json. No SaaS connection required.

For full CLI surface documentation, see .agents/skills/spec-kitty.advise/SKILL.md.

---

References

• references/runtime-result-taxonomy.md -- Decision kinds, output fields, and precedence rules
• references/blocked-state-recovery.md -- 6 blocked state patterns with diagnosis and recovery