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specdacular

/specd.continue

The primary command for driving a task through its full lifecycle. Reads your task’s current state, determines the next step, and executes it. One command from discussion through execution and review.

/specd.continue [task-name] [--interactive|--auto]

What it does

Section titled “What it does”

/specd.continue delegates to the brain — a config-driven orchestrator that reads pipeline.json and drives the lifecycle. It:

  1. Selects the task (from argument or shows a picker)
  2. Loads the pipeline configuration
  3. Reads current state and determines the next step
  4. Executes pre-hooks → step workflow → post-hooks
  5. Updates state and loops back

You never need to remember which stage comes next. The brain determines the next meaningful action from state.

Arguments

Section titled “Arguments”
ArgumentRequiredDescription
task-nameNoThe task to continue. If omitted, shows a picker for in-progress tasks.
--interactiveNoPrompt at every stage transition with skip/jump options
--autoNoRun everything without prompting, stop only on errors

Execution modes

Section titled “Execution modes”
ModeBehavior
Default (no flag)Auto-runs steps, pauses at natural boundaries (pause: true steps). Smart-skips steps that add no value.
--interactivePrompts at every stage transition. Shows skip and jump options. Recommends the natural next step.
--autoRuns the entire pipeline without prompting. Stops only on errors or task completion.

Default mode pauses

Section titled “Default mode pauses”

In default mode, the brain pauses before:

  • Execute — Lets you review the phase plan before implementation starts
  • Review — Review dispatches its own interactive flow

All other steps auto-run.

Interactive mode options

Section titled “Interactive mode options”

In interactive mode, you get explicit choices at each transition:

At discuss: Discuss (recommended) / Skip to research / Skip to planning At research: Research (recommended) / Skip to planning / Discuss more At plan: Plan (recommended) / Research first / Discuss more At execute: Execute (recommended) / Review plan / Stop for now

Smart skipping

Section titled “Smart skipping”

In default and auto modes, the brain skips steps that add no value:

  • discuss: skipped if no gray areas remain in CONTEXT.md
  • research: skipped for straightforward tasks (few files, clear requirements, no external dependencies)

The pipeline stages

Section titled “The pipeline stages”
discuss → research → plan → phase-execution loop
                                ├─ phase-plan
                                ├─ execute
                                ├─ review
                                └─ revise (if needed)

Discussion — Probes open questions, records decisions. Context accumulates across sessions.

Research — Spawns 3 parallel agents: codebase integration patterns, external patterns, and pitfalls. Output: RESEARCH.md.

Planning — Creates ROADMAP.md with phases derived from dependency analysis. Phase goals only — no detailed PLAN.md files yet.

Phase execution — Nested sub-pipeline that loops per phase:

  1. Phase plan — Creates a detailed PLAN.md just-in-time from the roadmap goal
  2. Execute — Implements the plan, commits per task, tracks progress
  3. Review — Code review agent compares implementation against plan intent
  4. Revise — If review finds issues, creates fix plans (decimal phases like phase-01.1)

Stopping and resuming

Section titled “Stopping and resuming”

You can stop at any natural boundary. Progress is saved before each dispatch:

Progress saved. Pick up where you left off anytime:


/specd.continue user-dashboard

Resume from exactly where you stopped — the brain reads state and picks up at the right step.

Task picker

Section titled “Task picker”

When called without a task name:

/specd.continue

Specdacular scans .specd/tasks/*/config.json for in-progress tasks and shows a picker. If only one task exists, it’s selected automatically.

Multi-project support

Section titled “Multi-project support”

In a monorepo with orchestrator mode configured:

/specd.continue auth-system          # Auto-picks next unblocked phase across projects
/specd.continue auth-system api      # Target a specific sub-project

The brain respects cross-project dependencies from DEPENDENCIES.md and performs contract review after each phase to catch deviations before they cascade.

Examples

Section titled “Examples”
/specd.continue user-dashboard
/specd.continue payment-flow --interactive
/specd.continue api-rate-limiting --auto
/specd.continue
Section titled “Related commands”