conductor-new-track

New Track

Create a new track (feature, bug fix, chore, or refactor) with a detailed specification and phased implementation plan.

Use this skill when

• Working on new track tasks or workflows
• Needing guidance, best practices, or checklists for new track

Do not use this skill when

• The task is unrelated to new track
• You need a different domain or tool outside this scope

Instructions

• Clarify goals, constraints, and required inputs.
• Apply relevant best practices and validate outcomes.
• Provide actionable steps and verification.
• If detailed examples are required, open resources/implementation-playbook.md.

Pre-flight Checks

1. Verify Conductor is initialized:

   • Check conductor/product.md exists
   • Check conductor/tech-stack.md exists
   • Check conductor/workflow.md exists
   • If missing: Display error and suggest running /conductor:setup first

2. Load context files:

   • Read conductor/product.md for product context
   • Read conductor/tech-stack.md for technical context
   • Read conductor/workflow.md for TDD/commit preferences

Track Classification

Determine track type based on description or ask user:

What type of track is this?

1. Feature - New functionality
2. Bug - Fix for existing issue
3. Chore - Maintenance, dependencies, config
4. Refactor - Code improvement without behavior change

Interactive Specification Gathering

CRITICAL RULES:

• Ask ONE question per turn
• Wait for user response before proceeding
• Tailor questions based on track type
• Maximum 6 questions total

For Feature Tracks

Q1: Feature Summary

Describe the feature in 1-2 sentences.
[If argument provided, confirm: "You want to: {argument}. Is this correct?"]

Q2: User Story

Who benefits and how?

Format: As a [user type], I want to [action] so that [benefit].

Q3: Acceptance Criteria

Q4: Dependencies

Q5: Scope Boundaries

Q6: Technical Considerations (optional)

For Bug Tracks

Q1: Bug Summary

Q2: Steps to Reproduce

Q3: Expected vs Actual Behavior

Q4: Affected Areas

Q5: Root Cause Hypothesis (optional)

For Chore/Refactor Tracks

Q1: Task Summary

Q2: Motivation

Q3: Success Criteria

Q4: Risk Assessment

Track ID Generation

Generate track ID in format: {shortname}_{YYYYMMDD}

• Extract shortname from feature/bug summary (2-3 words, lowercase, hyphenated)
• Use current date
• Example: user-auth_20250115, nav-bug_20250115

Validate uniqueness:

• Check conductor/tracks.md for existing IDs
• If collision, append counter: user-auth_20250115_2

Specification Generation

Create conductor/tracks/{trackId}/spec.md:

User Review of Spec

Display the generated spec and ask:

Plan Generation

After spec approval, generate conductor/tracks/{trackId}/plan.md:

Plan Structure

Phase Guidelines

• Group related tasks into logical phases
• Each phase should be independently verifiable
• Include verification task after each phase
• TDD tracks: Include test writing tasks before implementation tasks
• Typical structure:
  1. Setup/Foundation - Initial scaffolding, interfaces
  2. Core Implementation - Main functionality
  3. Integration - Connect with existing system
  4. Polish - Error handling, edge cases, docs

User Review of Plan

Display the generated plan and ask:

Track Creation

After plan approval:

1. Create directory structure:

   conductor/tracks/{trackId}/
   ├── spec.md
   ├── plan.md
   ├── metadata.json
   └── index.md

2. Create metadata.json:

   {
     "id": "{trackId}",
     "title": "{Track Title}",
     "type": "feature|bug|chore|refactor",
     "status": "pending",
     "created": "ISO_TIMESTAMP",
     "updated": "ISO_TIMESTAMP",
     "phases": {
       "total": N,
       "completed": 0
     },
     "tasks": {
       "total": M,
       "completed": 0
     }
   }

3. Create index.md:

   # Track: {Track Title}
    
   **ID:** {trackId}
   **Status:** Pending
    
   ## Documents
    
   - Specification
   - Implementation Plan
    
   ## Progress
    
   - Phases: 0/{N} complete
   - Tasks: 0/{M} complete
    
   ## Quick Links
    
   - Back to Tracks
   - Product Context

4. Register in conductor/tracks.md:

   • Add row to tracks table
   • Format: | [ ] | {trackId} | {title} | {created} | {created} |

5. Update conductor/index.md:

   • Add track to "Active Tracks" section

Completion Message

Track created successfully!
 
Track ID: {trackId}
Location: conductor/tracks/{trackId}/
 
Files created:
- spec.md - Requirements specification
- plan.md - Phased implementation plan
- metadata.json - Track metadata
- index.md - Track navigation
 
Next steps:
1. Review spec.md and plan.md, make any edits
2. Run /conductor:implement {trackId} to start implementation
3. Run /conductor:status to see project progress

Error Handling

• If directory creation fails: Halt and report, do not register in tracks.md
• If any file write fails: Clean up partial track, report error
• If tracks.md update fails: Warn user to manually register track