Phase 0: Parse Arguments
Extract the mode argument (new, update, or status) and resolve the review mode (once, store for all gate spawns this run):
- If
--review [full|lean|solo] was passed → use that
- Else read
production/review-mode.txt → use that value
- Else → default to
lean
See .claude/docs/director-gates.md for the full check pattern.
Phase 1: Gather Context
-
Read the current milestone from production/milestones/.
-
Read the previous sprint (if any) from production/sprints/ to
understand velocity and carryover.
-
Scan design documents in design/gdd/ for features tagged as ready
for implementation.
-
Check the risk register at production/risk-register/.
Phase 2: Generate Output
For new:
Generate a sprint plan following this format and present it to the user. Do NOT ask to write yet — the producer feasibility gate (Phase 4) runs first and may require revisions before the file is written.
# Sprint [N] -- [Start Date] to [End Date]
## Sprint Goal
[One sentence describing what this sprint achieves toward the milestone]
## Capacity
- Total days: [X]
- Buffer (20%): [Y days reserved for unplanned work]
- Available: [Z days]
## Tasks
### Must Have (Critical Path)
| ID | Task | Agent/Owner | Est. Days | Dependencies | Acceptance Criteria |
|----|------|-------------|-----------|-------------|-------------------|
### Should Have
| ID | Task | Agent/Owner | Est. Days | Dependencies | Acceptance Criteria |
|----|------|-------------|-----------|-------------|-------------------|
### Nice to Have
| ID | Task | Agent/Owner | Est. Days | Dependencies | Acceptance Criteria |
|----|------|-------------|-----------|-------------|-------------------|
## Carryover from Previous Sprint
| Task | Reason | New Estimate |
|------|--------|-------------|
## Risks
| Risk | Probability | Impact | Mitigation |
|------|------------|--------|------------|
## Dependencies on External Factors
- [List any external dependencies]
## Definition of Done for this Sprint
- [ ] All Must Have tasks completed
- [ ] All tasks pass acceptance criteria
- [ ] QA plan exists (`production/qa/qa-plan-sprint-[N].md`)
- [ ] All Logic/Integration stories have passing unit/integration tests
- [ ] Smoke check passed (`/smoke-check sprint`)
- [ ] QA sign-off report: APPROVED or APPROVED WITH CONDITIONS (`/team-qa sprint`)
- [ ] No S1 or S2 bugs in delivered features
- [ ] Design documents updated for any deviations
- [ ] Code reviewed and merged
For status:
Generate a status report:
# Sprint [N] Status -- [Date]
## Progress: [X/Y tasks complete] ([Z%])
### Completed
| Task | Completed By | Notes |
|------|-------------|-------|
### In Progress
| Task | Owner | % Done | Blockers |
|------|-------|--------|----------|
### Not Started
| Task | Owner | At Risk? | Notes |
|------|-------|----------|-------|
### Blocked
| Task | Blocker | Owner of Blocker | ETA |
|------|---------|-----------------|-----|
## Burndown Assessment
[On track / Behind / Ahead]
[If behind: What is being cut or deferred]
## Emerging Risks
- [Any new risks identified this sprint]
Phase 3: Write Sprint Status File
After generating a new sprint plan, also write production/sprint-status.yaml.
This is the machine-readable source of truth for story status — read by
/sprint-status, /story-done, and /help without markdown parsing.
Ask: "May I also write production/sprint-status.yaml to track story status?"
Format:
# Auto-generated by /sprint-plan. Updated by /story-done.
# DO NOT edit manually — use /story-done to update story status.
sprint: [N]
goal: "[sprint goal]"
start: "[YYYY-MM-DD]"
end: "[YYYY-MM-DD]"
generated: "[YYYY-MM-DD]"
updated: "[YYYY-MM-DD]"
stories:
- id: "[epic-story, e.g. 1-1]"
name: "[story name]"
file: "[production/stories/path.md]"
priority: must-have # must-have | should-have | nice-to-have
status: ready-for-dev # backlog | ready-for-dev | in-progress | review | done | blocked
owner: ""
estimate_days: 0
blocker: ""
completed: ""
Initialize each story from the sprint plan's task tables:
- Must Have tasks →
priority: must-have, status: ready-for-dev
- Should Have tasks →
priority: should-have, status: backlog
- Nice to Have tasks →
priority: nice-to-have, status: backlog
For update: read the existing sprint-status.yaml, carry over statuses for
stories that haven't changed, add new stories, remove dropped ones.
Phase 4: Producer Feasibility Gate
Review mode check — apply before spawning PR-SPRINT:
solo → skip. Note: "PR-SPRINT skipped — Solo mode." Proceed to Phase 5 (QA plan gate).lean → skip (not a PHASE-GATE). Note: "PR-SPRINT skipped — Lean mode." Proceed to Phase 5 (QA plan gate).full → spawn as normal.
Before finalising the sprint plan, spawn producer via Task using gate PR-SPRINT (.claude/docs/director-gates.md).
Pass: proposed story list (titles, estimates, dependencies), total team capacity in hours/days, any carryover from the previous sprint, milestone constraints and deadline.
Present the producer's assessment. If UNREALISTIC, revise the story selection (defer stories to Should Have or Nice to Have) before asking for write approval. If CONCERNS, surface them and let the user decide whether to adjust.
After handling the producer's verdict, ask: "May I write this sprint plan to production/sprints/sprint-[N].md?" If yes, write the file, creating the directory if needed. Verdict: COMPLETE — sprint plan created. If no: Verdict: BLOCKED — user declined write.
After writing, add:
Scope check: If this sprint includes stories added beyond the original epic scope, run /scope-check [epic] to detect scope creep before implementation begins.
Phase 5: QA Plan Gate
Before closing the sprint plan, check whether a QA plan exists for this sprint.
Use Glob to look for production/qa/qa-plan-sprint-[N].md or any file in production/qa/ referencing this sprint number.
If a QA plan is found: note it in the sprint plan output — "QA Plan: [path]" — and proceed.
If no QA plan exists: do not silently proceed. Surface this explicitly:
"This sprint has no QA plan. A sprint plan without a QA plan means test requirements are undefined — developers won't know what 'done' looks like from a QA perspective, and the sprint cannot pass the Production → Polish gate without one.
Run /qa-plan sprint now, before starting any implementation. It takes one session and produces the test case requirements each story needs."
Use AskUserQuestion:
- Prompt: "No QA plan found for this sprint. How do you want to proceed?"
- Options:
[A] Run /qa-plan sprint now — I'll do that before starting implementation (Recommended)[B] Skip for now — I understand QA sign-off will be blocked at the Production → Polish gate
If [A]: close with "Sprint plan written. Run /qa-plan sprint next — then begin implementation."
If [B]: add a warning block to the sprint plan document:
> ⚠️ **No QA Plan**: This sprint was started without a QA plan. Run `/qa-plan sprint`
> before the last story is implemented. The Production → Polish gate requires a QA
> sign-off report, which requires a QA plan.
Phase 6: Next Steps
After the sprint plan is written and QA plan status is resolved:
/qa-plan sprint — required before implementation begins — defines test cases per story so developers implement against QA specs, not a blank slate/story-readiness [story-file] — validate a story is ready before starting it/dev-story [story-file] — begin implementing the first story/sprint-status — check progress mid-sprint/scope-check [epic] — verify no scope creep before implementation begins