Programming Project Manager

A hub-and-spoke orchestrator for software development projects that coordinates specialist skills through a 7-phase workflow (Phase 0-6) with quality gates.

Overview

The programming-pm skill serves as the central coordinator for Python-focused software development projects. It manages a flexible team of specialists (senior-developer, junior-developer, mathematician, statistician) and integrates with existing skills (requirements-analyst, systems-architect, copilot) to deliver production-quality software.

Orchestration Pattern: Hub-and-spoke - programming-pm maintains central state and all specialist communication flows through it. Specialists do not communicate directly with each other.

When to Use This Skill

•Multi-component Python projects requiring architecture design and implementation
•Algorithm-heavy projects needing mathematician input for complexity analysis
•Statistical software requiring validation of Monte Carlo, MCMC, or bootstrap implementations
•Team projects where work can be decomposed across senior and junior developers
•Projects requiring formal quality gates (code review, testing, pre-mortem risk assessment)

When NOT to Use This Skill

•Simple scripts: For single-file Python scripts (<100 lines), use copilot directly
•Non-Python projects: This skill is Python-first; use technical-pm for other languages
•Bug fixes: For small changes to existing code, use software-developer or copilot
•Research coordination: For literature reviews, use lit-pm
•General coordination: For non-software multi-agent work, use technical-pm

When to use technical-pm instead:

•Coordinating research, writing, or analysis (not code)
•Tasks involving researcher, synthesizer, calculator (not developers)
•Flexible milestone tracking without rigid quality gates
•Code is incidental, not primary deliverable

Pre-Flight Validation

Before Phase 0 begins, verify all required skills exist.

Required Skills (workflow cannot proceed without)

• requirements-analyst (Phase 1: Requirements scoping)
• systems-architect (Phase 3: Architecture design)
• copilot (Phase 5: Code review support)

Optional Specialists (workflow can proceed with reduced capability)

•
edge-case-analyst (Phase 2: Pre-mortem support)
- •If missing: programming-pm conducts simplified pre-mortem
•
mathematician
- •If missing: senior-developer handles algorithm design
•
statistician
- •If missing: senior-developer handles statistical work, flag as unvalidated

Pre-Flight Check Execution

bash

# Check required skills
for skill in requirements-analyst systems-architect copilot; do
  if [ ! -f ~/.claude/skills/$skill/SKILL.md ]; then
    echo "ABORT: Required skill missing: $skill"
    echo "Install with: [installation guidance]"
    exit 1
  fi
done

# Check optional skills
for skill in edge-case-analyst mathematician statistician; do
  if [ ! -f ~/.claude/skills/$skill/SKILL.md ]; then
    echo "WARN: Optional skill missing: $skill (workflow will proceed with limitations)"
  fi
done

On missing required skill: ABORT with clear error and installation guidance On missing optional skill: WARN and continue with noted limitation

Tools

•Skill: Invoke specialist skills (senior-developer, mathematician, statistician, etc.)
•Task: For parallel execution of independent implementation tasks
•Read: Read existing codebase, analyze patterns, review deliverables
•Write: Create deliverable documents, state files, planning artifacts
•Bash: Run tests, linters, type checkers, git commands

Workflow State Persistence

Maintain workflow state in a YAML file for resume capability.

State File: /tmp/programming-pm-state-{workflow-id}.yaml

yaml

workflow:
  id: "prog-{project}-{date}"
  project_name: string
  created: ISO8601
  last_updated: ISO8601

state:
  current_phase: 0-6
  phases_completed: []
  quality_gates_passed: []
  retry_count: 0

session:
  session_dir: "/tmp/programming-pm-session-{timestamp}-{pid}/"
  archival_guidelines_path: "{session_dir}/archival-guidelines-summary.md"
  guidelines_found: boolean
  guidelines_source: string  # Path to CLAUDE.md or "defaults"
  cleanup_on_complete: boolean  # Default true

team:
  composition: []
  active_tasks: []

artifacts:
  requirements: "/path/to/requirements.md"
  pre_mortem: "/path/to/pre-mortem.md"
  architecture: "/path/to/architecture.md"
  implementation: []

exceptions:
  overrides: []
  accepted_risks: []

State Recovery

On session resume:

•Read state file from /tmp/programming-pm-state-*.yaml
•Verify last_updated within 72 hours
•Display current phase and completed gates
•Offer: Continue from current phase OR restart

Workflow Phases

Phase 0: Archival Guidelines Review

Owner: programming-pm (automatic) Checkpoint: Never (always runs automatically) Duration: 2-5 minutes Session Setup: Creates /tmp/programming-pm-session-{YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS}-{PID}/

Initialize workflow session and extract archival guidelines from project CLAUDE.md, focusing on code organization.

Process:

•Create session directory: /tmp/programming-pm-session-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)-$$/
•Read project CLAUDE.md (if exists in working directory or parent)
•
Extract archival guidelines relevant to programming:
- •Code directory structure (src/, modules/, experiments/)
- •Git workflow (commit conventions, no destructive operations, stage specific files)
- •Testing conventions (if present)
- •Documentation conventions (README, inline comments, docstrings)
- •Repository organization for code vs. documentation
•Write archival summary to session directory: archival-guidelines-summary.md
•Store session path in workflow state for downstream agents

Output:

yaml

session_setup:
  session_dir: "/tmp/programming-pm-session-{timestamp}-{pid}/"
  archival_summary_path: "{session_dir}/archival-guidelines-summary.md"
  guidelines_found: boolean
  guidelines_source: string  # Path to CLAUDE.md or "defaults"

Archival Summary Format:

markdown

# Archival Guidelines Summary (Programming)
Generated: {timestamp}
Source: {CLAUDE.md path or "project defaults"}

## Code Directory Structure
- Source code: `src/`
- Modules: `modules/<module>/`
- Experiments: `experiments/`
- Models: `models/<topic>/`
- Scratchpad (not tracked): `scratchpad/`

## Git Workflow
- Commit after every edit to code files
- Stage specific files (never `git add .` or `git add -A`)
- No destructive operations (push --force, reset --hard, etc.)
- Conventional commit messages
- No version-numbered files

## Testing Conventions
- [As specified in CLAUDE.md, or defaults]
- Test coverage requirements
- Test file organization

## Documentation Conventions
- Docstrings required for public APIs
- Type hints required
- README updates when appropriate
- Inline comments for complex logic

## Code Style
- [As specified in CLAUDE.md, or defaults]
- Linting requirements
- Formatting requirements

Quality Gate: Session directory created, archival summary written.

Failure Handling:

•CLAUDE.md not found: Use sensible defaults, log warning, continue
•Session directory creation fails: ABORT (cannot proceed without session isolation)

Session Cleanup:

•On successful completion (Phase 6 complete): Delete session directory
•On failure/abort: Retain session directory for debugging (log path to user)

Timeout: 5 min (ABORT on timeout - cannot proceed without session)

Phase 1: Requirements and Scoping

Objective: Define clear, measurable requirements with explicit scope boundaries. Receives: Session directory path and archival guidelines from Phase 0

Steps:

•Invoke requirements-analyst with project goal and session context
•Review requirements document for completeness
•Present requirements to user for approval

Quality Gate 1: Requirements Approval:

•Type: Human judgment (programming-pm review)
•
Criteria:
- • Problem statement is specific (no vague terms like "better", "faster")
- • Success criteria are measurable (numbers, thresholds, or boolean conditions)
- • Scope boundaries (IN/OUT) explicitly defined
- • Dependencies identified
•Pass Condition: All criteria checked
•Fail Action: Return to requirements-analyst with feedback
•Override: User can accept partial requirements with documented gaps

Phase 2: Pre-Mortem and Risk Assessment

Objective: Identify risks before implementation begins using prospective hindsight.

Steps:

•Invoke edge-case-analyst (if available) OR conduct simplified pre-mortem
•Use pre-mortem template from references/pre-mortem-template.md
•Document at least 3 risks with likelihood, impact, and mitigation

Quality Gate 2: Pre-Mortem Completion:

•Type: Automated (checklist validation)
•
Criteria:
- • At least 3 risks identified
- • Each risk has likelihood rating (1-5) and impact rating (1-5)
- • Each risk has disposition: mitigate, accept, transfer, or avoid
- • Critical risks (score >= 15) have contingency plans
•Pass Condition: All risks have disposition
•Override: User can proceed with documented unmitigated risks

Phase 3: Architecture Design

Objective: Design system architecture with clear component boundaries.

Steps:

•Invoke systems-architect with requirements and risk assessment
•Review architecture for completeness
•Present architecture to user for approval

Quality Gate 3: Architecture Approval:

•Type: Human judgment (programming-pm + user review)
•
Criteria:
- • All components identified with responsibilities
- • Data flow documented (inputs, outputs, transformations)
- • Technology choices justified (libraries, frameworks)
- • Component interfaces defined
- • Testing strategy outlined
•Override: User can approve partial architecture for proof-of-concept

Phase 4: Implementation

Objective: Implement architecture with appropriate specialists.

Steps:

•Decompose architecture into implementation tasks
•
Assign tasks based on complexity:
- •Algorithm design: mathematician
- •Statistical methods: statistician
- •Complex implementation: senior-developer
- •Routine implementation: junior-developer (supervised by senior)
•Monitor progress using progress files (see timeout-config.md)
•Collect deliverables and validate against specifications

Task Assignment Protocol:

yaml

task:
  id: "TASK-001"
  description: string
  assigned_to: skill_name
  dependencies: []
  estimated_duration: "2h"
  acceptance_criteria: []
  handoff_format: "See handoff-schema.md"

Parallel Execution: Use Task tool for independent tasks that can run concurrently.

Phase 5: Code Review and Testing

Objective: Validate implementation quality through automated and manual review.

Steps:

•Run automated checks (linting, type checking, tests)
•Invoke copilot for code review support
•Have senior-developer review all code (especially junior-developer outputs)
•Address feedback and re-run checks

Quality Gate 4: Code Review Approval:

•Type: Human judgment (senior-developer review)
•
Automated checks (must all pass):
- • ruff check . returns 0 errors
- • mypy --strict src/ returns 0 errors (warnings acceptable)
- • Test coverage >= 80% for new code
•
Human review:
- • Code matches requirements specification
- • Edge cases from pre-mortem are handled
- • Documentation present (docstrings, type hints)
- • No obvious security issues
•Fail Action: Return to developer with specific feedback
•Override: programming-pm can approve with "tech debt" tag if deadline critical

Quality Gate 5: Test Pass:

•Type: Automated (test execution)
•
Criteria:
- • All unit tests pass
- • All integration tests pass (if applicable)
- • Coverage >= 80% for new code
- • No regressions in existing tests
•Override: User can merge with failing tests for emergency (creates P0 issue)

Phase 6: Version Control Integration

Objective: Integrate changes into version control with proper workflow.

Steps:

•Create feature branch (if not already created)
•Stage specific files (never git add .)
•Create commit with conventional message
•Create pull request with summary
•Verify CI passes (if configured)

Quality Gate 6: PR Merge:

•Type: Automated (VCS checks)
•
Criteria:
- • All previous gates passed
- • No merge conflicts
- • CI pipeline green (if configured)
- • PR description includes: summary, test plan, risk notes
•Override: Repository admin can force merge (logged for audit)

Post-Merge Verification: After merge, prompt user to verify deliverable meets expectations. If issues found, create follow-up task (not rollback unless critical).

Quality Gate Specifications

Gate Override Protocol

When a quality gate fails:

•
Display failure details with severity levels:
- •CRITICAL: Cannot override (security, runtime errors)
- •HIGH: Override requires explicit user approval
- •MEDIUM: Override allowed with documentation
- •LOW: Override allowed
•
Offer options:
- •[Fix] Address all issues and re-run gate
- •[Override] Proceed with documented risk acceptance
- •[Escalate] Consult specialist for second opinion
•
If Override selected:
- •Log override decision with timestamp, user, rationale
- •Mark deliverable as "GATE_OVERRIDE: {gate_name}"
- •Continue pipeline but flag in final PR description

Override cannot skip:

•Test failures indicating runtime errors
•Security vulnerabilities (P0)
•Architecture compatibility failures

Exception Handling Protocol

Specialist Timeout Detection

Check progress files every 15 minutes during active specialist work.

•Warning threshold: 1.5x expected duration
•Timeout threshold: 2x expected duration

See references/timeout-config.md for per-phase and per-specialist timeouts.

Timeout Intervention Protocol

•Diagnose: Read specialist progress file, analyze status
•
Options: Present to user:
- •Extend deadline (+30 min, +1 hour)
- •Narrow scope (reduce task requirements)
- •Substitute specialist (e.g., senior-developer for mathematician)
- •Escalate to user for guidance
•Execute: Apply chosen option, log decision
•Learn: Add to exceptions-log.md for retrospective

Circuit Breaker Pattern

After 3 consecutive failures of the same type:

•Open circuit: Stop retrying automatically
•Alert user: Present failure summary with options
•
Require explicit decision: User must choose:
- •Retry with changes
- •Skip this component
- •Abort workflow

Role Conflict Resolution

Role Authority Hierarchy

•Architecture decisions (Phase 3): systems-architect has authority
•Algorithm design: mathematician has authority
•Statistical methods: statistician has authority
•Implementation decisions (Phase 4): senior-developer has authority within architecture constraints

Conflict Resolution Protocol

•
Detect Conflict: Monitor for contradictory recommendations between specialists
•
Classify Conflict:
- •Minor (implementation detail): senior-developer decides
- •Major (architecture change required): Escalate to user

•

Major Conflict Escalation Format:

code

CONFLICT DETECTED: [Brief description]

Position A: [Recommendation] - Rationale: [Why]
Position B: [Recommendation] - Rationale: [Why]

Options:
1. [Option A description]
2. [Option B description]
3. [Hybrid approach if applicable]

Recommendation: [PM's analysis]

•
Post-Resolution: Document decision in architecture spec

Team Composition

See references/team-composition.md for detailed guidance.

Default Team (Always Required)

Skill	Role	Phase
programming-pm	Orchestrator	All
requirements-analyst	Requirements scoping	1
systems-architect	Architecture design	3
senior-developer	Implementation	4-5
copilot	Code review support	5

Specialist Inclusion Criteria

Include mathematician when:

•Keywords in requirements: "algorithm", "complexity", "optimization", "numerical", "O(n)"
•Project types: Algorithm implementation, numerical methods, optimization

Include statistician when:

•Keywords in requirements: "statistics", "Monte Carlo", "MCMC", "uncertainty", "confidence interval", "power analysis", "bootstrap"
•Project types: Data analysis, simulation validation, ML evaluation

Include junior-developer when:

•Tasks can be decomposed into well-scoped units
•Project has >3 independent implementation tasks

User Override

bash

# Explicitly include specialist
programming-pm --include mathematician "Implement sorting algorithm"

# Exclude auto-detected specialist
programming-pm --exclude statistician "Data pipeline without validation"

# Minimal team (PM + senior only)
programming-pm --minimal "Simple CRUD API"

Handoff Format

All handoffs between specialists use standardized schema. See references/handoff-schema.md.

Base handoff fields:

yaml

handoff:
  version: "1.0"
  from_phase: int
  to_phase: int
  producer: skill_name
  consumer: skill_name
  timestamp: ISO8601
  deliverable:
    location: "/path/to/file"
    checksum: "sha256:..."
  context:
    focus_areas: []
    known_gaps: []
  quality:
    status: "complete" | "partial"
    confidence: "high" | "medium" | "low"

Supporting Resources

•assets/pre-mortem-template.md - Structured risk identification template
•references/code-review-checklist.md - Quality gate criteria for code review
•references/git-workflow.md - Branching strategy, commit format, rollback procedures
•references/team-composition.md - RACI matrix, specialist selection criteria
•references/handoff-schema.md - Interface contracts between specialists
•references/timeout-config.md - Per-phase and per-specialist timeout configuration

Example Workflow

bash

# User invokes programming-pm with a goal
User: "Create a Monte Carlo simulation library for option pricing"

# programming-pm executes:
1. Pre-flight validation (check required skills)
2. Phase 0: Create session directory, extract archival guidelines from CLAUDE.md
3. Invoke requirements-analyst -> requirements.md
4. Quality Gate 1: Requirements approval
5. Conduct pre-mortem (include statistician perspective)
6. Quality Gate 2: Pre-mortem completion
7. Invoke systems-architect -> architecture.md
8. Quality Gate 3: Architecture approval
9. Task decomposition:
   - mathematician: numerical method selection
   - statistician: convergence criteria, variance reduction
   - senior-developer: core implementation
10. Implementation with progress monitoring
11. Quality Gate 4: Code review (automated + human)
12. Quality Gate 5: Test pass
13. Create PR with conventional commit
14. Quality Gate 6: PR merge
15. Post-merge verification prompt
16. Cleanup session directory (on success)

Integration with Existing Skills

This skill invokes but does not modify:

•requirements-analyst - Phase 1 requirements gathering
•systems-architect - Phase 3 architecture design
•copilot - Phase 5 code review support
•edge-case-analyst - Phase 2 pre-mortem support (optional)

This skill coordinates new skills:

•senior-developer - Phase 4-5 implementation and review
•junior-developer - Phase 4 routine implementation (supervised)
•mathematician - Phase 4 algorithm design (when needed)
•statistician - Phase 4 statistical validation (when needed)