Skill: Workflow Enforcement

Purpose

Ensure that all work follows the canonical team workflow topology defined in
docs/team/WORKFLOW.md.

This skill enforces:

• •correct phase ordering
• •ownership boundaries
• •required artifacts
• •workflow gates

It does NOT explain how to perform any phase.

Trigger

Use this skill whenever ANY of the following occur:

• •a feature attempts to advance to a new phase
• •an agent begins work that appears to skip a phase or gate
• •required artifacts for a phase are missing or incomplete
• •there is disagreement about whether work may proceed
• •the Lead is asked “can we move forward?”

Authoritative reference

This skill treats the following document as authoritative:

• •docs/team/WORKFLOW.md

If there is a conflict between assumptions and the workflow document:

• •the workflow document wins
• •the discrepancy must be surfaced

Inputs

• •docs/team/WORKFLOW.md
• •feature artifacts under docs/features/<feature-slug>/
• •docs/team/HANDOFF.md
• •current phase context (explicit or inferred)

Outputs

One or more of the following MUST be produced:

1. •

   Workflow compliance note

   • •written to the current phase artifact for the feature
     (e.g. 01-analysis.md, 02-design.md, 03-implementation-notes.md)
   • •states whether workflow conditions are satisfied
2. •

   Blocker entry in docs/team/HANDOFF.md

   • •when a gate is not met
   • •includes:
     • •what is missing
     • •which gate is blocking
     • •who owns the unblock
3. •

   Escalation signal

   • •if the workflow itself is unclear, outdated, or contradictory
   • •recorded as a note for potential process improvement
   • •does NOT change the workflow

What this skill checks (and nothing more)

Phase ordering

• •Has the current phase been completed?
• •Is the next phase allowed per WORKFLOW.md?

Ownership

• •Is the agent attempting work owned by another role?
• •Is coordination required before proceeding?

Required artifacts

• •Do the artifacts listed for the phase exist?
• •Are they non-empty and relevant?

Gates

• •Are all defined gates for the phase satisfied?
• •Are any gates being bypassed “temporarily”?

Explicit non-responsibilities

This skill MUST NOT:

• •define how to perform analysis, design, implementation, or QA
• •evaluate code quality or correctness
• •judge product value (PO responsibility)
• •invent new workflow steps
• •modify docs/team/WORKFLOW.md
• •override other skills’ logic

If deeper evaluation is required, delegate to the appropriate skill.

Interaction with other skills

This skill is topological and may delegate mechanics to:

• •feature-workflow-artifacts → how artifacts are structured
• •handoff-coordination → runtime coordination and locks
• •verification-gate → what constitutes verification
• •bug-management → logging workflow violations as issues

This skill never replaces them.

Failure handling

If enforcement would block progress:

1. •Record a clear blocker in docs/team/HANDOFF.md
2. •State exactly what is missing or violated
3. •Identify the owning role
4. •Stop

If the workflow itself appears insufficient or harmful:

• •document the concern
• •recommend review
• •do NOT change the workflow

Acceptance criteria

This skill is considered successful when:

• •workflow violations are surfaced early
• •phases are not skipped silently
• •required artifacts exist before work proceeds
• •blockers are explicit and visible
• •workflow ambiguity is detected rather than worked around

Design principle

This skill enforces how work flows, not how work is done.

If this skill grows procedural logic, it is incorrectly scoped.