stack/docs/claude/orchestrator.md

Mosaic Stack Orchestrator Guide

Platform-specific orchestrator protocol for Mosaic Stack.

Overview

The orchestrator cold-starts with just a review report location and minimal kickstart. It autonomously:

1. Parses review reports to extract findings
2. Categorizes findings into phases by severity
3. Estimates token usage per task
4. Creates Gitea issues (phase-level)
5. Bootstraps docs/tasks.md from scratch
6. Coordinates completion using worker agents

Key principle: The orchestrator is the sole writer of docs/tasks.md. Worker agents execute tasks and report results — they never modify the tracking file.

---

Orchestrator Boundaries (CRITICAL)

The orchestrator NEVER:

• Edits source code directly (_.ts, _.tsx, *.js, etc.)
• Runs quality gates itself (that's the worker's job)
• Makes commits containing code changes
• "Quickly fixes" something to save time — this is how drift starts

The orchestrator ONLY:

• Reads/writes docs/tasks.md
• Reads/writes docs/orchestrator-learnings.json
• Spawns workers via the Task tool for ALL code changes
• Parses worker JSON results
• Commits task tracking updates (tasks.md, learnings)
• Outputs status reports and handoff messages

If you find yourself about to edit source code, STOP. Spawn a worker instead. No exceptions. No "quick fixes."

Worker Limits:

• Maximum 2 parallel workers at any time
• Wait for at least one worker to complete before spawning more
• This optimizes token usage and reduces context pressure

Future: Worker limits and other orchestrator settings will be DB-configurable via the Coordinator service.

---

Bootstrap Templates

Use templates from docs/templates/ (relative to repo root):

# Set environment variables
export PROJECT="mosaic-stack"
export MILESTONE="M6-Feature"
export CURRENT_DATETIME=$(date -Iseconds)
export TASK_PREFIX="MS-SEC"
export PHASE_ISSUE="#337"
export PHASE_BRANCH="fix/security"

# Create tasks.md (then populate with findings)
envsubst < docs/templates/orchestrator/tasks.md.template > docs/tasks.md

# Create learnings tracking
envsubst < docs/templates/orchestrator/orchestrator-learnings.json.template > docs/orchestrator-learnings.json

# Create review report structure (if doing new review)
./docs/templates/reports/review-report-scaffold.sh codebase-review mosaic-stack

Available templates:

Template	Purpose
orchestrator/tasks.md.template	Task tracking table with schema
orchestrator/orchestrator-learnings.json.template	Variance tracking
orchestrator/phase-issue-body.md.template	Gitea issue body
orchestrator/compaction-summary.md.template	60% checkpoint format
reports/review-report-scaffold.sh	Creates report directory
scratchpad.md.template	Per-task working document

See docs/templates/README.md for full documentation.

CLI Tools

Git operations use @mosaic/cli-tools package (auto-detects Gitea vs GitHub):

# Issue operations
pnpm exec mosaic-issue-create -t "Title" -b "Body" -m "Milestone"
pnpm exec mosaic-issue-list -s open -m "Milestone"

# PR operations
pnpm exec mosaic-pr-create -t "Title" -b "Body" -B develop
pnpm exec mosaic-pr-merge -n 42 -m squash -d

# Milestone operations
pnpm exec mosaic-milestone-create -t "M7-Feature" -d "Description"

See packages/cli-tools/README.md for full command reference.

---

Phase 1: Bootstrap

Step 1: Parse Review Reports

Review reports follow this structure:

docs/reports/{report-name}/
├── 00-executive-summary.md   # Start here - overview and counts
├── 01-security-review.md     # Security findings with IDs like SEC-*
├── 02-code-quality-review.md # Code quality findings like CQ-*
├── 03-qa-test-coverage.md    # Test coverage gaps like TEST-*
└── ...

Extract findings by looking for:

• Finding IDs (e.g., SEC-API-1, CQ-WEB-3, TEST-001)
• Severity labels: Critical, High, Medium, Low
• Affected files/components (use for repo column)
• Specific line numbers or code patterns

Step 2: Categorize into Phases

Severity	Phase	Focus	Branch Pattern
Critical	1	Security vulnerabilities, data exposure	fix/security
High	2	Security hardening, auth gaps	fix/security
Medium	3	Code quality, performance, bugs	fix/code-quality
Low	4	Tests, documentation, cleanup	fix/test-coverage

Within each phase, order tasks by:

1. Blockers first (tasks that unblock others)
2. Same-file tasks grouped together
3. Simpler fixes before complex ones

Step 3: Estimate Token Usage

Task Type	Estimate	Examples
Single-line fix	3-5K	Typo, wrong operator, missing null check
Add guard/validation	5-8K	Add auth decorator, input validation
Fix error handling	8-12K	Proper try/catch, error propagation
Refactor pattern	10-15K	Replace KEYS with SCAN, fix memory leak
Add new functionality	15-25K	New service method, new component
Write tests	15-25K	Unit tests for untested service
Complex refactor	25-40K	Architectural change, multi-file refactor

Adjust estimates based on:

• Number of files affected (+5K per additional file)
• Test requirements (+5-10K if tests needed)
• Documentation needs (+2-3K if docs needed)

Step 4: Determine Dependencies

Automatic dependency rules:

1. All tasks in Phase N depend on the Phase N-1 verification task
2. Tasks touching the same file should be sequential (earlier blocks later)
3. Auth/security foundation tasks block tasks that rely on them
4. Each phase ends with a verification task that depends on all phase tasks

Step 5: Create Gitea Issues (Phase-Level)

Create ONE issue per phase using @mosaic/cli-tools:

# Use mosaic CLI tools (auto-detects Gitea vs GitHub)
pnpm exec mosaic-issue-create \
  -t "Phase 1: Critical Security Fixes" \
  -b "## Findings
- SEC-API-1: Description
- SEC-WEB-2: Description

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] All critical findings remediated
- [ ] Quality gates passing" \
  -l "security" \
  -m "{milestone-name}"

CLI tools location: packages/cli-tools/bin/ - see packages/cli-tools/README.md for full documentation.

Step 6: Create docs/tasks.md

Create the file with this exact schema:

# Tasks

| id         | status      | description                  | issue | repo | branch       | depends_on | blocks     | agent | started_at | completed_at | estimate | used |
| ---------- | ----------- | ---------------------------- | ----- | ---- | ------------ | ---------- | ---------- | ----- | ---------- | ------------ | -------- | ---- |
| MS-SEC-001 | not-started | SEC-API-1: Brief description | #337  | api  | fix/security |            | MS-SEC-002 |       |            |              | 8K       |      |

Column definitions:

Column	Format	Purpose
id	MS-{CAT}-{NNN}	Unique task ID
status	not-started | in-progress | done | failed	Current state
description	{FindingID}: Brief summary	What to fix
issue	#NNN	Gitea issue (phase-level)
repo	Workspace name	api, web, orchestrator, coordinator
branch	Branch name	fix/security, fix/code-quality, etc.
depends_on	Comma-separated IDs	Must complete first
blocks	Comma-separated IDs	Tasks waiting on this
agent	Agent identifier	Assigned worker
started_at	ISO 8601	When work began
completed_at	ISO 8601	When work finished
estimate	5K, 15K, etc.	Predicted token usage
used	4.2K, 12.8K, etc.	Actual usage

Step 7: Commit Bootstrap

git add docs/tasks.md docs/orchestrator-learnings.json
git commit -m "chore(orchestrator): Bootstrap tasks.md from review report

Parsed {N} findings into {M} tasks across {P} phases.
Estimated total: {X}K tokens."
git push

---

Phase 2: Execution Loop

1. git pull --rebase
2. Read docs/tasks.md
3. Find next task: status=not-started AND all depends_on are done
4. If no task available:
   - All done? → Report success, run final retrospective, STOP
   - Some blocked? → Report deadlock, STOP
5. Update tasks.md: status=in-progress, agent={identifier}, started_at={now}
6. Spawn worker agent (Task tool) with task details
7. Wait for worker completion
8. Parse worker result (JSON)
9. Variance check: Calculate (actual - estimate) / estimate × 100
   - If |variance| > 50%: Capture learning
   - If |variance| > 100%: Flag as CRITICAL
10. Update tasks.md: status=done/failed, completed_at={now}, used={actual}
11. Cleanup reports: Remove processed report files
12. Commit + push: git add docs/tasks.md && git commit && git push
13. If phase verification task: Run phase retrospective
14. Check context usage
15. If >= 55%: Output COMPACTION REQUIRED checkpoint, STOP, wait for user
16. If < 55%: Go to step 1
17. After user runs /compact and says "continue": Go to step 1

---

Worker Prompt Template

## Task Assignment: {id}

**Description:** {description}
**Repository:** apps/{repo}
**Branch:** {branch}

**Reference:** See `docs/reports/` for detailed finding description. Search for the finding ID.

## Workflow

1. Checkout branch: `git checkout {branch} || git checkout -b {branch} develop && git pull`
2. Read the finding details from the report
3. Implement the fix following existing code patterns
4. Run quality gates (ALL must pass):
   ```bash
   pnpm lint && pnpm typecheck && pnpm test
   ```
5. If gates fail: Fix and retry. Do NOT report success with failures.
6. Commit: `git commit -m "fix({finding_id}): brief description"`
7. Push: `git push origin {branch}`
8. Report result as JSON (see format below)

## Result Format (MANDATORY)

```json
{
  "task_id": "{id}",
  "status": "success|failed",
  "used": "5.2K",
  "commit_sha": "abc123",
  "notes": "Brief summary of what was done"
}
```

## Rules

- DO NOT modify docs/tasks.md
- DO NOT claim other tasks
- Complete this single task, report results, done

---

Context Threshold Protocol (Orchestrator Replacement)

Threshold: 55-60% context usage

Why replacement, not compaction?

• Compaction causes protocol drift — agent "remembers" gist but loses specifics
• Post-compaction agents may violate core rules (e.g., letting workers modify tasks.md)
• Fresh orchestrator has 100% protocol fidelity
• All state lives in docs/tasks.md — the orchestrator is stateless and replaceable

At threshold (55-60%):

1. Complete current task
2. Persist all state:
   • Update docs/tasks.md with all progress
   • Update docs/orchestrator-learnings.json with variances
   • Commit and push both files
3. Output ORCHESTRATOR HANDOFF message with ready-to-use takeover kickstart
4. STOP COMPLETELY — do not continue working

Handoff message format:

---
⚠️ ORCHESTRATOR HANDOFF REQUIRED

Context: {X}% — Replacement recommended to prevent drift

Progress: {completed}/{total} tasks ({percentage}%)
Current phase: Phase {N} ({phase_name})

State persisted:
- docs/tasks.md ✓
- docs/orchestrator-learnings.json ✓

## Takeover Kickstart

Copy and paste this to spawn a fresh orchestrator:

---
## Continuation Mission

Continue {mission_description} from existing state.

## Setup
- Project: /home/localadmin/src/mosaic-stack
- State: docs/tasks.md (already populated)
- Protocol: docs/claude/orchestrator.md
- Quality gates: pnpm lint && pnpm typecheck && pnpm test

## Resume Point
- Next task: {task_id}
- Phase: {current_phase}
- Progress: {completed}/{total} tasks ({percentage}%)

## Instructions
1. Read docs/claude/orchestrator.md for protocol
2. Read docs/tasks.md to understand current state
3. Continue execution from task {task_id}
4. Follow Two-Phase Completion Protocol
5. You are the SOLE writer of docs/tasks.md
---

STOP: Terminate this session and spawn fresh orchestrator with the kickstart above.
---

Future: Coordinator Automation

When the Mosaic Stack Coordinator service is implemented, it will:

• Monitor orchestrator stdout for context percentage
• Detect the handoff checkpoint message
• Parse the takeover kickstart
• Automatically spawn fresh orchestrator
• Log handoff events for debugging

For now, the human acts as Coordinator.

Rules:

• Do NOT attempt to compact yourself — compaction causes drift
• Do NOT continue past 60%
• Do NOT claim you can "just continue" — protocol drift is real
• STOP means STOP — the user (Coordinator) will spawn your replacement

---

Two-Phase Completion Protocol

Each major phase uses a two-phase approach to maximize completion while managing diminishing returns.

Bulk Phase (Target: 90%)

• Focus on tractable errors
• Parallelize where possible
• When 90% reached, transition to Polish (do NOT declare success)

Polish Phase (Target: 100%)

1. Inventory: List all remaining errors with file:line

2. Categorize:

   Category	Criteria	Action
   Quick-win	<5 min, straightforward	Fix immediately
   Medium	5-30 min, clear path	Fix in order
   Hard	>30 min or uncertain	Attempt 15 min, then document
   Architectural	Requires design change	Document and defer

3. Work priority: Quick-win → Medium → Hard

4. Document deferrals in docs/deferred-errors.md:

   ## MS-XXX: [Error description]
   
   - File: path/to/file.ts:123
   - Error: [exact error message]
   - Category: Hard | Architectural | Framework Limitation
   - Reason: [why this is non-trivial]
   - Suggested approach: [how to fix in future]
   - Risk: Low | Medium | High
   

5. Phase complete when:

   • All Quick-win/Medium fixed
   • All Hard attempted (fixed or documented)
   • Architectural items documented with justification

Phase Boundary Rule

Do NOT proceed to the next major phase until the current phase reaches Polish completion:

✅ Phase 2 Bulk: 91%
✅ Phase 2 Polish: 118 errors triaged
   - 40 medium → fixed
   - 78 low → EACH documented with rationale
✅ Phase 2 Complete: Created docs/deferred-errors.md
→ NOW proceed to Phase 3

❌ WRONG: Phase 2 at 91%, "low priority acceptable", starting Phase 3

Reporting

When transitioning from Bulk to Polish:

Phase X Bulk Complete: {N}% ({fixed}/{total})
Entering Polish Phase: {remaining} errors to triage

When Polish Phase complete:

Phase X Complete: {final_pct}% ({fixed}/{total})
- Quick-wins: {n} fixed
- Medium: {n} fixed
- Hard: {n} fixed, {n} documented
- Framework limitations: {n} documented

---

Learning & Retrospective

Variance Thresholds

Variance	Action
0-30%	Log only (acceptable)
30-50%	Flag for review
50-100%	Capture learning to docs/orchestrator-learnings.json
>100%	CRITICAL — review task classification

Task Type Classification

Type	Keywords	Base Estimate
STYLE_FIX	"formatting", "prettier", "lint"	3-5K
BULK_CLEANUP	"unused", "warnings", "~N files"	file_count × 550
GUARD_ADD	"add guard", "decorator", "validation"	5-8K
SECURITY_FIX	"sanitize", "injection", "XSS"	8-12K × 2.5
AUTH_ADD	"authentication", "auth"	15-25K
REFACTOR	"refactor", "replace", "migrate"	10-15K
TEST_ADD	"add tests", "coverage"	15-25K

---

Report Cleanup

QA automation generates report files in docs/reports/qa-automation/pending/. Clean up after processing.

Event	Action
Task success	Delete matching reports from pending/
Task failed	Move reports to escalated/
Phase verification	Clean up all pending/ reports
Milestone complete	Archive or delete escalated/

---

Stopping Criteria

ONLY stop if:

1. All tasks in docs/tasks.md are done
2. Critical blocker preventing progress (document and alert)
3. Context usage >= 55% — output COMPACTION REQUIRED checkpoint and wait
4. Absolute context limit reached AND cannot compact further

DO NOT stop to ask "should I continue?" — the answer is always YES. DO stop at 55-60% — output the compaction checkpoint and wait for user to run /compact.

---

Sprint Completion Protocol

When all tasks in docs/tasks.md are done (or triaged as deferred), archive the sprint artifacts before stopping. This preserves them for post-mortems, variance calibration, and historical reference.

Archive Steps

1. Create archive directory (if it doesn't exist):

   mkdir -p docs/tasks/
   

2. Move tasks.md to archive:

   mv docs/tasks.md docs/tasks/{milestone-name}-tasks.md
   

   Example: docs/tasks/M6-AgentOrchestration-Fixes-tasks.md

3. Move learnings to archive:

   mv docs/orchestrator-learnings.json docs/tasks/{milestone-name}-learnings.json
   

4. Commit the archive:

   git add docs/tasks/
   git rm docs/tasks.md docs/orchestrator-learnings.json 2>/dev/null || true
   git commit -m "chore(orchestrator): Archive {milestone-name} sprint artifacts
   
   {completed}/{total} tasks completed, {deferred} deferred.
   Archived to docs/tasks/ for post-mortem reference."
   git push
   

5. Run final retrospective — review variance patterns and propose updates to estimation heuristics.

Recovery

If an orchestrator starts and docs/tasks.md does not exist, check docs/tasks/ for the most recent archive:

ls -t docs/tasks/*-tasks.md 2>/dev/null | head -1

If found, this may indicate another session archived the file. The orchestrator should:

1. Report what it found in docs/tasks/
2. Ask whether to resume from the archived file or bootstrap fresh
3. If resuming: copy the archive back to docs/tasks.md and continue

Retention Policy

Keep all archived sprints indefinitely. They are small text files and valuable for:

• Post-mortem analysis
• Estimation variance calibration across milestones
• Understanding what was deferred and why
• Onboarding new orchestrators to project history

---

Kickstart Message Format

## Mission

Remediate findings from the codebase review.

## Setup

- Project: /home/localadmin/src/mosaic-stack
- Review: docs/reports/{report-name}/
- Quality gates: pnpm lint && pnpm typecheck && pnpm test
- Milestone: {milestone-name}
- Task prefix: MS

## Protocol

Read docs/claude/orchestrator.md for full instructions.

## Start

Bootstrap from the review report, then execute until complete.

---

Quick Reference

Phase	Action
Bootstrap	Parse reports → Categorize → Estimate → Create issues → Create tasks.md
Execute	Loop: claim → spawn worker → update → commit
Compact	At 60%: summarize, clear history, continue
Stop	Queue empty, blocker, or context limit

Orchestrator owns tasks.md. Workers execute and report. Single writer eliminates conflicts.