SDLC Reconciliation

Analyse divergences between the SDLC manifest and actual development state, then propose and execute corrections to bring them into agreement.

Process overview

[1. Collect state]
Git: log, branch, status, diff
Manifest: .sdlc/manifest.yaml
Files: .sdlc/stories/*/

[2. Detect divergences]
Compare expected vs actual state
Categorise by type and severity

[3. Generate report]
Summary of manifest state
Summary of git state
List of divergences

[4. Propose corrections]
Safe corrections (auto-apply candidates)
Unsafe corrections (require confirmation)

[5. Execute corrections]
Apply approved changes
Update manifest

Commands

Divergence types

See references/divergence-types.md for detailed detection methods and resolution strategies.

Workflow

1. Collect state

Gather information from three sources:

Git state:

git log --oneline -20           # Recent commits
git branch -a                    # All branches
git status                       # Working tree state
git diff --name-only             # Changed files
git diff --cached --name-only    # Staged files

Manifest state:

• Read .sdlc/manifest.yaml
• Extract current_story, story phases, artifact references
• Note backlog and completed stories

File state:

• List .sdlc/stories/*/ directories
• Check for spec.md, design.md, and other artifacts
• Compare against manifest references

2. Detect divergences

For each story in manifest:

1. Check phase accuracy:

   • If phase is "spec" but design.md exists → phase drift
   • If phase is "design" but implementation files exist → phase drift
   • If phase is "implement" but tests pass and code committed → phase drift

2. Check artifacts:

   • For each artifact in manifest, verify file exists
   • For each file in story directory, verify manifest reference

3. Check git state:

   • If story branch exists and is merged → stale branch
   • If uncommitted files match story scope → uncommitted implementation
   • If current branch doesn't match current_story → branch mismatch

4. Check for untracked work:

   • New files not matching any story
   • Commits not associated with any story

3. Generate report

Format:

# Reconciliation report

## Manifest state

- Project: {name}
- Current story: {id} - {title}
- Current phase: {phase}
- Stories in progress: {count}
- Stories complete: {count}

## Git state

- Current branch: {branch}
- Uncommitted files: {count}
- Staged files: {count}
- Recent commits: {list}

## Divergences found

### High severity

- [ ] **Uncommitted implementation** (US-004)
  - Files: scoring.py, triage.py, writeback.py
  - Expected: committed during implement phase
  - Actual: exist but uncommitted

### Medium severity

- [ ] **Phase drift** (US-004)
  - Manifest phase: design
  - Actual progress: implementation exists
  - Evidence: scoring.py, triage.py present

### Low severity

- [ ] **Stale branch**
  - Branch: story/US-003-match-gmail-correspondence
  - Status: merged to main
  - Action: can be deleted

## Stale branches

| Branch | Status | Last commit |
|--------|--------|-------------|
| story/US-003-match-gmail-correspondence | merged | cc3128f |

4. Propose corrections

Present corrections in two categories:

Safe corrections (can auto-apply):

## Safe corrections

These can be applied automatically with `--auto`:

1. **Update US-004 phase** design → implement
   - Reason: implementation files exist

2. **Add artifact references to US-004**
   - Add: scoring.py, triage.py, writeback.py

3. **Delete stale branch**
   - Branch: story/US-003-match-gmail-correspondence

Unsafe corrections (require confirmation):

## Unsafe corrections

These require explicit approval:

1. **Commit uncommitted changes for US-004**
   - Files: scoring.py, triage.py, writeback.py
   - Message: "feat(scoring): implement lead scoring (US-004)"
   - Risk: may include unintended changes

2. **Create story for untracked functionality**
   - Files: collect.py, match.py, next.py
   - Suggested: US-005 "Additional utility scripts"
   - Risk: may miscategorise functionality

3. **Mark US-004 as current_story**
   - Current: null
   - Proposed: US-004
   - Risk: overwrites any existing current_story intent

5. Execute corrections

For safe corrections with --auto:

1. Apply each correction in sequence
2. Update manifest after each change
3. Report results

For unsafe corrections:

1. Present each correction individually
2. Wait for explicit yes/no
3. Apply only approved corrections
4. Update manifest

Safe vs unsafe corrections

Safe (auto-apply candidates)

These corrections have low risk and clear intent:

• Update phase forward (spec → design → implement → etc.)
• Add artifact references to manifest for existing files
• Delete merged feature branches
• Add missing story directories for manifest entries

Unsafe (require confirmation)

These corrections could lose work or make incorrect assumptions:

• Create new stories
• Delete or modify existing stories
• Commit changes
• Change current_story
• Mark stories as complete
• Delete uncommitted files
• Revert changes
• Update phase backward

Edge cases

No manifest exists

If .sdlc/manifest.yaml does not exist:

1. Report: "No SDLC manifest found"
2. Check for .sdlc/ directory
3. If story artifacts exist without manifest, offer to reconstruct
4. Otherwise, suggest running project initialisation

Multiple stories in uncommitted changes

When uncommitted files could belong to multiple stories:

1. Group files by likely story based on:
   • File paths matching story scope
   • Recent commit messages
   • Manifest artifact patterns
2. Present groupings for user confirmation
3. Allow manual reassignment

Partial artifacts

When some artifacts exist but story phase suggests they shouldn't:

1. If earlier artifacts missing (e.g., design exists but no spec):
   • Offer to create retrospective spec
   • Or mark as "spec skipped" in manifest
2. If later artifacts missing (e.g., spec exists but no design):
   • Normal state, no correction needed

Orphan implementation files

Files that look like implementation but match no story:

1. Check commit history for associated story references
2. Check file contents for story ID comments
3. If no association found:
   • Offer to create new story
   • Or associate with existing story
   • Or mark as infrastructure/utility

Integration with orchestrate

When orchestrate skill detects potential drift:

1. Pause pipeline
2. Invoke /reconcile --report
3. Present findings to user
4. Offer to apply corrections or continue anyway

Triggers for drift check:

• Before picking next story
• At phase transitions
• When resuming after pause