marten-workflow

If dispatched as a subagent for a specific task, skip this skill.

Marten's Superpower Workflow

This skill is Martin Westphal's personal development workflow. It extends the upstream superpowers plugin with two mandatory new phases — research and review — both backed by parallel subagents per Martin's global research and adversarial-review protocols.

Trivial edits exemption. Single-line tweaks, comment fixes, obvious typos, and rename-only mechanical edits skip this workflow. Everything else follows it.

Instruction Priority

1. User's explicit instructions (CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, direct request) — top priority
2. This workflow — overrides default behavior when in conflict
3. Default system prompt — lowest

The 7 Phases

#	Phase	Skill invoked	Purpose
1	Brainstorm	superpowers:brainstorming	Explore intent, requirements, design
2	Research	marten-superpower:research-phase	Parallel subagent fact-finding (web + codebase)
3	Plan	superpowers:writing-plans	Convert brainstorm + research into written plan
4	Worktree	superpowers:using-git-worktrees	Isolate work in .worktrees/
5	Execute	superpowers:executing-plans or superpowers:subagent-driven-development	TDD implementation
6	Review	marten-superpower:review-phase	Multi-subagent adversarial review
7	Finish	superpowers:finishing-a-development-branch	Merge / PR / cleanup

Hard Rules

• Never skip a phase. Each phase output feeds the next. Skipping research causes plan drift; skipping review ships bugs.
• Always invoke the named skill via the Skill tool. Do not reimplement phase content from memory — skills evolve.
• TaskCreate one todo per phase when starting the workflow so the user can see progress.
• Worktree before any code edit. Phase 4 is non-negotiable for multi-line changes per Martin's global rule. After EnterWorktree, immediately call /rename <worktree-name>.
• Research subagents must use WebSearch and WebFetch only. Chrome MCP is banned in research subagents. Always dispatch ≥2 subagents per topic.
• Review fixes stay in scope. Out-of-scope findings go to KNOWN_ISSUES.md (or equivalent), not into the current branch.

Workflow Entry Points

When the user says any of the following, start at Phase 1:

• "Let's build / add / implement X"
• "I have a new idea for Y"
• "Brainstorm Z"
• "Refactor A"
• "Fix bug B" (if non-trivial)

If the user explicitly resumes mid-flow ("we already brainstormed, write the plan"), enter at the requested phase and verify upstream phase artifacts exist (plan file, research report, worktree).

Phase Decision Diagram

User request
   │
   ▼
Trivial edit? ─yes─▶ Skip workflow, edit directly
   │ no
   ▼
Phase 1: brainstorming  ─▶ shared understanding
   │
   ▼
Phase 2: research-phase ─▶ research-report.md in worktree
   │
   ▼
Phase 3: writing-plans  ─▶ plan.md
   │
   ▼
Phase 4: using-git-worktrees ─▶ isolated workspace + /rename
   │
   ▼
Phase 5: executing-plans (TDD red→green→refactor)
   │
   ▼
Phase 6: review-phase   ─▶ blockers fixed, KNOWN_ISSUES.md updated
   │
   ▼
Phase 7: finishing-a-development-branch ─▶ merge / PR

Announcing the Workflow

At the start, tell the user:

"Using marten-workflow. Phases: brainstorm → research → plan → worktree → execute → review → finish. Starting Phase 1 (brainstorming)."

Then invoke superpowers:brainstorming via the Skill tool.

Phase Transitions

Between phases, give a one-line status update:

"Phase 2 done — research report at <path>. Starting Phase 3 (writing-plans)."

Do not narrate internal deliberation. Keep updates terse.

When to Deviate

The only sanctioned deviations:

• Trivial edit exemption (above)
• User says "skip phase X" — comply, but warn what risk you're accepting (e.g., skipping research means you may build on stale assumptions)
• Resume mid-flow with prior artifacts present

Any other deviation requires the user's explicit approval first.