Spec Guardian: Lead Reviews, Teammates Implement

Overview

This skill implements the spec guardian pattern for the teams-spec trait. The lead session does not implement any tasks. Instead, it:

1. Reads tasks from tasks.md
2. Spawns teammates in isolated git worktrees
3. Reviews each teammate's completed work against spec.md
4. Merges compliant changes, rejects non-compliant work with feedback
5. Updates tasks.md with final state

This skill supersedes spex:teams-orchestrate when both teams-vanilla and teams-spec traits are active. Check .specify/spex-traits.json for teams-spec: true to confirm this skill should run.

1. Task Graph Analysis

Same as spex:teams-orchestrate: read tasks.md, identify independent task groups, determine parallel opportunities.

• If no parallelism possible: execute sequentially (but the lead still acts as guardian, running review-code after each task completion).
• If 2+ independent groups: proceed with worktree spawning.

3. Worktree Teammate Spawning

Each teammate gets its own git worktree for file isolation.

Spawn Rules

• Maximum 5 teammates (same as vanilla)
• Each teammate works in an isolated git worktree (use isolation: "worktree" or instruct the teammate to use the EnterWorktree tool)
• The lead MUST NOT implement any tasks itself

Spawn Prompt Template

Each teammate receives:

You are implementing tasks for the [feature-name] feature.
You are working in an isolated git worktree.

## Your Assigned Tasks

[List the specific tasks assigned to this teammate with bd issue IDs]

## Spec Context

[Contents of spec.md for this feature]

## Working Rules

1. Implement each task completely before moving to the next
2. Commit after each task with a descriptive message
3. When all your tasks are done, message the lead: "Tasks complete, ready for review"
4. If you encounter a blocker, message the lead with details
5. Do not modify files outside your assigned task scope
6. Your work will be reviewed against spec.md before merging

4. Spec Guardian Review Loop

The lead monitors teammates and reviews their work as they complete tasks.

When a Teammate Reports Completion

1. Review the changes: Examine the teammate's worktree diff against the working branch

2. Run spec compliance check: Invoke {Skill: spex:review-code} against the teammate's changes, checking compliance with spec.md

3. Decision:

   If review PASSES:

   • Merge the worktree changes into the working branch
   • Mark the corresponding tasks as done in tasks.md (checkbox [X])
   • Message the teammate: "Work approved and merged. Move to your next task."

   If review FAILS:

   • Send feedback to the teammate listing specific spec violations
   • Include the exact spec requirements that were not met
   • Message: "Review failed. Please fix these issues: [list violations]"
   • Do NOT merge non-compliant work
   • The teammate fixes and re-submits

Lead Behavior During Reviews

• The lead coordinates and reviews. It does NOT implement.
• The lead may research questions from teammates, clarify spec requirements, and make review decisions.
• If the lead notices a spec ambiguity during review, note it but do not block the merge if the implementation is reasonable.

5. Failure Handling

Teammate Crashes Mid-Task

1. Detect the idle/stopped teammate
2. Log the failure and the task it was working on
3. Either:
   • Spawn a replacement teammate in a new worktree for the remaining tasks
   • If near the end, implement the remaining task(s) directly (exception to no-implement rule)

Merge Conflicts

1. If merging a worktree produces conflicts, do not auto-resolve
2. Report the conflict to the user with details:
   • Which files conflict
   • Which teammates' changes are involved
3. Pause and wait for user guidance

Review Deadlock

If a teammate repeatedly fails review (3+ attempts on the same task):

1. Message the teammate to stop
2. Report to the user: "Teammate unable to pass spec review after 3 attempts. Manual intervention needed."
3. Pause implementation

6. Final Sync

When all tasks are complete and merged:

1. Verify all tasks.md checkboxes are checked
2. Clean up the team: Ask Claude to clean up the agent team resources.
3. Report completion:
   • Total tasks executed
   • Tasks that required re-review
   • Any discovered work items

Key Principles

• Lead never implements: The lead's job is review and coordination, not coding
• Spec is the standard: All review decisions are based on spec.md compliance
• Worktrees prevent conflicts: Each teammate has clean file isolation
• Graceful degradation: If teams fail, fall back to sequential with review