# ultraplan-local

Deep implementation planning and research with an explicit brief step, specialized agent swarms, external research, adversarial review, session decomposition, disciplined execution, and headless support. A local alternative to Anthropic's Ultraplan.

**Design principle: Context Engineering** — build the right context by orchestrating specialized agents. Each step in the pipeline (brief → research → plan → execute) produces a structured artifact that the next step consumes.

> **v3.0.0 — architect step extracted from this plugin.** The plan command still auto-discovers `architecture/overview.md` if present, so any compatible producer (architect plugin no longer publicly distributed; the architecture/overview.md slot remains available for any compatible producer) plugs into the same slot. See [CHANGELOG.md](CHANGELOG.md) for migration history.

## Commands

| Command | Description | Model |
|---------|-------------|-------|
| `/ultrabrief-local` | Brief — interactive interview produces a task brief with explicit research plan; optionally orchestrates the pipeline | opus |
| `/ultraresearch-local` | Research — deep local + external research, produces structured research brief | opus |
| `/ultraplan-local` | Plan — brief-reviewer, explore, plan, review. Requires `--brief` or `--project`. Auto-discovers `architecture/overview.md` if present | opus |
| `/ultraexecute-local` | Execute — disciplined plan/session-spec executor with failure recovery | opus |
| `/ultrareview-local` | Review — independent post-hoc review of delivered code against the brief. Produces `review.md` with severity-tagged findings (Handover 6) | opus |
| `/ultracontinue-local` | Continue — resumes the next session of a multi-session ultraplan project. Reads `.session-state.local.json` (Handover 7) and immediately begins executing | opus |

### /ultrabrief-local modes

| Flag | Behavior |
|------|----------|
| _(default)_ | Dynamic interview until quality gates pass → brief.md with research plan |
| `--quick` | Compact start; still escalates if required sections are weak or the brief-review gate fails → brief.md with research plan |
| `--gates {open\|closed\|adaptive}` | (v3.4.0) Autonomy-checkpoint policy. Default `adaptive` |

Always interactive. Phase 3 is a section-driven completeness loop (no hard cap on question count); Phase 4 runs a `brief-reviewer` stop-gate with max 3 review iterations. After writing the brief, asks the user to choose manual (print commands) or auto (Claude runs research + plan in foreground).

### /ultraresearch-local modes

| Flag | Behavior |
|------|----------|
| _(default)_ | Interview + research (local + external) + synthesis + brief (foreground) |
| `--project <dir>` | Write brief to `{dir}/research/{NN}-{slug}.md` (auto-incremented) |
| `--quick` | Interview (short) + inline research (no agent swarm) |
| `--local` | Only codebase analysis agents (skip external + Gemini) |
| `--external` | Only external research agents (skip codebase analysis) |
| `--fg` | No-op alias (foreground is default since v2.4.0) |
| `--gates {open\|closed\|adaptive}` | (v3.4.0) Autonomy-checkpoint policy. Default `adaptive` |

Flags combine: `--project <dir> --local`, `--external --quick`.

### /ultraplan-local modes

| Flag | Behavior |
|------|----------|
| `--project <dir>` | **Required path A** — read `{dir}/brief.md`, auto-discover `{dir}/research/*.md`, write `{dir}/plan.md` |
| `--brief <path>` | **Required path B** — plan from a specific brief file; write to `.claude/plans/ultraplan-{date}-{slug}.md` |
| `--research <brief> [brief2]` | Enrich with extra research briefs beyond what is in `{project_dir}/research/` |
| `--fg` | No-op alias (foreground is default since v2.4.0) |
| `--quick` | Plan directly (no agent swarm) |
| `--export <pr\|issue\|markdown\|headless> <plan>` | Generate shareable output from existing plan |
| `--decompose <plan>` | Split plan into self-contained headless sessions |
| `--gates {open\|closed\|adaptive}` | (v3.4.0) Autonomy-checkpoint policy. Default `adaptive` |

**Breaking change (v2.0):** one of `--brief` or `--project` is required. There is no interview inside `/ultraplan-local`. The `--spec` flag has been removed — use `/ultrabrief-local` to produce a brief instead.

If `{project_dir}/architecture/overview.md` exists (typically produced by an opt-in upstream architect plugin, not bundled), the plan command auto-discovers it and treats `cc_features_proposed` as priors. Missing file is fine — discovery is additive, not required.

### /ultraexecute-local modes

| Flag | Behavior |
|------|----------|
| _(default)_ | Execute plan — auto-detects Execution Strategy for multi-session |
| `--project <dir>` | Read `{dir}/plan.md`, write `{dir}/progress.json` |
| `--resume` | Resume from last progress checkpoint |
| `--dry-run` | Validate plan structure without executing |
| `--validate` | Schema-only check — parse steps + manifests, report `READY \| FAIL`, no execution |
| `--step N` | Execute only step N |
| `--fg` | Force foreground — run all steps sequentially, ignore Execution Strategy |
| `--session N` | Execute only session N from plan's Execution Strategy |
| `--gates {open\|closed\|adaptive}` | (v3.4.0) Autonomy-checkpoint policy. Default `adaptive` |

### /ultrareview-local modes

| Flag | Behavior |
|------|----------|
| _(default)_ | Run brief-conformance + code-correctness reviewers in parallel, coordinator dedup + verdict, write `{project_dir}/review.md` |
| `--project <dir>` | **Required.** Path to ultraplan-local project folder containing `brief.md`. Review is written to `{dir}/review.md` |
| `--since <ref>` | Override "before" SHA for the diff range. Validated via `git rev-parse --verify` |
| `--quick` | Skip brief-conformance reviewer; skip coordinator's reasonableness filter — fast correctness-only pass |
| `--validate` | Schema-only check on existing `{dir}/review.md`. No LLM calls |
| `--dry-run` | Print discovered scope + triage map; skip writes |
| `--fg` | No-op alias (foreground is default) |

The triage gate is deterministic — path-pattern classifier produces `{file → deep-review|summary-only|skip}`. Hard refuse-with-suggestion above 100 files / 100K diff tokens.

## Agents

| Agent | Model | Role |
|-------|-------|------|
| planning-orchestrator | opus | Inline reference documentation for the planning pipeline workflow (brief-driven) |
| research-orchestrator | opus | Inline reference documentation for the research pipeline workflow |
| review-orchestrator | opus | Inline reference documentation for the review pipeline workflow |
| architecture-mapper | sonnet | Codebase structure, tech stack, patterns |
| dependency-tracer | sonnet | Import chains, data flow, side effects |
| task-finder | sonnet | Task-relevant files, functions, reuse candidates |
| risk-assessor | sonnet | Risks, edge cases, failure modes |
| test-strategist | sonnet | Test patterns, coverage gaps, strategy |
| git-historian | sonnet | Recent changes, ownership, hot files |
| research-scout | sonnet | External docs for unfamiliar tech (conditional, planning only) |
| convention-scanner | sonnet | Coding conventions: naming, style, error handling, test patterns |
| brief-reviewer | sonnet | Task brief quality (5 dimensions: completeness, consistency, testability, scope clarity, research plan validity) |
| brief-conformance-reviewer | sonnet | Brief conformance review (SC + Non-Goal traceability) |
| code-correctness-reviewer | sonnet | Code correctness review (7 dimensions) |
| review-coordinator | sonnet | Judge Agent — dedup + reasonableness filter + verdict |
| plan-critic | sonnet | Adversarial plan review (9 dimensions) |
| scope-guardian | sonnet | Scope alignment (creep + gaps) |
| session-decomposer | sonnet | Splits plans into headless sessions with dependency graph |
| docs-researcher | sonnet | Official documentation, RFCs, vendor docs (Tavily, MS Learn) |
| community-researcher | sonnet | Community experience: issues, blogs, discussions |
| security-researcher | sonnet | CVEs, audit history, supply chain risks |
| contrarian-researcher | sonnet | Counter-evidence, overlooked alternatives |
| gemini-bridge | sonnet | Gemini Deep Research second opinion (conditional) |

## Quality infrastructure (v3.4.0)

`lib/` contains zero-dep validators, parsers, and autonomy primitives wired into the four commands:

- `lib/util/{frontmatter,result,atomic-write,autonomy-gate}.mjs` — shared YAML-frontmatter parser + Result helpers + `atomicWriteJson(path, obj)` for tmp+rename writes + autonomy-gate state machine (v3.4.0)
- `lib/parsers/{plan-schema,manifest-yaml,project-discovery,arg-parser,bash-normalize,jaccard,finding-id}.mjs` — pure parsers (no I/O), unit-tested. `manifest-yaml` extended in v3.4.0 with additive `skip_commit_check` + `memory_write` flags (forward-compat: unknown keys ignored)
- `lib/review/{rule-catalogue,plan-review-dedup}.mjs` — version-pinned rule catalogue (12 keys) + Phase 9 inline dedup helpers (v3.4.0)
- `lib/stats/event-emit.mjs` — single-source stats event emitter for autonomy-gate transitions and main-merge-gate (v3.4.0)
- `lib/validators/{brief,research,plan,progress,session-state}-validator.mjs` — schema validators with CLI shims (`node lib/validators/X.mjs --json <path>`)
- `lib/validators/architecture-discovery.mjs` — drift-WARN external-contract discovery for `architecture/overview.md`

Wiring points (replaces previous prose-grep instructions):
- `/ultrabrief-local` Phase 4g → `brief-validator` (post-write sanity check)
- `/ultraplan-local` Phase 1 → `brief-validator --soft`, `research-validator --dir`, `architecture-discovery`
- `planning-orchestrator` Phase 5.5 → `plan-validator --strict` (replaces 3 `grep -cE` calls)
- `/ultraexecute-local --validate` → `plan-validator --strict` + `progress-validator`

Tests under `tests/**/*.test.mjs` (~290 tests, 0 deps). `npm test` is the fork-readiness gate. v3.4.0 adds: synthetic determinism fixtures (`tests/synthetic/plan-run-*.md` + `review-run-*.md` + companion `*-determinism.test.mjs` enforcing Jaccard ≥ 0.833 SC7 floor) and hook baseline regression pins (`tests/hooks/{path-guard,bash-guard}.test.mjs` exercising `pre-write-executor.mjs` + `pre-bash-executor.mjs` denylist BLOCK paths).

Doc-consistency test at `tests/lib/doc-consistency.test.mjs` pins agent-table count, command-table coverage, plan_version invariant, settings.json scope cleanliness, Handover 7 presence, and `session-state-validator` CLI shim.

`docs/HANDOVER-CONTRACTS.md` is the single source of truth for the 7 pipeline handovers (brief→research, research→plan, architecture→plan EXTERNAL, plan→execute, progress.json resume, review→plan, `.session-state.local.json`). Read it before changing any artifact format.

`hooks/scripts/pre-compact-flush.mjs` (PreCompact event, CC v2.1.105+) fixes the documented P0 in `docs/ultraexecute-v2-observations-from-config-audit-v4.md`: keeps `progress.json` in sync with git history before context compaction so `--resume` works after long conversations. Atomic write, monotonic only, never blocks compaction.

`hooks/scripts/session-title.mjs` (UserPromptSubmit, CC v2.1.94+) sets `sessionTitle` to `ultra:<command>:<slug>` for ultra-command invocations. Helps multi-session headless runs identify themselves in process lists.

`hooks/scripts/post-bash-stats.mjs` (PostToolUse, CC v2.1.97+) appends `duration_ms` for each Bash call into `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}/ultraexecute-stats.jsonl`. Useful for finding long-running verify or checkpoint commands.

`hooks/scripts/post-compact-flush.mjs` (PostCompact event, v3.4.0) re-injects `.session-state.local.json` after context compaction so multi-session work survives a compaction boundary. Companion to `pre-compact-flush.mjs` (which writes the state file before compaction); together they form the rehydrate cycle that keeps `/ultracontinue-local` reliable across long-running multi-session work.

## Autonomy mode (`--gates`, v3.4.0)

All four pipeline commands accept `--gates {open|closed|adaptive}`:

| Value | Behavior |
|-------|----------|
| `open` | Skip optional checkpoints; trust manifests + verify gates only |
| `closed` | Stop at every autonomy boundary; operator confirms each transition |
| `adaptive` (default) | Stop only at meaningful boundaries (manifest-audit FAIL, plan-critic BLOCKER, main-merge gate) |

Under the hood: `lib/util/autonomy-gate.mjs` runs the state machine `idle → approved → executing → merge-pending → main-merged`. `lib/stats/event-emit.mjs` records each transition to `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}/ultra*-stats.jsonl`. The main-merge gate is the final autonomy boundary before HEAD lands on `main`.

### Path A/B/C decision (v3.4.0; Path C closed 2026-05-05)

Three architectural options were considered for the speedup work:

- **Path A — cache-first** (drop `--allowedTools` per child to recover cross-phase cache sharing): REJECTED. Inverts the security model; plugin hooks don't fire reliably in `claude -p` (research/06 GH #36071).
- **Path B — sequential `--no-ff` parallel waves with manifest-driven failure recovery**: CHOSEN. Ships in v3.4.0. Phase 2.6 of `/ultraexecute-local` runs the wave executor with hardenings for plugin-in-monorepo + gitignored-state topology.
- **Path C — hybrid (cache-warm sentinel + identical-tool parallel)**: **CLOSED 2026-05-05.** Q3 experiment measured median `cache_creation_input_tokens` = 163,903 across 3 fork-children at 186K parent context (CC v2.1.128, Sonnet 4.6). Master-plan thresholds: ≤ 1,500 POSITIVE / ≥ 3,500 NEGATIVE. Result is solidly NEGATIVE — `CLAUDE_CODE_FORK_SUBAGENT` does not preserve cache prefix across identical-tool children at our context size. Path C migration is deferred indefinitely; reassessment is appropriate when CC v2.2.xxx ships fork-cache-relevant features. Harness: `scripts/q3-cache-prefix-experiment.mjs`. Companion analyser: `lib/stats/cache-analyzer.mjs`.

A revived Path C (post-v2.2.xxx) would require: (1) re-architecting tool-list to be identical across all wave children, (2) cache-telemetry analysis confirming the new fork-cache behaviour holds, (3) prompt-level deny re-enablement to compensate for tool scoping rollback.

## Architecture

**Brief:** 7-phase workflow: Parse mode → Create project dir → Phase 3 completeness loop (section-driven, no question cap) → Phase 4 draft/review/revise with `brief-reviewer` as stop-gate (max 3 iterations; gate = all dimensions ≥ 4 and research plan = 5) → Finalize (`brief.md` on pass, or `brief_quality: partial` on cap/force-stop) → Manual/auto opt-in → Stats. Always interactive. Auto mode runs research + plan inline in the main context (v2.4.0).

**Research:** Foreground workflow (v2.4.0): Parse mode → Interview → Parallel research swarm (5 local + 4 external + 1 bridge, spawned from main context) → Follow-ups → Triangulation → Synthesis + brief → Stats. With `--project`, writes to `{dir}/research/NN-slug.md`.

**Plan:** Foreground workflow (v2.4.0): Parse mode (validate brief input) → Codebase sizing → Brief review (`brief-reviewer`) → Parallel exploration (6-8 agents, spawned from main context) → Deep-dives → Synthesis (with architecture-note cross-reference if present) → Planning → Adversarial review (`plan-critic` + `scope-guardian`) → Present/refine → Handoff. With `--project`, writes to `{dir}/plan.md` and auto-detects `{dir}/architecture/overview.md` (produced by an opt-in upstream architect plugin if installed; not bundled).

**Decompose:** Parse plan → Analyze step dependencies → Group into sessions → Identify parallel waves → Generate session specs + dependency graph + launch script.

**Execute:** Parse plan → Security scan (Phase 2.4) → Detect Execution Strategy → Single-session (step loop) or multi-session (parallel waves via `claude -p` with scoped `--allowedTools`) → Phase 7.5 manifest audit → Phase 7.6 bounded recovery (if partial) → Phase 8 atomically writes `progress.json` + `.session-state.local.json` (Handover 7) → Report. With `--project`, reads `{dir}/plan.md`. Phase 2.55 (pre-flight stop) and Phase 4 (entry-condition stop) also write `.session-state.local.json` so `/ultracontinue` can surface the stop and prompt for next steps.

**Continue:** `/ultracontinue-local` reads `{dir}/.session-state.local.json` (Handover 7), validates schema-v1 via `session-state-validator`, narrates a 3-line summary (project / next-session-label / brief-path), and immediately begins executing the next session. Auto-discovers active project state files under `.claude/projects/*/.session-state.local.json` if no explicit `<project-dir>` argument. Operator-invoked only — never auto-loaded via SessionStart. The `/ultraplan-end-session-local` helper is the informal-flow producer: writes the same state file for ad-hoc multi-session handovers that don't run through `/ultraexecute-local`.

**Security:** 4-layer defense-in-depth: plugin hooks (pre-bash-executor, pre-write-executor), prompt-level denylist (works in headless sessions), pre-execution plan scan (Phase 2.4), scoped `--allowedTools` replacing `--dangerously-skip-permissions`. Hard Rules 14-16 enforce verify command security, repo-boundary writes, and sensitive path protection.

**Pipeline:** `/ultrabrief-local` produces the task brief. `/ultraresearch-local --project <dir>` fills in `{dir}/research/`. `/ultraplan-local --project <dir>` reads brief + research to produce `{dir}/plan.md` (and auto-discovers `{dir}/architecture/overview.md` if an opt-in upstream architect plugin produced one). `/ultraexecute-local --project <dir>` executes and writes `{dir}/progress.json`. All artifacts live in one project directory.

**Project-directory contract (v3.0.0):** ultraplan-local owns the directory layout below. The `architecture/` subdirectory is opt-in and produced by an opt-in upstream architect plugin (not bundled) — the architect plugin is no longer publicly distributed, but the `architecture/overview.md` slot remains available for any compatible producer.

```
.claude/projects/{YYYY-MM-DD}-{slug}/
  brief.md           ← ultrabrief-local writes; everyone reads
  research/*.md      ← ultraresearch-local writes; plan + architect read
  architecture/      ← OPT-IN, owned by an opt-in upstream architect plugin (not bundled)
    overview.md
    gaps.md
  plan.md            ← ultraplan-local writes; ultraexecute reads
  progress.json      ← ultraexecute-local writes
```

No code-level dependency between plugins — the contract is filesystem-level only.

## State

All artifacts in one project directory (default):
- Project root: `.claude/projects/{YYYY-MM-DD}-{slug}/`
  - `brief.md` (task brief from `/ultrabrief-local`)
  - `research/{NN}-{slug}.md` (research briefs from `/ultraresearch-local --project`)
  - `architecture/overview.md` + `architecture/gaps.md` (opt-in, produced by an opt-in upstream architect plugin, not bundled)
  - `plan.md` (from `/ultraplan-local --project`)
  - `sessions/session-*.md` (from `--decompose`)
  - `progress.json` (from `/ultraexecute-local --project`)
  - `review.md` (from `/ultrareview-local --project`)
  - `.session-state.local.json` (Handover 7 — gitignored via `*.local.json`; written by `/ultraexecute-local` Phase 8/2.55/4 or `/ultraplan-end-session-local`; read by `/ultracontinue`)

Legacy paths (still work without `--project`):
- Research briefs: `.claude/research/ultraresearch-{date}-{slug}.md`
- Plans: `.claude/plans/ultraplan-{date}-{slug}.md`
- Sessions: `.claude/ultraplan-sessions/{slug}/session-*.md`
- Launch scripts: `.claude/ultraplan-sessions/{slug}/launch.sh`
- Progress: `{plan-dir}/.ultraexecute-progress-{slug}.json`

Stats:
- Brief stats: `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}/ultrabrief-stats.jsonl`
- Plan stats: `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}/ultraplan-stats.jsonl`
- Exec stats: `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}/ultraexecute-stats.jsonl`
- Research stats: `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}/ultraresearch-stats.jsonl`
- Continue stats: `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}/ultracontinue-stats.jsonl`

## Terminology

- **Task brief** — produced by `/ultrabrief-local`. Declares intent, goal, and research plan. Drives planning.
- **Research brief** — produced by `/ultraresearch-local`. Answers a specific research question. Feeds planning.
- **Architecture note** — opt-in, produced by an opt-in upstream architect plugin (not bundled; the architect plugin is no longer publicly distributed, but the `architecture/overview.md` filesystem slot remains available for any compatible producer). Proposes which Claude Code features fit the task with brief-anchored rationale + explicit gaps. When present, enriches planning.
- **Review** — produced by `/ultrareview-local`. Independent post-hoc review of delivered code against the task brief. **Handover 6 (review → plan)** routes BLOCKER + MAJOR findings into `/ultraplan-local --brief review.md` for a remediation plan. The plan's optional `source_findings:` frontmatter list is the audit trail back to the consumed findings. MINOR + SUGGESTION are skipped for v1.0 plan-input.
- **Session state** — `.session-state.local.json` per project. **Handover 7** — produced by any session-end mechanism (`/ultraexecute-local` Phase 8/2.55/4, `/ultraplan-end-session-local` helper, future graceful-handoff v2.2). Consumed by `/ultracontinue-local` to resume the next session in a fresh chat. Schema v1 is forward-compat (unknown top-level keys ignored). Never committed (gitignored via `*.local.json`).

A project typically has 1 task brief, 0–N research briefs, 0 or 1 architecture note, 0–N reviews (one per review iteration), and 0 or 1 session-state file (overwritten on every session-end).
