@pmelab/gtd 2.8.0 → 3.0.0

package/docs/configuration.md

@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@
 
 gtd reads an optional `.gtdrc` config file via
 [cosmiconfig](https://github.com/cosmiconfig/cosmiconfig). With no config, the
-built-in defaults apply. Supported filenames (searched in this order):
+bundled default workflow applies (see
+[STATES.md](../STATES.md#10-the-bundled-default-workflow)). Supported filenames
+(searched in this order):
 
 - `.gtdrc`
 - `.gtdrc.json`
@@ -13,62 +15,266 @@ built-in defaults apply. Supported filenames (searched in this order):
 
 ## Schema
 
-- **`testCommand`** (string, default `npm run test`) — the command the edge runs
-  after a build turn, and on the idle health-check path.
-- **`fixAttemptCap`** (non-negative integer, default `3`) — the test-fix budget:
-  how many `gtd: errors` attempts are allowed per sub-loop before the failure is
-  escalated to `.gtd/ERRORS.md` (Escalate). `0` disables the cap (escalates
-  immediately on the first red run). Also reused as the health-fix budget — no
-  separate config key.
-- **`reviewThreshold`** (integer ≥ 1, default `3`) — the review-fix budget: how
-  many agentic-review findings rounds are allowed per package before Agentic
-  Review force-approves.
-- **`agenticReview`** (boolean, default `true`) — kill-switch for the
-  per-package Agentic Review gate. Set `false` to force-approve every package
-  and proceed directly to human review.
-- **`squash`** (boolean, default `true`) — after `gtd: done` (or, once learning
-  has run, `gtd: learning applied`), collapse the cycle's `gtd: *` commits into
-  a single conventional-commits commit. Set `false` to keep the granular
-  history.
-- **`learning`** (boolean, default `true`) — after `gtd: done` (or the
-  health-fix path's green re-test), distill durable lessons from the cycle into
-  `.gtd/LEARNINGS.md`, have a human review them, then integrate them into the
-  project's own docs before the squash decision runs. Set `false` to skip the
-  phase entirely — independent of `squash`.
-- **`decisionLog`** (boolean, default `true`) — squashing records this cycle's
-  resolved open questions as a `## Decisions` section in the squash commit
-  message; grilling/architecting inline every past squash commit's section,
-  oldest to newest, as prior-decision context. Set `false` to skip both.
-- **`models`** — model selection for the subagent-spawning states:
-  - `planning` — high-reasoning tier (default `claude-opus-4-8`), used by
-    `decompose` (the `grilled`/`planning` states), `grilling`, `architecting`,
-    `agentic-review`, and `clean` (the `review`/`squashing`/`learning`/
-    `learning-apply` states).
-  - `execution` — everyday tier (default `claude-sonnet-4-8`), used by
-    `building` and `fixing`.
-  - `states.*` — per-state overrides keyed by `decompose`, `grilling`,
-    `architecting`, `building`, `fixing`, `agentic-review`, `clean`. Unknown
-    `states` keys are **rejected**.
+v3's `.gtdrc` has exactly two blessed top-level keys:
+
+- **`workflow`** (object, optional) — the whole machine definition, compiled by
+  `src/PatternConfig.ts`. Absent = the bundled default workflow. See
+  ["The `workflow:` key" below](#the-workflow-key) for its schema.
+- **`vars`** (object, optional) — a flat `name -> scalar` map, one layer of the
+  merged `it.vars` every template sees — see ["Variables"](#variables) below.
 - **`$schema`** (string, optional) — stripped before validation, so it never
   counts as an unknown key. Point it at the published schema for editor-backed
-  autocompletion. A `schema.json` is generated from the config schema at build
-  time and ships with the package.
+  autocompletion. A `schema.json` is generated from `src/ConfigSchema.ts` at
+  build time and ships with the package.
+
+Any other top-level key is **rejected** (`onExcessProperty: "error"`) — v3 has
+no `testCommand`, `fixAttemptCap`, `reviewThreshold`, `agenticReview`, `squash`,
+`learning`, `decisionLog`, or `models` keys; all of that machinery is gone (see
+[Upgrading](upgrading.md)). The engine blesses no VARIABLE NAMES either —
+`testCommand` (the bundled default workflow's own var, see
+["Variables"](#variables)) is workflow-authored data like any other `it.vars`
+entry, not a special key gtd interprets.
+
+## The `workflow:` key
+
+The `workflow:` key is the **only** definition source — there is no `extends`,
+no merge-over-a-built-in; the bundled default workflow is itself a YAML asset
+compiled through the exact same compiler (`src/workflows/default.yaml` →
+`compileWorkflowConfig`). Its shape:
+
+```yaml
+workflow:
+  vars: # optional — the workflow's own declared `it.vars` defaults (see "Variables" below)
+    anyKey: anyScalarValue
+  states:
+    <name>:
+      actor: <string> # forbidden on a commit state, required otherwise
+      script: <string> # exactly one of script/prompt/message/commit
+      prompt: <string>
+      message: <string>
+      commit: <string>
+      on: # a mapping, DECLARATION ORDER PRESERVED
+        "<pattern>": <targetState>
+      initial: true # exactly one state across the whole workflow
+      retry:
+        max: <number>
+        otherwise: <targetState>
+      model: <string> # optional, opaque harness hint — forbidden on a commit state
+      file: <string> # optional, an Eta template naming the state's steering file — forbidden on a commit state
+      mode: qa | review # optional, requires "file" — forbidden on a commit state
+```
+
+See [STATES.md](../STATES.md#1-the-model) for what each field means to the
+engine, and [§3](../STATES.md#3-pattern-grammar) for the pattern grammar.
+
+### Content values: inline or a file reference
+
+A `script`/`prompt`/`message`/`commit` value starting with `./` or `../` is a
+**file reference** — resolved relative to the config file's own directory and
+read at load time. A missing or unreadable file reference is a **load error**,
+collected and thrown with every other config problem — never silently treated as
+inline text. Any other string (including one that merely contains a `/`, or an
+absolute path) is inline Eta template source, used verbatim.
+
+```yaml
+workflow:
+  states:
+    working:
+      actor: agent
+      prompt: ./prompts/working.md # read from alongside this .gtdrc
+      on:
+        "* **": done
+```
+
+A `vars:` key sibling to `states:` inside `workflow:` declares the workflow's
+own defaults for `it.vars` — see ["Variables"](#variables) below for the full
+three-layer picture.
+
+### `model:` — the opaque harness hint, template-rendered
+
+A state may declare `model: <string>` — an OPAQUE label (e.g. `smart`, `fast`,
+or a concrete model id) gtd never interprets; it is only passed through so the
+driving loop can map it onto whatever models its agent harness provides. Unset
+means "use the harness's default." Forbidden on a commit state (never at rest,
+emits nothing):
+
+```yaml
+workflow:
+  states:
+    working:
+      actor: agent
+      model: smart
+      prompt: do the thing
+      on:
+        "* **": done
+```
+
+Like every content string, `model:` is rendered as an Eta template through the
+exact same context as the state's content — a plain string with no Eta tags
+(`smart` above) passes through unchanged, but
+`model: "<%= it.vars.reviewModel %>"` resolves against the merged `it.vars` (see
+["Variables"](#variables)). A render failure behaves exactly like a content
+render failure at the same call site: `gtd next`/`gtd status` error out, nothing
+committed.
+
+`gtd next --json` and `gtd status --json` include a `"model"` key (the RENDERED
+value) only when the resolved state declares one — it is **omitted entirely**,
+never emitted as `null`, when unset.
+
+### `file:`/`mode:` — the steering-file association
+
+A state may additionally declare `file:` — an Eta template naming THE steering
+file this state is about: the file a human/editor should look at while the
+machine rests here (rendered through the same `it.vars`-carrying context as
+content/`model`; must render non-empty). Forbidden on a commit state (never at
+rest). Multiple states may share one `file:` (and, in the bundled default, do):
+
+```yaml
+workflow:
+  vars:
+    planFile: .gtd/PLAN.md
+  states:
+    working:
+      actor: agent
+      file: <%= it.vars.planFile %>
+      mode: qa
+      prompt: develop the plan
+      on:
+        "* **": done
+```
+
+`mode:` requires a sibling `file:` and names the file's FORMAT, from a closed,
+documented vocabulary:
+
+| `mode`   | Format                                                                                                                       |
+| -------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `qa`     | The open-questions format (`## Open Questions`, one `###` sub-heading per question, `Suggested default: ...`/`Answer: ...`). |
+| `review` | The checkbox review format (`# Review: <hash>` header, `<!-- base: <hash> -->` comment, `##` chunks, `- [ ]` pointers).      |
+
+An unknown `mode` value is a load error naming the allowed values (typos must
+not silently disable editor support) — like `model`, the ENGINE never branches
+on `mode`; only `gtd lsp` (see
+[docs/design/state-file-association.md](design/state-file-association.md))
+interprets it, to decide which document symbols/code actions/diagnostics a file
+gets.
+
+`gtd next --json`/`gtd status --json` gain `"file"` (the RENDERED path) and
+`"mode"` (verbatim) keys, each **omitted entirely** (never `null`) when the
+resolved state declares none — exactly like `model`. Plain `gtd status` prints
+`File:`/`Mode:` lines (right after `Model:`, when present) when set.
+
+**Known limitation — `on` pattern keys are NOT Eta templates.** A workflow's
+`on` patterns keep LITERAL `.gtd/…` paths, so repointing a filename var
+(`.gtdrc`'s top-level `vars:`, or a `GTD_VAR_` override) without ALSO overriding
+the workflow's `on` patterns desyncs the machine: `file:` (and any template
+reading/writing that path) follows the var, but the `on` map that decides what a
+change to that path MEANS keeps matching the old literal path. The vars are a
+DRY mechanism inside templates and the state↔file association, not a rename
+switch. (Making pattern keys var-aware at compile time is possible future work.)
+
+### Template variables
+
+Every `script`/`prompt`/`message`/`commit`/`model` template is rendered as an
+Eta template (`it.<name>`) with:
+
+| Variable         | Meaning                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
+| ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `startCommit`    | The hash the current process started from (before its first turn).                                                                                                                                                                      |
+| `currentCommit`  | HEAD's hash at render time.                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
+| `previousCommit` | The hash before the last transition (HEAD's parent, in-process).                                                                                                                                                                        |
+| `state`          | The state whose content is being rendered.                                                                                                                                                                                              |
+| `actor`          | The actor this render is for.                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
+| `processDiff`    | `startCommit..HEAD` plus the pending working-tree diff.                                                                                                                                                                                 |
+| `lastDiff`       | The diff of the last transition alone.                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
+| `read(path)`     | Reads a working-tree file (pending contents, not HEAD's) by repo-relative path. Throws for a missing/unreadable path — for a `commit:` template, that throw refuses the step (see [STATES.md §8](../STATES.md#8-the-squash-lifecycle)). |
+| `vars`           | The merged three-layer variable map, always a flat `Record<string, string>` — see ["Variables"](#variables) below.                                                                                                                      |
+
+## Variables
+
+Every template — `script`/`prompt`/`message`/`commit`, and now `model` — sees
+`it.vars`: a flat `Record<string, string>` assembled from three layers, **later
+wins**:
+
+1. **The workflow's own `vars:` key** (sibling to `states:`, shown above) — the
+   workflow author's declared defaults. The bundled default workflow declares
+   `vars: { testCommand: "npm test" }`, read by `checking`'s script as
+   `<%~ it.vars.testCommand %>` (see
+   [STATES.md §10](../STATES.md#10-the-bundled-default-workflow)).
+2. **A top-level `.gtdrc` `vars:` key** (a sibling of `workflow:`, NOT nested
+   inside it) — per-repo tuning without redefining the whole workflow. Subject
+   to the same cwd→home deep merge as everything else in `.gtdrc` (innermost
+   wins per-key).
+3. **`GTD_VAR_<name>` environment variables** — highest precedence, checked at
+   every invocation. The prefix is stripped and the REMAINING CASE matched
+   exactly: `GTD_VAR_testCommand` sets `testCommand`, not `TESTCOMMAND` or
+   `testcommand`. This is the only layer that may introduce a name neither
+   config layer declared.
+
+Values in layers 1–2 must be YAML scalars (string/number/boolean) — coerced to
+strings at load time; an object or array value is a load error, collected
+alongside every other config-shape finding (see
+["Validation and errors"](#validation-and-errors)). Environment values are
+already strings.
+
+```yaml
+# .gtdrc — overriding the bundled default's testCommand
+vars:
+  testCommand: npm run test:ci
+```
+
+```bash
+# highest precedence — beats both the workflow default and the .gtdrc value above
+GTD_VAR_testCommand="npm run test -- --bail" gtd run
+```
+
+A template reads any of it as `it.vars.<name>`:
+
+```yaml
+workflow:
+  vars:
+    reviewer: alice
+  states:
+    working:
+      actor: agent
+      prompt: "Assigned reviewer: <%= it.vars.reviewer %>"
+      model: "<%= it.vars.reviewModel %>" # a GTD_VAR_reviewModel override, or a .gtdrc vars: entry
+      on:
+        "* **": done
+```
+
+No variable name is blessed by the engine — `testCommand` is workflow-authored
+data like any other `it.vars` entry, not a special key gtd interprets; a custom
+workflow is free to declare and read any names it likes.
 
 ## Validation and errors
 
-If a config file fails to load or is invalid, gtd **exits with code 1** and
-writes a human-readable error to **stderr** (never stdout):
+Config-shape problems (unknown keys, wrong types, unreadable file references)
+are collected together; if the shape is clean, the assembled definition is
+additionally run through the engine's own `validateDefinition` (see
+[STATES.md §9](../STATES.md#9-validation)). A bad config throws **one** error
+listing every finding, at load time — before anything touches the repository —
+never partially, and never deferred to step time:
+
+```
+workflow config:
+  - state "idle": must declare exactly one of script/prompt/message/commit (found 2)
+  - state "idle": "on" target "nowhere" is not a defined state
+```
+
+Other load failures:
 
 - **Parse errors** (malformed YAML/JSON) — message includes the offending
   filename.
 - **Non-object top-level** — a YAML list or `null` at the root is rejected with
   the filename in the message.
-- **Schema violations** — unknown keys or out-of-range values emit
+- **Unknown top-level key** — anything besides `workflow`/`vars`/`$schema` emits
   `Invalid gtd config: <field>: <reason>`.
-- **Missing test binary** — if `testCommand` names an executable that cannot be
-  found (`ENOENT`), gtd exits 1 with `gtd: test command not found: <command>` on
-  stderr. A non-zero test _exit code_ is not an error — it drives the normal red
-  path.
+- **A bad top-level `vars:` entry** — an object/array value fails the same way
+  as a bad workflow-level `vars:` entry (see ["Variables"](#variables)), one
+  aggregated error:
+  `gtd config:\n  - "vars.<name>" must be a string, number, or boolean, got <type>`.
+
+All of these exit **1** and write to **stderr**, never stdout.
 
 ## Lookup and precedence
 
@@ -77,37 +283,95 @@ to the filesystem root when cwd is outside home), collecting every `.gtdrc` it
 finds along the way. All found levels are **deep-merged**, with the **innermost
 (cwd) config winning** on conflicts — so a shared `.gtdrc` in a worktree-parent
 directory cascades to every checkout beneath it, while any individual checkout
-can still override settings with its own `.gtdrc`.
+can still override with its own `.gtdrc`.
 
 ## Auto-init
 
-On every **state command** (`step`, `step-agent`, `next`, `status`, `review`)
-that has passed the repo-root guard, if the cwd→root walk finds **no** config
-anywhere, gtd creates and commits a starter `.gtdrc.json` at the repository root
-containing only a `$schema` link. Auto-init never runs for `--version`/`--help`,
-`format`, bare/unknown commands, or an invocation refused by the repo-root guard
-— those perform no repository mutation of any kind. On a repo with no commits
-yet, or whose HEAD is a plain (non-`gtd:`) commit, the stub is committed as its
-own `chore: add .gtdrc.json`. If HEAD is already a `gtd:`-owned commit
-(mid-workflow), the stub is instead **amended into HEAD** — stacking a fresh
-boundary commit there would produce an unrecognized HEAD most workflow states
-can't resolve past.
+On every **state command** (`step`, `next`, `run`, `status`) that has passed the
+repo-root guard, if the cwd→root walk finds **no** config anywhere, gtd creates
+and commits a starter `.gtdrc.json` at the repository root containing only a
+`$schema` link. Auto-init never runs for `--version`/`--help`, `format`,
+bare/unknown commands, or an invocation refused by the repo-root guard — those
+perform no repository mutation of any kind. On a repo with no commits yet, or
+whose HEAD isn't a `gtd(actor): state` commit, the stub is committed as its own
+`chore: add .gtdrc.json`. If HEAD is already a `gtd(actor): state` commit
+(mid-process), the stub is instead **amended into HEAD** — stacking a fresh
+boundary commit there would produce an unrecognized HEAD that resolves back to
+the workflow's initial state.
 
-## Example
+## A complete example
+
+A three-state note-taking machine: draft, revise-or-accept, and a squashed
+commit — one prompt/message pair reading a workflow-declared `it.vars` entry:
 
 ```yaml
 # .gtdrc.yaml
-testCommand: pnpm test
-fixAttemptCap: 3
-reviewThreshold: 3
-agenticReview: true
-squash: true
-learning: true
-decisionLog: true
-models:
-  planning: claude-opus-4-8
-  execution: claude-sonnet-4-8
+workflow:
+  vars:
+    reviewer: alice
   states:
-    decompose: claude-opus-4-8
-    building: claude-sonnet-4-8
+    idle:
+      actor: human
+      initial: true
+      message: |
+        No active note. Write NOTE.md with what you want written up, then run
+        `gtd step human`.
+      on:
+        "* **": drafting
+
+    drafting:
+      actor: agent
+      prompt: |
+        Read NOTE.md and draft a short write-up in DRAFT.md.
+        Reviewer of record: <%= it.vars.reviewer %>.
+        Leave DRAFT.md uncommitted and finish your turn.
+      on:
+        "* **": revising
+
+    revising:
+      actor: human
+      message: |
+        DRAFT.md holds the draft. Edit it for another round, or run
+        `gtd step human` with no edits to accept it and write the commit
+        message.
+      on:
+        "C": working
+        "* **": drafting
+
+    working:
+      actor: agent
+      prompt: |
+        The draft is accepted. Write COMMIT_MSG.md with one conventional-
+        commits message for the whole cycle, then finish your turn.
+      on:
+        "A COMMIT_MSG.md": done
+        "M COMMIT_MSG.md": done
+
+    done:
+      commit: '<%~ it.read("COMMIT_MSG.md") %>'
 ```
+
+A clean `gtd step human` at `revising` (the `C` event) accepts the draft and
+moves to `working`; any other pending change loops back to `drafting`. Writing
+`COMMIT_MSG.md` at `working` enters `done`, which squashes every commit since
+`idle` into one, using `COMMIT_MSG.md`'s content as the message, and discards
+the file.
+
+## Recipe: a per-task builder loop without a script state
+
+A `picking`-style queue arbiter (see
+[docs/examples/advanced-workflow.md](examples/advanced-workflow.md)) is a
+`script` state that turns a task-queue glob into a diff patterns can see. A
+driver that can't run scripts can get the same per-task loop out of pure
+prompt/`on` declarations instead, at the cost of trusting the agent to honor a
+marker protocol rather than a deterministic `ls`: see
+[docs/design/work-packages.md §3](design/work-packages.md) ("Option B —
+agent-encoded verdict") for the worked example.
+
+## A fuller example: two-phase planning, task decomposition, agent-prepared review
+
+The bundled default above is deliberately small. For a heavier machine — Q&A
+planning loops, an architecture phase, task decomposition, the deterministic
+per-task `picking` arbiter, and agent-prepared `.gtd/REVIEW.md` review — see
+[docs/examples/advanced-workflow.md](examples/advanced-workflow.md), a
+copy-paste-ready `.gtdrc` recipe.