feature-ship-loop

name: feature-ship-loop description: Use when modifying the ship loop, debugging ship stages, changing clean/test/rebase behavior, or understanding how spectre-build --ship works end-to-end user-invocable: false

Ship Loop (--ship)

Trigger: ship loop, --ship, ship pipeline, clean stage, test stage, rebase stage, land branch, run_ship_pipeline, create_ship_pipeline, ship hooks, notify_ship_complete, clean_discover, clean_investigate, clean_execute, test_plan, test_execute, test_verify, test_commit, sub-stage, subagent dispatch Confidence: high Created: 2026-02-18 Updated: 2026-02-18 Version: 3

What is the Ship Loop?

The --ship flag on spectre-build runs an 8-stage autonomous loop that takes a feature branch from "works on branch" to "landed on main" without human babysitting. It automates the manual ceremony of running /spectre:clean, /spectre:test, and /spectre:rebase in sequence.

The 8 stages are organized into three logical groups:

• Clean group (3 stages): clean_discover → clean_investigate → clean_execute
• Test group (4 stages): test_plan → test_execute → test_verify → test_commit
• Rebase (1 stage): rebase

Key insight: The ship loop does NOT use --tasks (work is generated from the branch's codebase state). It takes optional --context files and auto-detects the parent branch. The agent handles all git/gh commands via prompts — Python orchestrates, the agent acts.

Why Use It?

User Flows

Flow 1: Flag Mode (Fully Autonomous)

spectre-build --ship --context scope.md --max-iterations 15

1. Detects parent branch (main/master/develop) via git merge-base
2. Computes working set scope ({parent_branch}..HEAD)
3. Runs 8 stages: clean_discover → clean_investigate → clean_execute → test_plan → test_execute → test_verify → test_commit → rebase
4. Notifies on completion with audio

Flow 2: Interactive Mode

spectre-build
# Select "ship" from mode prompt
# Prompted for optional context files
# Confirms detected parent branch

Flow 3: Manifest Mode

spectre-build ship.md

Where ship.md has YAML frontmatter: ship: true

Flow 4: Resume Interrupted Session

spectre-build resume      # prompts for confirmation
spectre-build resume -y   # skip confirmation

Technical Design

Execution Routing (cli.py:main())

parse_args()
├─ --ship → run_ship_pipeline() [cli.py:1294]
├─ interactive "ship" → _detect_parent_branch() + confirm + run_ship_pipeline() [cli.py:1365]
├─ manifest.ship → run_ship_pipeline() [cli.py:1143]
└─ resume session.get("ship") → run_ship_pipeline(resume_context=...) [cli.py:1032]

Pipeline Architecture

run_ship_pipeline() [cli.py:859]
├─ _detect_parent_branch() → fail fast if None
├─ working_set_scope = f"{parent_branch}..HEAD"
├─ context dict: parent_branch, working_set_scope, context_files, clean_summary, test_summary
├─ create_ship_pipeline() [loader.py:411] → PipelineConfig(name="ship")
├─ create_ship_event_handler(stats) [stats.py:245]
├─ PipelineExecutor(config, runner, on_event, context, ship_before_stage, ship_after_stage)
└─ executor.run(stats) → (exit_code, total_iterations)

Stage Configs (loader.py:create_ship_pipeline)

create_ship_pipeline(max_iterations=10) → PipelineConfig

clean_discover:    JsonCompletion(["CLEAN_DISCOVER_TASK_COMPLETE", "CLEAN_DISCOVER_COMPLETE"])
                   transitions: TASK→clean_discover, COMPLETE→clean_investigate
                   prompt: prompts/shipping/clean_discover.md, max=max_iterations

clean_investigate: JsonCompletion(["CLEAN_INVESTIGATE_TASK_COMPLETE", "CLEAN_INVESTIGATE_COMPLETE"])
                   transitions: TASK→clean_investigate, COMPLETE→clean_execute
                   prompt: prompts/shipping/clean_investigate.md, max=max_iterations
                   ** Dispatches parallel subagents for investigation **

clean_execute:     JsonCompletion(["CLEAN_EXECUTE_TASK_COMPLETE", "CLEAN_EXECUTE_COMPLETE"])
                   transitions: TASK→clean_execute, COMPLETE→test_plan
                   prompt: prompts/shipping/clean_execute.md, max=max_iterations

test_plan:         JsonCompletion(["TEST_PLAN_TASK_COMPLETE", "TEST_PLAN_COMPLETE"])
                   transitions: TASK→test_plan, COMPLETE→test_execute
                   prompt: prompts/shipping/test_plan.md, max=max_iterations

test_execute:      JsonCompletion(["TEST_EXECUTE_TASK_COMPLETE", "TEST_EXECUTE_COMPLETE"])
                   transitions: TASK→test_execute, COMPLETE→test_verify
                   prompt: prompts/shipping/test_execute.md, max=max_iterations
                   ** Dispatches parallel @spectre:tester subagents **

test_verify:       JsonCompletion(["TEST_VERIFY_TASK_COMPLETE", "TEST_VERIFY_COMPLETE"])
                   transitions: TASK→test_verify, COMPLETE→test_commit
                   prompt: prompts/shipping/test_verify.md, max=min(max_iterations, 3)

test_commit:       JsonCompletion(["TEST_COMMIT_COMPLETE"])
                   transitions: COMPLETE→rebase
                   prompt: prompts/shipping/test_commit.md, max=1

rebase:            JsonCompletion(["SHIP_COMPLETE"])
                   transitions: {} (end)
                   prompt: prompts/shipping/rebase.md, max=min(max_iterations, 3)

start_stage: "clean_discover"
end_signals: ["SHIP_COMPLETE"]
All stages: denied_tools = PLAN_DENIED_TOOLS

Inter-Stage Context Flow

Config (before pipeline)
  → context["parent_branch"] = detected parent
  → context["working_set_scope"] = commit range

ship_before_stage("clean_discover") → snapshot HEAD
  clean_discover → scope + dead code + duplication analysis
  clean_investigate → parallel subagent investigation of SUSPECT findings
  clean_execute → apply approved changes + lint
ship_after_stage("clean_execute") → context["clean_summary"] = git diff summary

ship_before_stage("test_plan") → snapshot HEAD
  test_plan → risk assessment + batching strategy
  test_execute → parallel subagent test writing
  test_verify → run suite, fix failures
  test_commit → stage and commit all test files
ship_after_stage("test_commit") → context["test_summary"] = git diff summary

rebase → reads parent_branch, clean_summary, test_summary
  → rebase, verify, land via PR or local merge
  → SHIP_COMPLETE → pipeline ends

Hook Behavior (hooks.py)

ship_before_stage(stage_name, context):

• clean_discover → snapshots HEAD (start of clean group)
• test_plan → snapshots HEAD (start of test group)
• All other sub-stages → no-op

ship_after_stage(stage_name, context, result):

• clean_execute → captures context["clean_summary"] via git diff from snapshot
• test_commit → captures context["test_summary"] via git diff from snapshot
• All other sub-stages → no-op

Subagent Dispatch Stages

Two stages use the Task tool to dispatch parallel subagents:

clean_investigate: Chunks SUSPECT findings into 2-5 groups, dispatches up to 4 parallel investigation subagents. Each receives area name, file list, patterns, and an investigation template. Reports: CONFIRMED_SAFE / NEEDS_VALIDATION / KEEP. Optional second wave for high-risk SAFE_TO_REMOVE items.

test_execute: Partitions test plan by risk tier, dispatches one @spectre:tester per batch in a SINGLE message with multiple Task tool calls. P0: 1 file/agent, P1: 2-3 files/agent, P2: 3-5 files/agent. Aims for 3-5 agents medium scope, up to 8 large scope.

Parent Branch Detection (_detect_parent_branch)

Tries git merge-base {candidate} HEAD for each of: main, master, develop. For each candidate with a merge-base, counts commits between the merge-base and HEAD via git rev-list --count. Returns the candidate with the fewest commits (nearest ancestor), or None (fail fast with clear error).

Landing Logic (in rebase prompt, agent-executed)

• Remote + gh auth: gh pr create --base {parent_branch} with PR template detection
• No remote / no gh: Local git merge --ff-only with stash approval via read -p if target branch is dirty
• Safety backup branch created before rebase: git branch safety-backup-pre-rebase

Key Files

Common Tasks

Add a New Ship Sub-Stage

1. Create prompt template in prompts/shipping/ directory
2. Add StageConfig to create_ship_pipeline() in loader.py with JsonCompletion strategy
3. Define signal names and transitions (insert into the transition chain)
4. If sub-stage starts or ends a logical group, add logic to ship_before_stage()/ship_after_stage() in hooks.py
5. Update end_signals if the new stage is terminal
6. Update tests: test_ship_pipeline.py, test_ship_hooks.py, prompt tests

Change Sub-Stage Behavior

• Clean discover: Edit prompts/shipping/clean_discover.md — scope, dead code, duplication analysis
• Clean investigate: Edit prompts/shipping/clean_investigate.md — subagent dispatch for investigation
• Clean execute: Edit prompts/shipping/clean_execute.md — apply changes, lint, commit
• Test plan: Edit prompts/shipping/test_plan.md — risk assessment, batching strategy
• Test execute: Edit prompts/shipping/test_execute.md — subagent dispatch for test writing
• Test verify: Edit prompts/shipping/test_verify.md — suite run, failure diagnosis
• Test commit: Edit prompts/shipping/test_commit.md — stage and commit
• Rebase flow: Edit prompts/shipping/rebase.md — single window, emits SHIP_COMPLETE
• Inter-stage context: Edit hooks.py ship_after_stage() to change what flows between groups

Change Iteration Limits

Edit create_ship_pipeline() in loader.py:

• clean_discover, clean_investigate, clean_execute, test_plan, test_execute: max_iterations (default 10)
• test_verify: min(max_iterations, 3) — verification should be quick
• test_commit: 1 — single commit operation
• rebase: min(max_iterations, 3) — keep low, single context window

Gotchas

• No --tasks for ship: Ship generates work from codebase state, unlike build which requires a tasks file. save_session() passes tasks_file="" for ship sessions.
• Context files are optional: Unlike --plan which requires --context, ship works without context files. They're just extra guidance for clean/test stages.
• Parent branch detection picks nearest ancestor: Checks main, master, develop and returns the one with fewest commits between merge-base and HEAD. No --parent override flag exists (yet). Fails on detached HEAD or non-standard branch names.
• Rebase is single context window: Max 3 iterations because conflict resolution needs continuous state. Don't increase this significantly.
• Template variables must match context dict keys: run_ship_pipeline() context dict (cli.py) must have keys matching all {variable} placeholders in all 8 sub-stage prompts + rebase.
• Task tool is allowed: PLAN_DENIED_TOOLS no longer blocks Task — this enables subagent dispatch in clean_investigate and test_execute. Per-stage denied_tools is wired through Stage.run_iteration() → AgentRunner.run_iteration().
• Hooks match on sub-stage names: ship_before_stage matches clean_discover and test_plan (group starts). ship_after_stage matches clean_execute and test_commit (group ends). All other sub-stages are no-ops.
• Hooks are error-safe: ship_before_stage/ship_after_stage catch exceptions and log warnings, never crash the pipeline (PipelineExecutor wraps hook calls in try/except).
• Old clean.md/test.md kept with deprecation headers: For backward compat with custom YAML pipelines referencing the old monolithic prompts.
• Notification wired in 3 places: notify_ship_complete() must be called from main (cli.py:1314), resume (cli.py:1084), and manifest (cli.py:1158). Missing any one = silent completion for that entry point.
• Resume skips branch detection: When resuming, resume_context is passed directly (cli.py:897-898), bypassing _detect_parent_branch(). The parent branch from the original session is preserved in ship_context.