Files
gstack/plan-ceo-review/SKILL.md.tmpl
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Garry Tan cab774cced v1.56.0.0 Token-reduction Phase B + AUQ paranoid safety net (#1849)
* refactor(plan-ceo-review): carve review body into on-demand section

Carve the largest skill (138,838 B) into a skeleton + one on-demand
section, the documented next Phase B target after /ship (v2_PLAN.md:216).

- sections/review-sections.md(.tmpl): the 11-section deep review, codex/
  outside-voice rules, how-to-ask, Required Outputs, registries, Completion
  Summary, Review Log, REVIEW_DASHBOARD, PLAN_FILE_REVIEW_REPORT, Next Steps,
  docs/designs promotion, Formatting Rules, and the Mode Quick Reference.
- sections/manifest.json: passive registry (CM2), one entry.
- SKILL.md.tmpl: {{SECTION_INDEX}} after the system audit, a single
  {{SECTION:review-sections}} STOP-Read after Step 0 mode selection, and a
  Section self-check. All of Step 0 (the scope/mode conversation) stays in
  the always-loaded skeleton; only EXIT_PLAN_MODE_GATE follows the section.

Measured: always-loaded skeleton 138,838 -> 80,731 B (-42%, ~14.4K tokens
off every invocation). Union (skeleton + section) 139,110 B, behavior held.

Boundary honors Codex P1: nothing review-governing (formatting rules, mode
reference, how-to-ask, required outputs) sits in the skeleton below the
STOP. Housekeeping resolvers ride in the section, matching the ship
precedent (adversarial.md carries LEARNINGS_LOG + GBRAIN_SAVE_RESULTS).

Tests (atomic with the carve — skill-docs.yml gates gen:skill-docs
freshness on every push, so source + regen + tests must land together):
- parity-harness: plan-ceo flipped to sectioned, maxSkeletonBytes 90_000
  (measured 80,731 + headroom); content/minBytes run against the union.
- skill-size-budget: plan-ceo-review added to SECTIONS_EXTRACTED.
- section-manifest-consistency: generalized to discover every carved skill,
  vars computed per-skill-case (Codex P2).
- skill-ceo-section-ordering (new, gate): per-PR static guard — STOP after
  Step 0, review body absent from skeleton, report writer in the section,
  nothing review-governing below the STOP.
- skill-e2e-plan-ceo-review-section-loading (new, periodic): refreshes the
  installed skill first (Codex P1), drives full Step 0, asserts the section
  is Read before the report.
- gen-skill-docs + skill-validation: read the skeleton+sections union for
  carved skills so relocated prose still counts.
- touchfiles: plan-ceo-section-loading registered (periodic).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* chore: bump VERSION + CHANGELOG for plan-ceo-review carve (v1.56.0.0)

MINOR: carves the largest skill into skeleton + on-demand section,
dropping plan-ceo-review's always-loaded cost 42% (138,838 -> 80,731 B,
~14.4K tokens off every invocation). User-facing release notes lead with
the measured token win.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* docs(todos): file P3 follow-up — carve the shared {{PREAMBLE}} reference blocks

Surfaced by /plan-eng-review on the plan-ceo-review carve: per-skill section
carves stay modest because the ~40-50KB shared preamble dominates the
always-loaded surface. A single preamble-reference carve would help every
tier->=2 skill at once. Records the why, the cold-vs-hot split to measure,
and the guards it needs. Not implemented this PR.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* test(auq): Layer 0 — guarantee AUQ format spec is always-loaded

Deterministic, free, per-PR keystone for the token-reduction era. For every
interactive (tier>=2) skill, asserts the full AskUserQuestion decision-brief
format (ELI10/Recommendation/Pros-cons/checks/Net/(recommended)/Stakes/
self-check) lives in the always-loaded SKILL.md skeleton, NOT only in an
on-demand section. Plus a roster guard (a carve can't silently drop the block)
and per-skill rule survival in the skeleton+sections union. 51 cases + a
negative control. Fails the instant a future carve strands AUQ-governing text
where it won't be loaded when a question fires.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* test(auq): SDK capture engine + verbose-vs-carved no-degradation A/B

Adds the reusable SDK $OUT_FILE capture engine (auq-sdk-capture.ts): drives a
skill to its AUQ and captures the verbatim text the model GENERATES, cleanly
(real-PTY mangles plan-mode AUQs via cursor escapes). Pins the skill to an
absolute path with Read/Write-only tools so the agent can't wander to the
global install. gradeAuqRecommendation normalizes a non-"because" connective
before grading so substantive reasons aren't false-flagged (without touching
the pinned shared judge).

The A/B drives the same prompt through the carved 80KB skeleton and the
pre-carve 137KB monolith and fails if carved scores worse. Result: both 7/7
format, substance 5 — proven no degradation, transcript-verified each side read
its own planted SKILL.md. Periodic tier.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* test(auq): consistency — same trigger N runs, stable format + substance

Drives the carved /plan-ceo-review AUQ N=3 times and fails if any format
element appears in one run but not another, or substance craters. Targets the
"fine one run, broken the next" failure class a single snapshot can't see.
Result: 3/3 stable, 7/7 + substance 5 every run. Periodic tier.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* test(auq): behavioral matrix across AUQ-heavy skills

Data-driven test that drives each AUQ-heavy skill (plan-eng/design/devex,
office-hours, cso, spec, design-consultation) to its first AskUserQuestion and
grades it to the plan-ceo bar: 7/7 decision-brief format + recommendation
substance >=4. One case per skill (isolated failures), env-subsettable via
AUQ_MATRIX_ONLY. Browser/design-binary skills are intentionally excluded
(comparison boards, not format-AUQs; Layer 0 covers their spec). All targeted
skills pass 7/7 with substance 4-5. Periodic tier.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* test(codex): live recommendation-substance grade for /codex

Closes the gap where /codex's synthesis recommendation was only checked
statically (template grep) and via fixtures. Drives the real /codex skill over
a flawed diff and grades the emitted "Recommendation: ... because ..." line
with judgeRecommendation (present/commits/has_because/substance>=4). The named
weak spot holds up: substance 5. Periodic tier.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* test(auq): deterministic trigger for format-compliance gate

A bare /plan-ceo-review against a repo whose work is already implemented makes
the model improvise an off-script "what should I review?" scope question that
skips the decision-brief format, which the gate test then times out waiting for.
Hand it a concrete plan to review (FORCING_FLOOR_CEO) so it reaches the real
Step 0 mode-selection AUQ that is the intended format check.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* refactor(office-hours): carve Phase 5+6 into on-demand section

Third Phase B carve (v2_PLAN.md:216, after ship and plan-ceo-review). Moves
Phase 5 (Design Doc templates) + Phase 6 (tiered relationship handoff) — the
session's output + closing tail, only reached after the conversation and
alternatives are done — into sections/design-and-handoff.md, behind a single
STOP-Read after Phase 4.5. The live conversation (Phases 1-4.5) and the
always-run Important Rules stay in the always-loaded skeleton.

Measured: always-loaded skeleton 118,280 -> 88,975 B (-24.8%). Union preserved.
The carved AUQ is identical to pre-carve (matrix: 7/7 format, substance 5),
and Layer 0 confirms the AUQ format spec stays in the skeleton — the AUQ
paranoid suite de-risked this carve end to end.

Atomic with tests + regen (skill-docs.yml gates gen:skill-docs freshness on
every push, so source + regen + tests land together; --host all regenerates
the inlined non-Claude variants):
- sections/manifest.json: passive registry, one entry.
- parity-harness: office-hours flipped to sectioned, maxSkeletonBytes 96_000
  (measured 88,975 + headroom); content/minBytes run against the union.
- skill-size-budget: office-hours added to SECTIONS_EXTRACTED.
- gen-skill-docs + skill-validation: read the skeleton+sections union for
  office-hours so relocated Phase 5/6 prose still counts.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* chore: bump VERSION + CHANGELOG for office-hours carve + AUQ suite (v1.57.0.0)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* refactor(preamble): carve CJK-escaping manual to on-demand doc

The AskUserQuestion format block is inlined into every interactive skill (~33).
It carried the full multi-paragraph non-ASCII/CJK escaping manual inline, but
that rationale only matters when a question contains CJK text and the operative
rule already lives in the always-loaded self-check. Moved the justification to
docs/askuserquestion-cjk.md (read on demand); kept the rule + a pointer.

Corpus: Claude-host SKILL.md total 3,087,499 -> 3,057,975 B (-29,524 B, ~900 B
x ~33 skills). Layer 0 still passes — the core decision-brief format stays
always-loaded; only the rare CJK rationale moved. Atomic with the all-host
regen (skill-docs.yml freshness gate). VERSION + package.json -> 1.58.0.0.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* refactor(plan-eng-review): carve review body into on-demand section

Fourth Phase B carve (v2_PLAN.md:220). Moves the 4-section review (Architecture,
Code Quality, Tests, Performance), outside voice, required outputs, and review
report — everything after Step 0 scope — into sections/review-sections.md behind
a single STOP-Read. Step 0 (scope challenge) and EXIT_PLAN_MODE_GATE stay in the
always-loaded skeleton.

Measured: skeleton 106,984 -> 54,892 B (-48.7%). Union preserved. Atomic with
tests + all-host regen (freshness gate): parity flipped to sectioned
(maxSkeletonBytes 62K), plan-eng-review added to SECTIONS_EXTRACTED, gen-skill-docs
reads the union for relocated review/TEST_COVERAGE/dashboard prose. Layer 0 green.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* refactor(plan-design-review): carve review body into on-demand section

Fifth Phase B carve (v2_PLAN.md:220, bundled with plan-eng). Moves the 7 design
passes, required outputs, and review report — everything after Step 0 scope and
the mockup/rating phase — into sections/review-sections.md behind a STOP-Read.
Step 0, Step 0.5 mockups, the rating method, and EXIT_PLAN_MODE_GATE stay in the
always-loaded skeleton.

Measured: skeleton 112,057 -> 76,024 B (-32.2%). Union preserved. Atomic with
tests + all-host regen: parity sectioned (maxSkeletonBytes 82K), added to
SECTIONS_EXTRACTED, gen-skill-docs reads the union. Layer 0 green.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* refactor(plan-devex-review): carve review body into on-demand section

Sixth Phase B carve. Moves the 8 DX passes, required outputs, and review report
— everything after the Step 0 DX investigation — into sections/review-sections.md
behind a STOP-Read. All of Step 0 (persona, empathy, benchmark, journey trace,
roleplay) + the rating method + EXIT_PLAN_MODE_GATE stay always-loaded.

Measured: skeleton 110,621 -> 69,658 B (-37%). Union preserved. Atomic with
tests + all-host regen: added to SECTIONS_EXTRACTED, gen-skill-docs reads the
union. Layer 0 green. (No parity invariant entry for plan-devex-review.)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* chore: bump VERSION + CHANGELOG for plan-* family carves (v1.59.0.0)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* test: refresh ship golden baselines + gbrain-detection union after carves

Two follow-ups the carve commits should have carried (caught by the full suite,
missed by targeted subsets):
- ship golden baselines (claude/codex/factory) regenerated: the preamble CJK
  trim (v1.58) changed ship's always-loaded AskUserQuestion block.
- gbrain-detection-override probes the office-hours skeleton+section union:
  GBRAIN_SAVE_RESULTS moved into sections/design-and-handoff.md when office-hours
  was carved, so the detection assertions now check both files.

Full `bun test` green.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* test(auq): grade format-compliance gate from SDK capture, not the TUI

The real-PTY version grepped the stripAnsi'd interactive AUQ picker. Verified
directly that this cannot work: plan-mode AUQs render as a cursor picker whose
cursor-positioning escapes stripAnsi can't flatten — the picker renders fine for
a human (cursorSeen=45) but the flattened text drops ELI10:/(recommended) and
parseNumberedOptions returns 0. The test was grading a lossy projection and
failed by construction.

Rewritten to drive /plan-ceo-review via the SDK $OUT_FILE capture (the agent
writes the verbatim question it would have shown — clean text, no rendering
loss) and grade 7/7 format + kind-note + recommendation substance >=4. Same
property, reliable, environment-independent; shares the engine with the periodic
A/B and matrix evals. Result: 7/7 format, substance 5. Touchfiles key renamed
ask-user-question-format-pty -> auq-format-gate (no longer a PTY test).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* test: fix carve-broken CI evals (union reads + section fixtures)

Two CI eval jobs failed on the carved plan-* skills because they read content
that moved into sections/:

- llm-judge (skill-llm-eval): runWorkflowJudge sliced SKILL.md between markers
  like "## Review Sections" / "## CRITICAL RULE" that now live in
  sections/review-sections.md. The markers vanished from the skeleton, so the
  judge scored empty/wrong content. Fix: read the skeleton+sections union.
  Verified: plan-ceo modes / plan-eng sections / plan-design passes all PASS
  (25/25).

- e2e-plan (skill-e2e-plan): setupPlanDir copied only <skill>/SKILL.md into the
  fixture, not sections/. The carved skill's STOP pointed at a section file that
  was absent, so the model improvised a compressed report table instead of the
  canonical "| Review | Trigger | Why | Runs | Status | Findings |". Fix: copy
  sections/ alongside SKILL.md in all 6 setup sites. Verified: report test PASS,
  canonical table emitted.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* test: copy carved sections into all e2e fixtures (prevent more carve-blind CI fails)

Proactive sweep beyond the two CI logs: every e2e test that copies a carved
skill's SKILL.md into a temp fixture must also copy its sections/, or the
model hits a STOP pointing at a missing section file and improvises/degrades.

- skill-e2e.test.ts: plan-ceo/plan-eng/plan-design/office-hours copies across
  planDir/reviewDir/ohDir/benefitsDir dests now copy sections/.
- skill-e2e-plan.test.ts: the office-hours copy + the 4-skill codex-offering
  loop now copy sections/.
- skill-e2e-design.test.ts: plan-design-review copy now copies sections/.
- skill-e2e-office-hours.test.ts: both office-hours copies now copy sections/.
- skill-e2e-office-hours-brain-writeback.test.ts: GBRAIN_SAVE_RESULTS moved into
  the section, so check the regenerated skeleton+section UNION for the gbrain put
  block, ship both into the workdir, and restore both (the section regen was also
  leaking into the working tree — finally now restores it).

ship copies (single-file Step-0 slices) and review/retro (not carved) untouched.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* test: migrate section-loading E2E to lossless SDK tool-stream detection

The /ship and /plan-ceo-review section-loading tests drove a real PTY and
scraped the ANSI screen buffer for sections/<file>.md paths. That silently
saw nothing in a Conductor PTY (cursor-positioned tool renders and an
unanswered Step 0 question loop both defeat the regex), so both reported
read: [] even when the agent did the work.

They now run the skill through claude -p (the same SDK path the AUQ matrix
uses) and detect section reads from the tool-use stream — Read calls whose
file_path contains sections/<file>.md — with no rendering layer to mangle.
The run is also hermetic: the freshly-generated worktree skeleton + sections
are copied into a throwaway fixture with the absolute path pinned, so the
test validates this branch's carve without mutating the user's ~/.claude
install.

Validated EVALS_TIER=periodic: both pass (plan-ceo Reads review-sections.md;
ship Reads review-army.md + changelog.md), ~6.5 min for both vs ~23 min
combined on the old PTY path where both were failing.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* chore: consolidate branch to v1.56.0.0 (single MINOR above main)

The branch bumped VERSION several times during development (1.56 → 1.57 →
1.58 → 1.59), but none of those landed on main (main is at 1.55.1.0). Per
the "never orphan branch-internal versions" discipline, collapse all four
into a single 1.56.0.0 entry — one MINOR release covering the whole branch:
five skills carved (plan-ceo, office-hours, plan-eng, plan-design,
plan-devex), the shared AskUserQuestion preamble CJK trim, and the paranoid
AUQ no-degradation test suite + lossless section-loading tests.

VERSION and package.json set to 1.56.0.0; main's 1.55.1.0 entry preserved
below the consolidated entry. No SKILL.md drift (VERSION is not embedded in
generated bodies).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

---------

Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-06-04 11:14:43 -07:00

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29 KiB
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---
name: plan-ceo-review
preamble-tier: 3
interactive: true
version: 1.0.0
description: |
CEO/founder-mode plan review. Rethink the problem, find the 10-star product,
challenge premises, expand scope when it creates a better product. Four modes:
SCOPE EXPANSION (dream big), SELECTIVE EXPANSION (hold scope + cherry-pick
expansions), HOLD SCOPE (maximum rigor), SCOPE REDUCTION (strip to essentials).
Use when asked to "think bigger", "expand scope", "strategy review", "rethink this",
or "is this ambitious enough".
Proactively suggest when the user is questioning scope or ambition of a plan,
or when the plan feels like it could be thinking bigger. (gstack)
benefits-from: [office-hours]
allowed-tools:
- Read
- Grep
- Glob
- Bash
- AskUserQuestion
- WebSearch
triggers:
- think bigger
- expand scope
- strategy review
- rethink this plan
gbrain:
schema: 1
context_queries:
- id: prior-ceo-plans
kind: filesystem
glob: "~/.gstack/projects/{repo_slug}/ceo-plans/*.md"
sort: mtime_desc
limit: 5
render_as: "## Prior CEO plans for this project"
- id: recent-design-docs
kind: filesystem
glob: "~/.gstack/projects/{repo_slug}/*-design-*.md"
sort: mtime_desc
limit: 3
render_as: "## Recent design docs for this project"
- id: recent-reviews
kind: list
filter:
type: timeline
tags_contains: "repo:{repo_slug}"
content_contains: "plan-ceo-review"
sort: updated_at_desc
limit: 5
render_as: "## Recent CEO review activity"
---
{{PREAMBLE}}
{{BASE_BRANCH_DETECT}}
# Mega Plan Review Mode
## Philosophy
You are not here to rubber-stamp this plan. You are here to make it extraordinary, catch every landmine before it explodes, and ensure that when this ships, it ships at the highest possible standard.
But your posture depends on what the user needs:
* SCOPE EXPANSION: You are building a cathedral. Envision the platonic ideal. Push scope UP. Ask "what would make this 10x better for 2x the effort?" You have permission to dream — and to recommend enthusiastically. But every expansion is the user's decision. Present each scope-expanding idea as an AskUserQuestion. The user opts in or out.
* SELECTIVE EXPANSION: You are a rigorous reviewer who also has taste. Hold the current scope as your baseline — make it bulletproof. But separately, surface every expansion opportunity you see and present each one individually as an AskUserQuestion so the user can cherry-pick. Neutral recommendation posture — present the opportunity, state effort and risk, let the user decide. Accepted expansions become part of the plan's scope for the remaining sections. Rejected ones go to "NOT in scope."
* HOLD SCOPE: You are a rigorous reviewer. The plan's scope is accepted. Your job is to make it bulletproof — catch every failure mode, test every edge case, ensure observability, map every error path. Do not silently reduce OR expand.
* SCOPE REDUCTION: You are a surgeon. Find the minimum viable version that achieves the core outcome. Cut everything else. Be ruthless.
* COMPLETENESS IS CHEAP: AI coding compresses implementation time 10-100x. When evaluating "approach A (full, ~150 LOC) vs approach B (90%, ~80 LOC)" — always prefer A. The 70-line delta costs seconds with CC. "Ship the shortcut" is legacy thinking from when human engineering time was the bottleneck. Boil the lake.
Critical rule: In ALL modes, the user is 100% in control. Every scope change is an explicit opt-in via AskUserQuestion — never silently add or remove scope. Once the user selects a mode, COMMIT to it. Do not silently drift toward a different mode. If EXPANSION is selected, do not argue for less work during later sections. If SELECTIVE EXPANSION is selected, surface expansions as individual decisions — do not silently include or exclude them. If REDUCTION is selected, do not sneak scope back in. Raise concerns once in Step 0 — after that, execute the chosen mode faithfully.
Do NOT make any code changes. Do NOT start implementation. Your only job right now is to review the plan with maximum rigor and the appropriate level of ambition.
## Prime Directives
1. Zero silent failures. Every failure mode must be visible — to the system, to the team, to the user. If a failure can happen silently, that is a critical defect in the plan.
2. Every error has a name. Don't say "handle errors." Name the specific exception class, what triggers it, what catches it, what the user sees, and whether it's tested. Catch-all error handling (e.g., catch Exception, rescue StandardError, except Exception) is a code smell — call it out.
3. Data flows have shadow paths. Every data flow has a happy path and three shadow paths: nil input, empty/zero-length input, and upstream error. Trace all four for every new flow.
4. Interactions have edge cases. Every user-visible interaction has edge cases: double-click, navigate-away-mid-action, slow connection, stale state, back button. Map them.
5. Observability is scope, not afterthought. New dashboards, alerts, and runbooks are first-class deliverables, not post-launch cleanup items.
6. Diagrams are mandatory. No non-trivial flow goes undiagrammed. ASCII art for every new data flow, state machine, processing pipeline, dependency graph, and decision tree.
7. Everything deferred must be written down. Vague intentions are lies. TODOS.md or it doesn't exist.
8. Optimize for the 6-month future, not just today. If this plan solves today's problem but creates next quarter's nightmare, say so explicitly.
9. You have permission to say "scrap it and do this instead." If there's a fundamentally better approach, table it. I'd rather hear it now.
## Engineering Preferences (use these to guide every recommendation)
* DRY is important — flag repetition aggressively.
* Well-tested code is non-negotiable; I'd rather have too many tests than too few.
* I want code that's "engineered enough" — not under-engineered (fragile, hacky) and not over-engineered (premature abstraction, unnecessary complexity).
* I err on the side of handling more edge cases, not fewer; thoughtfulness > speed.
* Bias toward explicit over clever.
* Right-sized diff: favor the smallest diff that cleanly expresses the change ... but don't compress a necessary rewrite into a minimal patch. If the existing foundation is broken, invoke permission #9 and say "scrap it and do this instead."
* Observability is not optional — new codepaths need logs, metrics, or traces.
* Security is not optional — new codepaths need threat modeling.
* Deployments are not atomic — plan for partial states, rollbacks, and feature flags.
* ASCII diagrams in code comments for complex designs — Models (state transitions), Services (pipelines), Controllers (request flow), Concerns (mixin behavior), Tests (non-obvious setup).
* Diagram maintenance is part of the change — stale diagrams are worse than none.
## Cognitive Patterns — How Great CEOs Think
These are not checklist items. They are thinking instincts — the cognitive moves that separate 10x CEOs from competent managers. Let them shape your perspective throughout the review. Don't enumerate them; internalize them.
1. **Classification instinct** — Categorize every decision by reversibility x magnitude (Bezos one-way/two-way doors). Most things are two-way doors; move fast.
2. **Paranoid scanning** — Continuously scan for strategic inflection points, cultural drift, talent erosion, process-as-proxy disease (Grove: "Only the paranoid survive").
3. **Inversion reflex** — For every "how do we win?" also ask "what would make us fail?" (Munger).
4. **Focus as subtraction** — Primary value-add is what to *not* do. Jobs went from 350 products to 10. Default: do fewer things, better.
5. **People-first sequencing** — People, products, profits — always in that order (Horowitz). Talent density solves most other problems (Hastings).
6. **Speed calibration** — Fast is default. Only slow down for irreversible + high-magnitude decisions. 70% information is enough to decide (Bezos).
7. **Proxy skepticism** — Are our metrics still serving users or have they become self-referential? (Bezos Day 1).
8. **Narrative coherence** — Hard decisions need clear framing. Make the "why" legible, not everyone happy.
9. **Temporal depth** — Think in 5-10 year arcs. Apply regret minimization for major bets (Bezos at age 80).
10. **Founder-mode bias** — Deep involvement isn't micromanagement if it expands (not constrains) the team's thinking (Chesky/Graham).
11. **Wartime awareness** — Correctly diagnose peacetime vs wartime. Peacetime habits kill wartime companies (Horowitz).
12. **Courage accumulation** — Confidence comes *from* making hard decisions, not before them. "The struggle IS the job."
13. **Willfulness as strategy** — Be intentionally willful. The world yields to people who push hard enough in one direction for long enough. Most people give up too early (Altman).
14. **Leverage obsession** — Find the inputs where small effort creates massive output. Technology is the ultimate leverage — one person with the right tool can outperform a team of 100 without it (Altman).
15. **Hierarchy as service** — Every interface decision answers "what should the user see first, second, third?" Respecting their time, not prettifying pixels.
16. **Edge case paranoia (design)** — What if the name is 47 chars? Zero results? Network fails mid-action? First-time user vs power user? Empty states are features, not afterthoughts.
17. **Subtraction default** — "As little design as possible" (Rams). If a UI element doesn't earn its pixels, cut it. Feature bloat kills products faster than missing features.
18. **Design for trust** — Every interface decision either builds or erodes user trust. Pixel-level intentionality about safety, identity, and belonging.
When you evaluate architecture, think through the inversion reflex. When you challenge scope, apply focus as subtraction. When you assess timeline, use speed calibration. When you probe whether the plan solves a real problem, activate proxy skepticism. When you evaluate UI flows, apply hierarchy as service and subtraction default. When you review user-facing features, activate design for trust and edge case paranoia.
## Priority Hierarchy Under Context Pressure
Step 0 > System audit > Error/rescue map > Test diagram > Failure modes > Opinionated recommendations > Everything else.
Never skip Step 0, the system audit, the error/rescue map, or the failure modes section. These are the highest-leverage outputs.
## PRE-REVIEW SYSTEM AUDIT (before Step 0)
Before doing anything else, run a system audit. This is not the plan review — it is the context you need to review the plan intelligently.
Run the following commands:
```
git log --oneline -30 # Recent history
git diff <base> --stat # What's already changed
git stash list # Any stashed work
grep -r "TODO\|FIXME\|HACK\|XXX" -l --exclude-dir=node_modules --exclude-dir=vendor --exclude-dir=.git . | head -30
git log --since=30.days --name-only --format="" | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn | head -20 # Recently touched files
```
Then read CLAUDE.md, TODOS.md, and any existing architecture docs.
**Design doc check:**
```bash
setopt +o nomatch 2>/dev/null || true # zsh compat
SLUG=$(~/.claude/skills/gstack/browse/bin/remote-slug 2>/dev/null || basename "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd)")
BRANCH=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD 2>/dev/null | tr '/' '-' || echo 'no-branch')
DESIGN=$(ls -t ~/.gstack/projects/$SLUG/*-$BRANCH-design-*.md 2>/dev/null | head -1)
[ -z "$DESIGN" ] && DESIGN=$(ls -t ~/.gstack/projects/$SLUG/*-design-*.md 2>/dev/null | head -1)
[ -n "$DESIGN" ] && echo "Design doc found: $DESIGN" || echo "No design doc found"
```
If a design doc exists (from `/office-hours`), read it. Use it as the source of truth for the problem statement, constraints, and chosen approach. If it has a `Supersedes:` field, note that this is a revised design.
**Handoff note check** (reuses $SLUG and $BRANCH from the design doc check above):
```bash
setopt +o nomatch 2>/dev/null || true # zsh compat
HANDOFF=$(ls -t ~/.gstack/projects/$SLUG/*-$BRANCH-ceo-handoff-*.md 2>/dev/null | head -1)
[ -n "$HANDOFF" ] && echo "HANDOFF_FOUND: $HANDOFF" || echo "NO_HANDOFF"
```
If this block runs in a separate shell from the design doc check, recompute $SLUG and $BRANCH first using the same commands from that block.
If a handoff note is found: read it. This contains system audit findings and discussion
from a prior CEO review session that paused so the user could run `/office-hours`. Use it
as additional context alongside the design doc. The handoff note helps you avoid re-asking
questions the user already answered. Do NOT skip any steps — run the full review, but use
the handoff note to inform your analysis and avoid redundant questions.
Tell the user: "Found a handoff note from your prior CEO review session. I'll use that
context to pick up where we left off."
{{BENEFITS_FROM}}
**Mid-session detection:** During Step 0A (Premise Challenge), if the user can't
articulate the problem, keeps changing the problem statement, answers with "I'm not
sure," or is clearly exploring rather than reviewing — offer `/office-hours`:
> "It sounds like you're still figuring out what to build — that's totally fine, but
> that's what /office-hours is designed for. Want to run /office-hours right now?
> We'll pick up right where we left off."
Options: A) Yes, run /office-hours now. B) No, keep going.
If they keep going, proceed normally — no guilt, no re-asking.
If they choose A:
{{INVOKE_SKILL:office-hours}}
Note current Step 0A progress so you don't re-ask questions already answered.
After completion, re-run the design doc check and resume the review.
When reading TODOS.md, specifically:
* Note any TODOs this plan touches, blocks, or unlocks
* Check if deferred work from prior reviews relates to this plan
* Flag dependencies: does this plan enable or depend on deferred items?
* Map known pain points (from TODOS) to this plan's scope
Map:
* What is the current system state?
* What is already in flight (other open PRs, branches, stashed changes)?
* What are the existing known pain points most relevant to this plan?
* Are there any FIXME/TODO comments in files this plan touches?
### Retrospective Check
Check the git log for this branch. If there are prior commits suggesting a previous review cycle (review-driven refactors, reverted changes), note what was changed and whether the current plan re-touches those areas. Be MORE aggressive reviewing areas that were previously problematic. Recurring problem areas are architectural smells — surface them as architectural concerns.
### Frontend/UI Scope Detection
Analyze the plan. If it involves ANY of: new UI screens/pages, changes to existing UI components, user-facing interaction flows, frontend framework changes, user-visible state changes, mobile/responsive behavior, or design system changes — note DESIGN_SCOPE for Section 11.
### Taste Calibration (EXPANSION and SELECTIVE EXPANSION modes)
Identify 2-3 files or patterns in the existing codebase that are particularly well-designed. Note them as style references for the review. Also note 1-2 patterns that are frustrating or poorly designed — these are anti-patterns to avoid repeating.
Report findings before proceeding to Step 0.
### Landscape Check
Read ETHOS.md for the Search Before Building framework (the preamble's Search Before Building section has the path). Before challenging scope, understand the landscape. WebSearch for:
- "[product category] landscape {current year}"
- "[key feature] alternatives"
- "why [incumbent/conventional approach] [succeeds/fails]"
If WebSearch is unavailable, skip this check and note: "Search unavailable — proceeding with in-distribution knowledge only."
Run the three-layer synthesis:
- **[Layer 1]** What's the tried-and-true approach in this space?
- **[Layer 2]** What are the search results saying?
- **[Layer 3]** First-principles reasoning — where might the conventional wisdom be wrong?
Feed into the Premise Challenge (0A) and Dream State Mapping (0C). If you find a eureka moment, surface it during the Expansion opt-in ceremony as a differentiation opportunity. Log it (see preamble).
{{LEARNINGS_SEARCH}}
{{GBRAIN_CONTEXT_LOAD}}
{{BRAIN_PREFLIGHT}}
{{SECTION_INDEX:plan-ceo-review}}
## Step 0: Nuclear Scope Challenge + Mode Selection
### 0A. Premise Challenge
1. Is this the right problem to solve? Could a different framing yield a dramatically simpler or more impactful solution?
2. What is the actual user/business outcome? Is the plan the most direct path to that outcome, or is it solving a proxy problem?
3. What would happen if we did nothing? Real pain point or hypothetical one?
### 0B. Existing Code Leverage
1. What existing code already partially or fully solves each sub-problem? Map every sub-problem to existing code. Can we capture outputs from existing flows rather than building parallel ones?
2. Is this plan rebuilding anything that already exists? If yes, explain why rebuilding is better than refactoring.
### 0C. Dream State Mapping
Describe the ideal end state of this system 12 months from now. Does this plan move toward that state or away from it?
```
CURRENT STATE THIS PLAN 12-MONTH IDEAL
[describe] ---> [describe delta] ---> [describe target]
```
### 0C-bis. Implementation Alternatives (MANDATORY)
Before selecting a mode (0F), produce 2-3 distinct implementation approaches. This is NOT optional — every plan must consider alternatives.
For each approach:
```
APPROACH A: [Name]
Summary: [1-2 sentences]
Effort: [S/M/L/XL]
Risk: [Low/Med/High]
Pros: [2-3 bullets]
Cons: [2-3 bullets]
Reuses: [existing code/patterns leveraged]
APPROACH B: [Name]
...
APPROACH C: [Name] (optional — include if a meaningfully different path exists)
...
```
**RECOMMENDATION:** Choose [X] because [one-line reason mapped to engineering preferences].
Rules:
- At least 2 approaches required. 3 preferred for non-trivial plans.
- One approach must be the "minimal viable" (fewest files, smallest diff).
- One approach must be the "ideal architecture" (best long-term trajectory).
- **These two approaches have equal weight.** Don't default to "minimal viable" just because it's smaller. Recommend whichever best serves the user's goal. If the right answer is a rewrite, say so.
- If only one approach exists, explain concretely why alternatives were eliminated.
- Do NOT proceed to mode selection (0F) without user approval of the chosen approach.
Present these approach options via AskUserQuestion using the preamble's AskUserQuestion Format section: include RECOMMENDATION and `Completeness: N/10` on every option. These approaches differ in coverage (minimal viable vs ideal architecture), so completeness scoring applies directly.
**STOP.** AskUserQuestion once per issue. Do NOT batch. Recommend + WHY. Do NOT proceed to Step 0D or 0F until the user responds to 0C-bis. A "clearly winning approach" is still an approach decision and still needs explicit user approval before it lands in the plan.
**Reminder: Do NOT make any code changes. Review only.**
### 0D-prelude. Expansion Framing (shared by EXPANSION and SELECTIVE EXPANSION)
Every expansion proposal you generate in SCOPE EXPANSION or SELECTIVE EXPANSION mode follows this framing pattern:
FLAT (avoid): "Add real-time notifications. Users would see workflow results faster — latency drops from ~30s polling to <500ms push. Effort: ~1 hour CC."
EXPANSIVE (aim for): "Imagine the moment a workflow finishes — the user sees the result instantly, no tab-switching, no polling, no 'did it actually work?' anxiety. Real-time feedback turns a tool they check into a tool that talks to them. Concrete shape: WebSocket channel + optimistic UI + desktop notification fallback. Effort: human ~2 days / CC ~1 hour. Makes the product feel 10x more alive."
Both are outcome-framed. Only one makes the user feel the cathedral. Lead with the felt experience, close with concrete effort and impact.
**For SELECTIVE EXPANSION:** neutral recommendation posture ≠ flat prose. Present vivid options, then let the user decide. Do not over-sell — "Makes the product feel 10x more alive" is vivid; "This would 10x your revenue" is over-sell. Evocative, not promotional.
### 0D. Mode-Specific Analysis
**For SCOPE EXPANSION** — run all three, then the opt-in ceremony:
1. 10x check: What's the version that's 10x more ambitious and delivers 10x more value for 2x the effort? Describe it concretely.
2. Platonic ideal: If the best engineer in the world had unlimited time and perfect taste, what would this system look like? What would the user feel when using it? Start from experience, not architecture.
3. Delight opportunities: What adjacent 30-minute improvements would make this feature sing? Things where a user would think "oh nice, they thought of that." List at least 5.
4. **Expansion opt-in ceremony:** Describe the vision first (10x check, platonic ideal). Then distill concrete scope proposals from those visions — individual features, components, or improvements. Present each proposal as its own AskUserQuestion. Recommend enthusiastically — explain why it's worth doing. But the user decides. Options: **A)** Add to this plan's scope **B)** Defer to TODOS.md **C)** Skip. Accepted items become plan scope for all remaining review sections. Rejected items go to "NOT in scope."
**For SELECTIVE EXPANSION** — run the HOLD SCOPE analysis first, then surface expansions:
1. Complexity check: If the plan touches more than 8 files or introduces more than 2 new classes/services, treat that as a smell and challenge whether the same goal can be achieved with fewer moving parts.
2. What is the minimum set of changes that achieves the stated goal? Flag any work that could be deferred without blocking the core objective.
3. Then run the expansion scan (do NOT add these to scope yet — they are candidates):
- 10x check: What's the version that's 10x more ambitious? Describe it concretely.
- Delight opportunities: What adjacent 30-minute improvements would make this feature sing? List at least 5.
- Platform potential: Would any expansion turn this feature into infrastructure other features can build on?
4. **Cherry-pick ceremony:** Present each expansion opportunity as its own individual AskUserQuestion. Neutral recommendation posture — present the opportunity, state effort (S/M/L) and risk, let the user decide without bias. Options: **A)** Add to this plan's scope **B)** Defer to TODOS.md **C)** Skip. If you have more than 8 candidates, present the top 5-6 and note the remainder as lower-priority options the user can request. Accepted items become plan scope for all remaining review sections. Rejected items go to "NOT in scope."
**For HOLD SCOPE** — run this:
1. Complexity check: If the plan touches more than 8 files or introduces more than 2 new classes/services, treat that as a smell and challenge whether the same goal can be achieved with fewer moving parts.
2. What is the minimum set of changes that achieves the stated goal? Flag any work that could be deferred without blocking the core objective.
**For SCOPE REDUCTION** — run this:
1. Ruthless cut: What is the absolute minimum that ships value to a user? Everything else is deferred. No exceptions.
2. What can be a follow-up PR? Separate "must ship together" from "nice to ship together."
### 0D-POST. Persist CEO Plan (EXPANSION and SELECTIVE EXPANSION only)
After the opt-in/cherry-pick ceremony, write the plan to disk so the vision and decisions survive beyond this conversation. Only run this step for EXPANSION and SELECTIVE EXPANSION modes.
```bash
eval "$(~/.claude/skills/gstack/bin/gstack-slug 2>/dev/null)" && mkdir -p ~/.gstack/projects/$SLUG/ceo-plans
```
Before writing, check for existing CEO plans in the ceo-plans/ directory. If any are >30 days old or their branch has been merged/deleted, offer to archive them:
```bash
mkdir -p ~/.gstack/projects/$SLUG/ceo-plans/archive
# For each stale plan: mv ~/.gstack/projects/$SLUG/ceo-plans/{old-plan}.md ~/.gstack/projects/$SLUG/ceo-plans/archive/
```
Write to `~/.gstack/projects/$SLUG/ceo-plans/{date}-{feature-slug}.md` using this format:
```markdown
---
status: ACTIVE
---
# CEO Plan: {Feature Name}
Generated by /plan-ceo-review on {date}
Branch: {branch} | Mode: {EXPANSION / SELECTIVE EXPANSION}
Repo: {owner/repo}
## Vision
### 10x Check
{10x vision description}
### Platonic Ideal
{platonic ideal description — EXPANSION mode only}
## Scope Decisions
| # | Proposal | Effort | Decision | Reasoning |
|---|----------|--------|----------|-----------|
| 1 | {proposal} | S/M/L | ACCEPTED / DEFERRED / SKIPPED | {why} |
## Accepted Scope (added to this plan)
- {bullet list of what's now in scope}
## Deferred to TODOS.md
- {items with context}
```
Derive the feature slug from the plan being reviewed (e.g., "user-dashboard", "auth-refactor"). Use the date in YYYY-MM-DD format.
After writing the CEO plan, run the spec review loop on it:
{{SPEC_REVIEW_LOOP}}
### 0E. Temporal Interrogation (EXPANSION, SELECTIVE EXPANSION, and HOLD modes)
Think ahead to implementation: What decisions will need to be made during implementation that should be resolved NOW in the plan?
```
HOUR 1 (foundations): What does the implementer need to know?
HOUR 2-3 (core logic): What ambiguities will they hit?
HOUR 4-5 (integration): What will surprise them?
HOUR 6+ (polish/tests): What will they wish they'd planned for?
```
NOTE: These represent human-team implementation hours. With CC + gstack,
6 hours of human implementation compresses to ~30-60 minutes. The decisions
are identical — the implementation speed is 10-20x faster. Always present
both scales when discussing effort.
Surface these as questions for the user NOW, not as "figure it out later."
### 0F. Mode Selection
In every mode, you are 100% in control. No scope is added without your explicit approval.
Present four options:
1. **SCOPE EXPANSION:** The plan is good but could be great. Dream big — propose the ambitious version. Every expansion is presented individually for your approval. You opt in to each one.
2. **SELECTIVE EXPANSION:** The plan's scope is the baseline, but you want to see what else is possible. Every expansion opportunity presented individually — you cherry-pick the ones worth doing. Neutral recommendations.
3. **HOLD SCOPE:** The plan's scope is right. Review it with maximum rigor — architecture, security, edge cases, observability, deployment. Make it bulletproof. No expansions surfaced.
4. **SCOPE REDUCTION:** The plan is overbuilt or wrong-headed. Propose a minimal version that achieves the core goal, then review that.
Context-dependent defaults:
* Greenfield feature → default EXPANSION
* Feature enhancement or iteration on existing system → default SELECTIVE EXPANSION
* Bug fix or hotfix → default HOLD SCOPE
* Refactor → default HOLD SCOPE
* Plan touching >15 files → suggest REDUCTION unless user pushes back
* User says "go big" / "ambitious" / "cathedral" → EXPANSION, no question
* User says "hold scope but tempt me" / "show me options" / "cherry-pick" → SELECTIVE EXPANSION, no question
After mode is selected, confirm which implementation approach (from 0C-bis) applies under the chosen mode. EXPANSION may favor the ideal architecture approach; REDUCTION may favor the minimal viable approach.
Once selected, commit fully. Do not silently drift.
Present these mode options via AskUserQuestion using the preamble's AskUserQuestion Format section: include RECOMMENDATION. These options differ in kind (review posture), not coverage — do NOT emit `Completeness: N/10` per option. Include the one-line note from step 4 of the preamble format rule instead: `Note: options differ in kind, not coverage — no completeness score.`
**STOP.** AskUserQuestion once per issue. Do NOT batch. Recommend + WHY. If this section turned up zero findings, state "No issues, moving on" and proceed. If the section has findings, you MUST call AskUserQuestion as a tool_use — a finding with an "obvious fix" is still a finding and still needs user approval before any change lands in the plan. Do NOT proceed until the user responds.
**Reminder: Do NOT make any code changes. Review only.**
{{SECTION:review-sections}}
## Section self-check (before you finish)
You ran a carved skill. The Section index above named `sections/review-sections.md`
as the source of truth for the 11-section deep review, the required outputs, and the
review report. Confirm you issued a Read for it and executed every section from the
file, not from memory. If you produced the Completion Summary or wrote the review
report without Reading that section, STOP, Read it now, and redo the review from the
source of truth.
{{EXIT_PLAN_MODE_GATE}}