Orchestration Workflows

Silver Bullet is an Agentic Process Orchestrator (APO). It composes work from canonical atomic flow definitions in docs/apo-catalog.json; generated references such as docs/composable-flows-contracts.md and docs/workflow-composition-matrix.md are catalog views, not separate authorities.

Overview

/silver classifies intent and routes to a catalog-backed workflow (silver:feature, silver:ui, …) or a dynamic route. Workflows compose canonical atomic flow IDs and reusable workflow components from the APO catalog. Each atomic flow is one subagent work package with its own V-loop; each flow step/skill has a local V-loop that rolls up before the parent flow gate can pass.

Active composition state lives in .planning/workflows/<id>.md (Flow Log CSV rows). The retired single-file WORKFLOW.md model is legacy only. SB is the lifecycle authority — no external workflow delegation.

FLOW numbers are migration aliases. v0.48.3 runtime order is defined by canonical atomic flow slugs, reusable workflow components, composer skills, and hooks/lib/orchestrator-state.sh.

Composer Workflows

Composer workflows are catalog-backed workflow entities. They compose atomic flow slugs and reusable workflow components; conditional insertions are recorded through catalog dynamic rules and composition logs.

ComposerEntry signalsCatalog Composition
/silverfreeform intent, unclear route, mixed workROUTE → feature: BOOTSTRAP → … → EXECUTE → post-exec gates
ROUTE → fast: FAST_PATHQUALITY_GATEPLANVALIDATEEXECUTEVERIFY
/silver:deep-researchcompare X vs Y, spike, technology decisionCLARIFYDECIDEDOCUMENTVALIDATE
/silver:featureadd, build, implement, new feature, enhanceBOOTSTRAPORIENTCLARIFYDECIDESPECIFYQUALITY_GATEPLANDESIGN_CONTRACTEXECUTE[UI_QUALITY if UI]REVIEW_REQUESTREVIEWREVIEW_TRIAGEVERIFY (verify-tests) → SECURE (VALIDATE as needed) → QUALITY_GATEBRANCH_FINISHCOMPLETION_AUDITSHIP
/silver:bugfixbug, broken, crash, error, regression[ORIENT if needed]DEBUGPLANEXECUTEREVIEW_REQUESTREVIEWREVIEW_TRIAGEVERIFY (verify-tests) → SECURE (VALIDATE as needed) → QUALITY_GATEBRANCH_FINISHCOMPLETION_AUDITSHIP
/silver:uiUI, frontend, component, screen, designBOOTSTRAPORIENTCLARIFYDECIDESPECIFYQUALITY_GATEPLANDESIGN_CONTRACTEXECUTEUI_QUALITYREVIEW_REQUESTREVIEWREVIEW_TRIAGEVERIFY (verify-tests) → SECURE (VALIDATE as needed) → QUALITY_GATEBRANCH_FINISHCOMPLETION_AUDITSHIP
/silver:fasttrivial, typo, bounded small changeFAST_PATHQUALITY_GATEPLANVALIDATEEXECUTEVERIFY
/silver:devopsinfra, CI/CD, terraform, IaC, cloudBLAST_RADIUSDEVOPS_ROUTEQUALITY_GATESECUREORIENTPLANVALIDATEEXECUTEREVIEW_REQUESTREVIEWREVIEW_TRIAGEVERIFY (verify-tests) → SECURE (VALIDATE as needed) → QUALITY_GATEBRANCH_FINISHCOMPLETION_AUDITSHIP
/silver:releaserelease, publish, version, tag vQUALITY_GATEREVIEW_REQUESTREVIEWREVIEW_TRIAGEVERIFY (verify-tests) → SECURE (VALIDATE as needed) → BRANCH_FINISHCOMPLETION_AUDITSHIPRELEASE

Utility skills map to catalog slugs directly: /silver:spec supports SPECIFY; /silver:ingest is a specify step; /silver:validate supports VALIDATE.

Atomic Flow Catalog

The APO catalog defines 27 canonical atomic flows. Each entry has an input contract, work product, per-flow V-loop, owning skills, tool policy, execution block, dependency/mutation metadata, and exit condition. Full generated contracts: docs/composable-flows-contracts.md.

Atomic flowSlugCapability classPublic routeLegacy alias
AF-ROUTEROUTEroute intent/silvernew in APO
AF-BOOTSTRAPBOOTSTRAPproject bootstrap/silver:initFLOW 1
AF-ORIENTORIENTcontext orientation/silver:scan, /silver:contextFLOW 2
AF-CLARIFYCLARIFYscope clarification/silver:clarifyFLOW 3
AF-DECIDEDECIDEdecision research/silver:deep-researchFLOW 4
AF-SPECIFYSPECIFYrequirements specification/silver:spec, /silver:ingestFLOW 5
AF-PLANPLANexecution planning/silver:planFLOW 6
AF-DESIGN-CONTRACTDESIGN_CONTRACTdesign contract/silver:ui-contractFLOW 7
AF-VALIDATEVALIDATEgap validation/silver:validatenew in APO
AF-QUALITY-GATEQUALITY_GATEcross cutting quality gate/silver:quality-gates, /devops-quality-gatesFLOW 13
AF-FAST-PATHFAST_PATHbounded fast path/silver:fastnew in APO
AF-EXECUTEEXECUTEimplementation execution/silver:executeFLOW 8
AF-DEBUGDEBUGfailure diagnosis/silver:debug, /silver:forensicsFLOW 15
AF-UI-QUALITYUI_QUALITYui quality review/silver:ui-reviewFLOW 9
AF-VERIFYVERIFYverification and testing/silver:verifyFLOW 12
AF-SECURESECUREsecurity and llm safety/silver:secureFLOW 11
AF-REVIEW-REQUESTREVIEW_REQUESTreview request/silver:review-requestnew in APO
AF-REVIEWREVIEWartifact and code review/silver:reviewnew in APO
AF-REVIEW-TRIAGEREVIEW_TRIAGEreview triage and fix/silver:review-triagenew in APO
AF-BLAST-RADIUSBLAST_RADIUSblast radius assessment/silver:blast-radiusnew in APO
AF-DEVOPS-ROUTEDEVOPS_ROUTEdevops toolchain routing/silver:devops (IaC routing step)new in APO
AF-BRANCH-FINISHBRANCH_FINISHbranch hygiene/silver:branch-finishnew in APO
AF-COMPLETION-AUDITCOMPLETION_AUDITcompletion audit/silver:completion-auditnew in APO
AF-SHIPSHIPship readiness/silver:shipnew in APO
AF-RELEASERELEASErelease management/silver:release, /silver:create-releaseFLOW 18
AF-DOCUMENTDOCUMENTdurable documentation/silver:ensure-docsFLOW 17 (+ FLOW 16 design handoff in release)
AF-PHASE-MANAGEPHASE_MANAGEphase and state management/silver:phase, /silver:addnew in APO

Post-Execution Sequencing

For silver:feature, silver:ui, silver:devops, and silver:bugfix, the reusable post-execution component expands after EXECUTE:

EXECUTE → [UI_QUALITY if UI] → REVIEW_REQUEST → REVIEW → REVIEW_TRIAGE → VERIFY (verify-tests) → SECURE (VALIDATE as needed) → QUALITY_GATE (pre-ship) → BRANCH_FINISH → COMPLETION_AUDIT → SHIP

Each atomic flow joins only after every owned flow-step V-loop passes and rolls up into the parent atomic-flow V-gate.

Composition vs Enforcement

Composer skills declare catalog-backed workflow compositions using atomic flow slugs and reusable workflow components. The orchestrator enforcement queue in hooks/lib/orchestrator-state.sh contains runtime markers needed to prove selected atoms ran; optional atoms are inserted only when context and catalog dynamic rules require them.

Worker templates under templates/orchestrator-workers/ implement catalog atomic-flow work packages. Flow-step V-loops, work products, evidence, and exit conditions live in docs/apo-catalog.json and its generated views — not in hand-authored composer prose.

Hook Activation & Recommended Tools (v0.48.3)

As of v0.48.3, hooks engage only when a project is SB-initiated: both .silver-bullet.json and silver-bullet.md must exist. Non-initiated workspaces receive no enforcement — run /silver:init first.

Recommended tools (opt-in):

  • Graphifyrecommended_tools.graphify.enabled_by_user in .silver-bullet.json; preferred retrieval before planning, editing, review, and release
  • agentmemoryrecommended_tools.agentmemory.enabled_by_user; session capture and git-backed memory export. When both are enabled: save via agentmemory, retrieve via Graphify
  • RTKrecommended_tools.rtk.enabled_by_user; shell output compression via upstream PreToolUse hooks (docs/RTK.md)
  • Context Moderecommended_tools.context_mode.enabled_by_user; MCP compaction and PreCompact recovery (docs/CONTEXT-MODE.md, ELv2 license)

Consent, install, and enforcement-suspend flows run through /silver:init and /silver:update.

Individual Workflow Pages

/silver

Dynamic router — AF-ROUTE composes feature or fast chain (WF-SILVER-ROUTER)

/silver:deep-research

Evidence-based decisions (CLARIFYDECIDE)

/silver:clarify

Fuzzy-intent intake and decision-ready brief (CLARIFY)

/silver:spec

SPEC.md and REQUIREMENTS.md (SPECIFY)

/silver:ingest

External artifact ingestion for SPECIFY

/silver:validate

Gap analysis BLOCK/WARN/INFO

/silver:new-workflow

Create, convert, or audit catalog-backed workflows (WF-SILVER-NEW-WORKFLOW)

/silver:feature

Full feature development composition chain

/silver:bugfix

Triage-first debug → plan → execute → ship

/silver:ui

UI design contract + UI quality gate

/silver:fast

Tiered fast path for bounded small changes

/silver:test

Test hardening — plan gaps, execute, verify (WF-SILVER-TEST)

/silver:refactor

Behavior-preserving refactor with post-exec gates (WF-SILVER-REFACTOR)

/silver:benchmark

Agent/model benchmark with rubric and evidence (WF-SILVER-BENCHMARK)

/silver:content

Docs, copy, and public content workflow (WF-SILVER-CONTENT)

/silver:devops

Blast-radius, IaC gates, no application TDD

/silver:deploy

Live rollout — blast radius, verify, secure, ship (WF-SILVER-DEPLOY)

/silver:canary

Post-deploy canary watch and rollback readiness (WF-SILVER-CANARY)

/silver:release

Milestone audit, gap closure, GitHub Release

/silver:review-triad

Reusable review chain — REVIEW_REQUESTREVIEWREVIEW_TRIAGE (WF-REVIEW-TRIAD)

/silver:ship-readiness

Reusable ship gate — BRANCH_FINISHCOMPLETION_AUDITSHIP (WF-SHIP-READINESS)

/silver:incident

Production incident response and postmortem (WF-SILVER-INCIDENT)

/silver:retro

Engineering retrospective from delivery evidence (WF-SILVER-RETRO)

/silver:forensics

Session and post-mortem failure reconstruction (WF-SILVER-FORENSICS)

/silver:process-maintenance

Phase, backlog, and planning state maintenance (WF-PROCESS-MAINTENANCE)

See Also