Workflows¶

A Task carries two separate kind fields. Task.spec.kind is the origin - immutable, baked into the Task's name. Task.status.agentKind is the running agent - the pod currently doing the work - one of seven values. clarify is gone as of the #521 lifecycle redesign: its conversation-and-approval job folded into implement, which now runs both the approval gate (refined) and the code (under-implementation) - see Implement.

Each agent kind is a single-purpose pod: no kind straddles triage, coding, and review in one context. The operator - never an agent - drives every transition between them, per the state machine.

Brainstorm

Periodic improvement proposals generated autonomously from the codebase knowledge graph. Each accepted proposal becomes its own new implement-origin Task.

Brainstorm
Incident Response

A Grafana alert fires an incident investigation; a confirmed finding files an issue and hands off to implement's conversation phase.

Incident
Implement

Runs the approval gate (live triage/human-conversation, citing a maintainer comment which the operator independently verifies) at refined, then writes the code across every repo under the Task at under-implementation. The clarify kind folded into this one at #521.

Implement
:material-code-review: PR / MR Review

Reviews the diff and submits a verdict. The operator, not the agent, posts the SCM review and performs the merge.

PR / MR Review
Documentation

One nightly batch Task per project, covering everything delivered in the last 24 hours - not one Task per delivery.

Documentation
Refine

Groom-only backlog peer: folds duplicate Tasks, closes stale issues, links related work. Gates brainstorm as a cron barrier.

Refine
Deep Architectural Research

Brainstorm goal variant that surveys the field and proposes ADR-style artifacts. Phase 1 only - no live internet/search yet.

Deep Architectural Research
Upgrade

Scheduled, opt-in, disabled by default. Takes one dependency-upgrade unit per Task, reads the release notes between the current pin and the target, and carries the code and config that must move with the bump - not just the pin - through review, merge and deploy.

Upgrade
Merge and Deploy

Pod-less operator stages, not an agent kind: on an accepted approve verdict the operator merges each repo in mergeOrder, CI cuts the tag, tatara-helmfile applies, and the operator closes the owned issues.

Merge and Deploy

Origin kinds and the agent kind each one spawns¶

Every triaged Task enters state=new, which is pure operator work - it runs no agent, classifies the origin, and picks the next state from spec.kind. That next state is what spawns the first pod:

Origin kind (`spec.kind`)	State after triage	Agent kind spawned
`brainstorm`	`refined`	`brainstorm`
`incident`	`refined`	`incident`
`implement`	`refined`	`implement`
`refine`	`refined`	`refine`
`review`	`awaiting-review`	`review`
`documentation`	`under-implementation` (minted straight in)	`documentation`
`takeover`	`under-implementation` (minted straight in)	`implement`
`upgrade`	`under-implementation` (minted straight in)	`upgrade`

implement is an origin in its own right, not just an agent kind: it is SweepIssueKind, the value MintIssueTask stamps on any Task minted from a new issue - webhook-delivered or backlog-sweep-discovered - which is exactly the role clarify used to play as an origin.

Each pod's name is computed independently of the Task's own name - see Pod naming.

refined is a single state serving four different origins (every row above except review, documentation, upgrade and takeover) - what distinguishes them is Task.status.agentKind, which the state machine's AgentKindFor table derives from the origin, not the state. implement conducts the approval conversation there before ever writing code - it is reached at triage for its own origin as well as brainstorm/incident/refine, and again via refined -> under-implementation once the approval grammar has passed for every live Issue the Task owns. See the state machine for the full transition table, and MCP tools for which tools each agent kind is gated to.

Model and effort are configured per agent kind

Project.spec.agent.modelByKind / effortByKind key on the agent kind (brainstorm, incident, implement, review, refine, documentation, upgrade) - the same seven values as Task.status.agentKind.