Roundtable Execution

Roundtable Execution Skill

This skill provides the canonical, profile-aware reference for executing multi-agent roundtable discussions in spec2ship. After TECH-002 Phase 7B (2026-05), the Phase 2 Round Execution Loop is extracted to references/phase-2-core.md as a single executable source. After TECH-002 Phase 8 (2026-05), commands/roundtable.md is the master orchestrator for all 4 workflow types (specs, design, brainstorm, roundtable); specs.md, design.md, brainstorm.md are thin launchers that Read-and-follow the master.

When to Use This Skill

• Executing /s2s:specs requirements gathering (thin launcher delegates to master)
• Executing /s2s:design architecture design (thin launcher delegates to master)
• Executing /s2s:brainstorm ideation sessions (thin launcher delegates to master)
• Executing /s2s:roundtable (master, native or with --workflow-type)

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Workflow Context

Each workflow has specific goals, participants, artifacts, and outputs. Authoritative source: the YAML profile in profiles/{workflow}.yaml — the tables below are a human-readable summary.

specs Workflow

Aspect	Value
Goal	Define WHAT to build — requirements, constraints, scope
Default Participants	product-manager, ux-researcher, business-analyst, qa-lead
Default Strategy	consensus-driven
Primary Artifacts	REQ-*, BR-*, NFR-*
Secondary Artifacts	OQ-*, CONF-*, EX-*
Output	.s2s/requirements.md
Profile	profiles/specs.yaml
Agenda	references/agenda-specs.md

design Workflow

Aspect	Value
Goal	Define HOW to build — architecture, components, interfaces
Default Participants	software-architect, security-champion, technical-lead, devops-engineer
Default Strategy	debate
Primary Artifacts	ARCH-*, COMP-*, INT-*
Secondary Artifacts	ADR-*, OQ-*, CONF-*
Output	.s2s/architecture.md + .s2s/decisions/
Profile	profiles/design.yaml
Agenda	references/agenda-design.md

brainstorm Workflow

Aspect	Value
Goal	Explore possibilities — ideas, risks, mitigations
Default Participants	product-manager, software-architect, technical-lead, devops-engineer (configurable via --participants)
Default Strategy	disney (FORCED — --strategy is ignored)
Primary Artifacts	IDEA-*, RISK-*, MIT-*
Secondary Artifacts	OQ-*, CONF-*
Output	.s2s/sessions/{session-id}-summary.md + updates to .s2s/ideas.md
Profile	profiles/brainstorm.yaml
Agenda	references/agenda-brainstorm.md (phase-based, Disney)

Workflow Differences Summary

Aspect	specs	design	brainstorm
Focus	User needs, requirements	Technical architecture	Creative exploration
Tone	Collaborative agreement	Adversarial evaluation	No criticism (dreamer) → Full critique (critic)
Participants	Business + QA focus	Technical focus	Flexible (--participants)
Strategy	Consensus	Debate	Disney phases (forced)
Progress axis	Agenda topics	Agenda topics	Disney phase machine

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Key Architecture

• Session file: .s2s/sessions/{session-id}.yaml — slim index with embedded artifacts (per ADR-0008/0010).
• Session folder: .s2s/sessions/{session-id}/ — subfolder for rounds/ dumps when --verbose.
• Artifacts: EMBEDDED in session.yaml under artifacts.{session_key}, NOT separate files.
• Verbose dumps: rounds/{NNN}-{PP}-{actor}.yaml per verbose-dump-format.md.

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Phase structure

All 4 workflows (specs, design, brainstorm, native roundtable) execute the same 4 phases inside commands/roundtable.md (the master). Thin launchers (specs.md, design.md, brainstorm.md) perform workflow-specific prep (prerequisite checks, smart source detection, argument parsing) and then Read-and-follow the master. The master is profile-driven via profiles/{workflow}.yaml.

Phase	Where it runs	Source of truth
0: Auto-detect / parse args	roundtable.md PHASE 0	scoped to workflow_type
1: Session setup (folder + 3 snapshots + skeleton)	roundtable.md PHASE 1	profiles/{workflow}.yaml
2: Round Execution Loop	phase-2-core.md via roundtable.md PHASE 3 caller	phase-2-core.md §2 + PROFILE
3: Completion (close, summary, output)	roundtable.md PHASE 4 + output-generation/references/{workflow}.md	per-workflow output reference

Phase 1: Session Setup (master, profile-driven)

Driven by PROFILE loaded from profiles/{workflow}.yaml in roundtable.md PHASE 1:

1. Generate session ID: {YYYYMMDD}-{workflow_type}-{topic-slug}.
2. Create session folder: .s2s/sessions/{session-id}/[rounds/].
3. Create snapshot files: config-snapshot.yaml, context-snapshot.yaml, and agenda.yaml if PROFILE.progress.axis == agenda.
4. Create session index file: .s2s/sessions/{session-id}.yaml with skeleton derived from PROFILE (artifact_types populate artifacts.by_state, topics, validation; progress.axis discriminates agenda vs disney_phase).

Topic resolution per PROFILE.topic.source (cli-arg vs synthesized from project context vs none).

Phase 2: Round Execution Loop (canonical, profile-aware)

Read references/phase-2-core.md and follow its §2 (Round Loop algorithm). The algorithm loops Steps 2.0 → 2.9 internally until terminal dispatch.

Steps (per phase-2-core.md):

Step	Purpose	Token checkpoint
2.0	Context Capacity Check	—
2.1	Display Round Start + update state.json	—
2.2	Facilitator Question	T1
2.3	Participant Responses (PARALLEL)	T2
2.4	Facilitator Synthesis	T3
2.5	Process Artifacts (uses artifact-schemas/)	—
2.6	Update Session File	—
2.6b	Validate Round Output (round-validation.md)	—
2.6c	Diagnostic Observation (IF --diagnostic) — MANDATORY	—
2.10	Phase Transition (brainstorm only, disney-phase-machine.md)	—
2.7	Display Round Recap	—
2.8	Handle Interactive Mode	—
2.9	Evaluate Next Action (min_rounds enforcement, dispatch)	—

All step details are in phase-2-core.md. Do not duplicate Phase 2 logic in commands — commands invoke phase-2-core.md via the caller pattern documented there (§3).

Phase 3: Completion (master, output workflow-specific)

roundtable.md PHASE 4 runs the common close-out then dispatches to the workflow-specific output reference:

1. Final Diagnostic Report (IF --diagnostic): invoke session-observer in end-session mode, display final report.
2. Update Session Status: set status: "closed", clear state.json.active_session. Execute "Session Complete" token tracking.
3. Read Session for Summary: extract artifacts from session file.
4. User Review: AskUserQuestion to approve / refine / add more.
5. Generate Output: invoke output-generation skill with the workflow-specific reference (references/specs-srs.md, references/design-arc42.md, references/brainstorm.md, or references/roundtable-summary.md). Handoff variables (OUTPUT_MERGE_MODE, OUTPUT_FORMAT, FOCUS_AREA) wired by the master per launcher context.

Output stays workflow-specific (different documents), but Phase 3 orchestration is now centralized in the master rather than duplicated per command.

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Reference Files

Phase 2 canonical references (new in TECH-002 Phase 7B)

File	Content
references/phase-2-core.md	Executable Phase 2 Round Execution Loop — single source consumed by all 3 workflow commands
references/profile-schema.md	Workflow profile YAML schema + field-to-§1 mapping + how-to-add-a-workflow
profiles/specs.yaml	specs workflow profile (artifact types, participants, agenda axis, defaults)
profiles/design.yaml	design workflow profile
profiles/brainstorm.yaml	brainstorm workflow profile (with forced: true disney strategy and has_phase_transition: true)
references/artifact-schemas/README.md	Index of 12 per-type artifact schemas
references/artifact-schemas/{type}.md	Canonical schema per artifact type (req, br, nfr, ex, arch, comp, int, idea, risk, mit, oq, conf)
references/disney-phase-machine.md	Disney phase state machine (brainstorm Step 2.10)
references/strategy-hooks.md	Strategy-specific Phase 2 variation hooks (debate_role, debate_phase, future hat_role): contract documented and wired via Option B (Phase 4). See references/strategy-hook-resolution.md for the 3-branch dispatch and references/strategy-resolution.md for the D3 hierarchy

Supporting references

File	Content
references/session-schema.md	Full session.yaml schema
references/agenda-specs.md	Specs workflow agenda with DoD criteria
references/agenda-design.md	Design workflow agenda with DoD criteria
references/agenda-brainstorm.md	Brainstorm workflow agenda (phase-based)
references/verbose-dump-format.md	Verbose dump file naming + canonical YAML schemas for facilitator/participant/synthesis/session-observer dumps
references/token-tracking.md	Token tracking script + checkpoints T1/T2/T3 + Session Complete
references/round-validation.md	Per-round validation checks (Step 2.6b)
references/diagnostic.md	Diagnostic mode notes
references/definition-of-done.md	Step validation checklist
references/error-handling.md	Error recovery patterns
references/workspace-scope.md	Workspace/component scope handling (Phase 1 Step 1.3b-1.4)

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Migration history

• v1.x–v2.x: SKILL.md inlined Phase 1/2/3 algorithms (1000+ lines), duplicating logic also present in each workflow command. Drift between SKILL.md and commands led to BUG-013 and others.
• v3.0 (2026-05, TECH-002 Phase 7B.5): SKILL.md restructured to thin overview pointing to phase-2-core.md (executable Phase 2 single-source) and per-type artifact schemas.
• v3.1 (2026-05, TECH-002 Phase 8): Phase structure section rewritten. Phase 1 (session setup) and Phase 3 (close-out + output dispatch) moved out of each workflow command into the master orchestrator commands/roundtable.md. Thin launchers (specs.md, design.md, brainstorm.md) Read-and-follow the master.

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Referenced by: commands/roundtable.md (master orchestrator, runs PHASE 0+1+3+4 and delegates PHASE 2 to phase-2-core.md); commands/specs.md, commands/design.md, commands/brainstorm.md (thin launchers, Read-and-follow the master per Pattern 1, see ADR-0011 Phase 8 addendum).