/work

Best used: interactive execution of ready plans under .plans/bugs/ or .plans/features/ in the current project. See Skills overview.

Execute the next (or named) ready plan from .plans/. Same contract on every platform — only install paths and “no shell” adaptations differ.

To create a plan first, use /draft (writes under .plans/drafts/; optional --local).

Plans are git-tracked markdown under the .plans/ dotdir. Do not gitignore the whole tree (scaffold ignores only *.local.md). Many UIs hide dotfolders — use the explicit path.

Path is authoritative. Lane and lifecycle come only from the directory a plan file sits in. Do not put Lane: or Status: inside plan markdown; ignore them if present.

Usage

Invocation	Behavior
/work	Resume your in-progress/ work if any; else pick highest-priority model-fit ready plan
/work --list	List ready plans + your in-progress (Preferred models + fit); do not implement
/work --no-fit-check	Same priority as bare /work, skip model-fit filtering (still one plan)
/work --no-fit-check <slug>	Execute that plan even if Preferred models say otherwise
/work <slug>	Match slug.md or slug.local.md under ready lanes or your in-progress
/work .plans/features/foo.md	Execute that path if ready (or your own in-progress)

Lanes

Path	Meaning	Execute?
.plans/bugs/	ready bug work	yes (highest priority) → then move to in-progress/
.plans/features/	ready feature work	yes (after bugs) → then move to in-progress/
.plans/in-progress/	claimed / being worked	only if you moved it there — others ignore
.plans/ambiguous/	half-baked / needs clarification	no (agent may park here)
.plans/blocked/	cannot proceed	no (agent may park here)
.plans/drafts/	not ready	no (edit only)
.plans/completed/	finished archive	no

Never implement from drafts/, completed/, ambiguous/, or blocked/. Ignore every in-progress/ plan you did not claim.

Agent move rule (hard)

Agents must never promote drafts except via /draft --promote, move work into drafts/, or touch another agent’s in-progress/ plan. Preserve basename on every lane move (including .local.md); only a human may rename for privacy/tracking.

Priority (bare /work)

1. Your plans under .plans/in-progress/ (resume)
2. All of .plans/bugs/*.md before any feature
3. Then .plans/features/*.md by header Value: high | medium | low (default medium)
4. Among ready plans, keep only model-fit plans — unless --no-fit-check or the user names a plan
5. Skip plans with unmet Depends on (dependency still open / not completed). Report blockers; do not start them.
6. Skip drafts/, completed/, ambiguous/, blocked/, foreign in-progress/, and README.md

Model fit

Plan headers SHOULD include Preferred models (tiers small | mid | reasoner | frontier and/or concrete names). Bare /work skips plans that are a poor fit for the current model (overqualified or underqualified). Named slug/path or --no-fit-check overrides the skip; still state fit in one line when mismatched. See model fitness and the plan template.

Know yourself: model name + catalog tier (name/table win — e.g. Grok 4.5 is mid), cost posture (reasoning effort / thinking toggle), and cheaper capacity on this host.

Cheaper capacity probe: before hard-skipping overqualified work or burning a high-cost session on small/mid Preferred, check scripts/endpoints.yaml (and product-local / conventions models) for a lesser reachable executor. Registry map: swarm→small, executor|executor-heavy|detached→mid. If one fits, leave the plan unclaimed and print a dispatch line (work_once.py --once --endpoint …). If none are up, you are the available executor — do not permanent-refuse mid work.

Same-model effort right-size: when no cheaper worker exists, emit a pasteable command for the plan’s Preferred tier (small/mid → low/medium effort; reasoner+ → high). Examples: Grok Build /effort low or CLI --effort low; Nemotron/Qwen3 thinking off for bulk execute. High effort on a mid-class model is a cost dial, not a tier promotion — good-fit mid plans stay eligible. True overqualified + no cheaper worker → suggest /work --no-fit-check and the effort command; underqualified still skips.

Depends on: comma-separated other plan slugs (or none). A dependency is met when that slug is under completed/ (or git history shows it was under completed/) and is not still open in another lane. Coordinators/planners should inventory existing plans when drafting and fill this field. Executors must not start work with unmet dependencies.

Lifecycle

Mid-session stop: leave the file in in-progress/ with a short ## Progress note. Other agents must ignore it. Half-baked → ambiguous/; stuck → blocked/ or return to ready.

Install (platform wiring)

The behavior above is identical everywhere. Only how the agent loads the skill differs:

Platform	Install
Claude Code	Scaffold installs .claude/commands/work.md
Grok Build	Scaffold installs .grok/skills/work/SKILL.md (or use platforms/grok-build/commands/work.md)
Generic Chat	No command file — follow the no-shell adaptation below (and in CHAT.md)
Local / NIM	Same contract when the harness has shell; headless: work_once.py / orchestrate.py --plan-file

Scaffold always creates the empty .plans/ tree + README. Process contract also lives in .plans/README.md once scaffolded.

Chat / no shell

When the user types /work without tool access: ask them to ls .plans/bugs .plans/features .plans/in-progress and paste output; pick by the same priority and model-fit rules; dictate git mv into in-progress/ when starting and into completed/ when Done when holds. Never dictate a promote move. Never work a foreign in-progress path.

Headless / fleet

Interactive /work stays one-plan-per-invocation (not a daemon). For always-on or multi-tier workers that pull work, see the full guide: Multi-agent fleet workers (cron/systemd, capability tiers, leases, git isolation).

python scripts/work_once.py --list --tier mid --agent-id worker-1
python scripts/work_once.py --once --tier mid --agent-id worker-1   # moves → in-progress/
python scripts/work_once.py --once --endpoint h100-executor --run

Shared rules with /work: resume own in-progress, bugs before features, Value order, Preferred models fit, refuse drafts//completed/, never promote, ignore foreign in-progress. Selection logic: scripts/plan_select.py + plan_lease.py.

Git branches + commits + worktrees

When the project uses Git and work needs a branch:

1. Parallel agents: do not share one checkout. Prefer a worktree per agent:

   python scripts/worktree_for_agent.py ensure --project . --agent-id <id> --slug <plan-slug>
   # or: work_once.py … --ensure-worktree

   Edit only under the printed WORKTREE= path.
2. Integration branch: dev, else develop. If neither exists, create dev from main (else master) (the ensure helper does this).
3. Feature branch feature/<slug> inside that worktree; never auto-merge to dev/main.
4. When plan work is complete: run /commit-prep (prep only). If gates are green, stage + commit on the feature branch; optional push of that branch only — never auto-merge to dev/main.

See Fleet workers — isolation.

Related

• Multi-agent fleet workers — architecture for multi-tier pull
• /fleet-watch — install durable timers for a project
• MCP servers — project-orchestrator exposes list/claim/complete for a bound project without shell
• Doctrine — tracked plans
• Playbook — orchestrator pattern
• Platforms — install and model-specific notes
• Source skill: .grok/skills/work/SKILL.md / .claude/commands/work.md in the Anchor repo