workflow-revision

SkillDev tools

Iterate on implementation fixes surfaced by review until all claims are verified. Stage 6 of the development workflow.

Available today. Use it from your connected AI after setup.

Connect ahel once, and every AI you use reads what you have installed.

Then ask your AI: use the workflow-revision skill

What this skill tells your AI

The instructions your AI receives, as published by kastalien-research/thoughtbox in .agents/skills/workflow-revision/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.

Execute revision based on review findings: $ARGUMENTS

Purpose

You are executing Stage 6 (Revision) of the development workflow. Review found issues with the implementation. Your job is to dispatch sub-agents to fix them, then re-run review until it passes — or escalate after 3 iterations.

Pre-Conditions

Before starting, verify:

  1. .workflow/state.json exists and currentStage is "revision"
  2. Review findings exist (either passed as argument or in stages.review.artifacts.findings)
  3. The working tree has uncommitted changes from implementation (since commits happen post-review)

Process

Step 1: Classify Review Findings

Read the review findings and classify each into:

CategoryActionExample
Claim failureRe-dispatch sub-agent for the specific claim"Function X does not handle case Y"
Test gapAdd missing test coverage"No test for edge case Z"
Spec divergenceFix code OR update spec (with justification)"Implementation differs from spec section 3.2"
ADR conflictFlag for user decision"This contradicts accepted ADR-005"
Style/qualityFix inline (no sub-agent needed)"Missing error handling on line 42"

Step 2: Dispatch Fixes

For each finding that requires a sub-agent:

  1. Dispatch a sub-agent with:
    • The specific finding to address
    • The relevant spec section
    • The file(s) to modify
    • Instructions to return the structured summary format (from the conductor skill)
  2. Persist the returned summary to disk immediately

For findings that can be fixed inline (style/quality):

  • Make the fix directly
  • Note it in the revision log

For ADR conflicts:

  • Present to the user with the four ADR reconciliation dispositions:
    1. STILL VALID — false positive, ADR reasoning holds
    2. NEEDS AMENDMENT — core decision correct, context needs updating
    3. SUPERSEDED — another ADR has replaced this one
    4. INVALIDATED — reasoning no longer holds, no replacement
  • Wait for user decision before proceeding

Step 3: Handle Spec Updates

If any finding reveals that the spec was wrong (not the implementation), update the spec:

  • If the spec assumption was based on incomplete knowledge of the codebase: update the spec to match reality. This is expected and not a failure.
  • If the spec's intent was correct but the approach was wrong: update the spec with the revised approach and note what changed.
  • If the ADR's reasoning is affected: escalate to user. Do not silently update the ADR.

Spec updates go in the same commit as the code fix.

Step 4: Re-Run Review

After all fixes are applied:

  1. Increment stages.revision.iterations in the state file
  2. Dispatch /workflows-review on the fixed code
  3. Evaluate the review results:

If review passes (all claims verified, no blocking findings):

  • Update state: set stages.revision.status to "completed", currentStage to "compound"

  • Hand off to the conductor

If review still has findings:

  • Check iteration count against maxIterations (default: 3)
  • If under max: loop back to Step 1 with the new findings
  • If at max: proceed to Step 5 (Escalation)

Step 5: Escalation (Max Iterations Reached)

If 3 revision iterations have not resolved all findings:

REVISION ESCALATION
====================

Iterations completed: 3/3
Remaining findings: N

Unresolved:
1. [finding]: Attempted [approach], result: [what happened]
2. [finding]: Attempted [approach], result: [what happened]

Options:
A. Accept current state (acknowledge known gaps, proceed to Compound)
B. Re-enter at Planning stage (re-plan the approach)
C. Re-enter at Dev-Docs stage (revise spec/ADR)
D. Abandon workflow (delete branch)

Recommendation: [A/B/C/D] because [reason]

Wait for user decision. Update state accordingly.

State Updates

Throughout this stage, keep the state file current:

{
  "stages": {
    "revision": {
      "status": "in_progress",
      "iterations": 1,
      "maxIterations": 3,
      "findings": [
        { "id": 1, "category": "claim_failure", "description": "...", "status": "fixed|open|escalated" }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Operational Rules

  • Each fix gets its own sub-agent (1 fix = 1 commit after review passes)
  • Do NOT commit during revision — commits happen only after review validates the final state
  • If a fix introduces new issues, those count against the iteration budget
  • Inline style fixes do not consume an iteration
  • Always persist sub-agent summaries to disk before proceeding

Anti-Patterns

  • Do NOT skip review after making fixes — the whole point is verification
  • Do NOT increase maxIterations beyond 3 without user approval
  • Do NOT fix findings by deleting the test or weakening the claim
  • Do NOT modify the ADR without user approval (specs are fair game, ADRs are not)

Signals

GitHub stars
64
Forks
20
Last commit
Jul 2026
Advanced
Catalog kind
skill
Gateway key
workflow-revision
Source
github.com/kastalien-research/thoughtbox