git:20261010.9419479 to git:20261011.444de08

---

name: archflow-help

description: "Use ONLY when the user asks for $archflow-help or \"archflow help\". Every Archflow command with a one-line usage note, and a short primer on how Archflow works"

---

> Arguments are the text after the skill name.

# $archflow-help — Commands and how Archflow works

Print the two sections below to the user as they are. Read nothing and change nothing: this command

answers "what can I do?", and `$archflow-status` answers "where am I?". If `the text the user wrote after the skill name` names a

command (e.g. `release`), print only that command's line from the list, then tell the user its full

instructions are in `.agents/skills/archflow-<name>/SKILL.md`.

## Commands

```

Archflow — commands (all namespaced $archflow-<name>)

Where you are

$archflow-status Current phase, mode, active release, and what to run next

$archflow-help This screen: every command, and how Archflow works

$archflow-doctor Check the environment and project state, and how to fix what

is missing (--validate checks state files against schemas,

--fix repairs drift after a plugin upgrade)

Set up

$archflow-init Set up Archflow in a NEW project (creates .archflow/, Phase 1)

$archflow-onboard Set up Archflow in an EXISTING codebase (audit, detect the

stack, import context, pick the phase)

$archflow-migrate Upgrade a v1.0 project (sprints) to schema v2.0 (releases);

dry-run first, then apply

$archflow-setup-mcp Connect an external tool over MCP (Jira, Notion, Linear,

GitHub, SuperDesign, ...)

Stories

$archflow-feature Add a story to the backlog or straight into the active release,

or pull a backlog story in (starts the git workflow)

$archflow-groom Detail or refine a story: acceptance criteria, subtasks, gates

(a backlog stub, or one already in a release)

$archflow-design The project's design system; with a story-id, that story's

screens (clears its design gate)

$archflow-contract The API contract architecture; with a story-id, that story's

endpoints (clears its contract gate)

$archflow-issue Record a defect on a story being built, list what is open, or

defer a minor one to the backlog (the only way to defer)

Releases and pace

$archflow-release The release pipeline: status, new, start, ship

$archflow-mode Show or switch the ceremony mode (quick | full)

$archflow-autopilot Run queued release stories unattended on one branch

(blocker interview first, then silent; one report at the end)

Workspace and settings

$archflow-telemetry Show or change anonymous usage telemetry (on by default;

off opts out)

```

## How Archflow works

```

Phases The process loop. 1 Strategy → 2 Design → 2.25 Hi-fi design → 2.5 API

contract → 3 Build → 4 Quality → 5 Launch → 6 Enhancement. Each phase has

its own instructions (.archflow/phases/) and its own specialist agents.

2, 2.25 and 2.5 are skipped when they do not apply (no UI, no API).

Releases The product loop, around the phases. A release is a shippable increment

holding stories. Unscheduled ideas wait in the backlog as stubs. At most

one release is in progress; $archflow-release ship tags and archives it.

Stories Each story walks its own readiness pipeline, one step at a time:

backlog → spec_ready → design_ready → contract_ready → ready →

in_progress → review → done (parked = stopped on a question for you)

Design and contract gates run just in time, one step ahead of the build.

Gates You approve the end of every phase; nothing moves on without you.

A story is done only when qa-engineer passes and pm-reviewer returns

ACCEPTED, with no open blocking issue. Merging to main is always yours.

$archflow-autopilot asks its questions up front instead, but never merges

to main.

Modes quick: one implicit release, light gates, one lane (solo; the default).

full: an explicit release pipeline, enforced gates, role lanes (teams).

A typical flow

$archflow-init or $archflow-onboard set up, once

$archflow-feature add a story

$archflow-groom S2-11 detail it when it is next up

$archflow-feature S2-11 pull it into the release, branch, build

$archflow-status any time you lose the thread

```

State lives in `.archflow/` as plain files: `current-phase.yaml` (where you are),

`releases/{slug}.yaml` (story status), `backlog.yaml`, and `roadmap.yaml` (the index). The full

rules are in `.archflow/reference.md`.