Workflow navigation assistant that recommends next steps and optimizes documentation sequence through the SDD workflow
Guide users through the SDD workflow by determining current position, recommending next steps, identifying parallel work opportunities, and tracking progress.
Problem Solved: Users must manually determine next steps in the 15-layer SDD workflow, leading to workflow friction, missed dependencies, and inefficient sequencing.
Solution: Analyze completed artifacts, determine workflow position, and provide prioritized recommendations for next steps with clear rationale.
Use workflow-optimizer when:
Do NOT use when:
| Input | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| project_root | string | Yes | Root path of project to analyze |
| completed_artifact | string | No | ID of just-completed artifact (e.g., PRD-00) |
| focus_area | string | No | Optional filter: "core-workflow", "quality", "planning" |
Scan project to determine documentation status:
Artifact Discovery:
# Discover all artifacts
find {project_root}/docs -name "*.md" -o -name "*.yaml" -o -name "*.feature"
Status Extraction: Extract status from Document Control section:
Project State Model:
project_state:
scan_timestamp: 2025-11-29T14:30:00Z
artifacts_by_type:
BRD:
total: 3
approved: 2
draft: 1
latest: BRD-03
PRD:
total: 2
approved: 1
draft: 1
latest: PRD-00
EARS:
total: 0
# ... etc
total_artifacts: 25
approved_artifacts: 18
draft_artifacts: 7
Map artifacts to SDD workflow layers:
Layer Definition:
workflow_layers:
layer_1:
type: BRD
name: Business Requirements
prerequisite: null
description: "Business objectives and stakeholder needs"
layer_2:
type: PRD
name: Product Requirements
prerequisite: BRD
description: "Product features and user needs"
layer_3:
type: EARS
name: Formal Requirements
prerequisite: PRD
description: "WHEN-THE-SHALL formal requirements"
layer_4:
type: BDD
name: Behavior Tests
prerequisite: EARS
description: "Gherkin acceptance scenarios"
layer_5:
type: ADR
name: Architecture Decisions
prerequisite: BDD
description: "Technical decision records"
layer_6:
type: SYS
name: System Requirements
prerequisite: ADR
description: "Technical system specifications"
layer_7:
type: REQ
name: Atomic Requirements
prerequisite: SYS
description: "Detailed atomic requirements"
layer_8:
type: IMPL
name: Implementation Plan
prerequisite: REQ
optional: true
description: "WHO/WHEN project management"
layer_9:
type: CTR
name: Interface Contracts
prerequisite: [IMPL, REQ]
optional: true
description: "API contracts and schemas"
layer_10:
type: SPEC
name: Technical Specifications
prerequisite: REQ
description: "YAML implementation specs"
layer_11:
type: TASKS
name: Implementation Tasks
prerequisite: SPEC
description: "Code generation task lists - flows to Code layer"
Position Calculation:
workflow_position:
completed_layers: [1, 2] # BRD, PRD done
in_progress_layers: [3] # EARS in progress
blocked_layers: [4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11] # Waiting on prerequisites
ready_layers: [3] # Can start now
optional_ready: [8, 9] # Optional, prereqs met
current_position:
layer: 3
type: EARS
status: in_progress
progress_percentage: 18% # 2 of 11 layers complete
Determine mandatory next artifacts:
Dependency Analysis:
dependency_graph:
PRD-00:
completed: true
downstream_required:
- EARS (Layer 3) - formal requirements
- BDD (Layer 4) - test scenarios
downstream_optional:
- IMPL (Layer 8) - if complex project
EARS (to be created):
upstream_required:
- PRD-00 ✓ (completed)
will_enable:
- BDD (Layer 4)
- ADR (Layer 5)
Next Steps Priority:
| Priority | Artifact | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| P0 | EARS | Required downstream from PRD, blocks BDD and ADR |
| P1 | BDD | Can start once EARS begun, enables ADR |
| P2 | ADR | Requires BDD completion |
Find work that can proceed in parallel:
Parallelization Rules:
parallel_opportunities:
rule_1:
name: "EARS and BDD overlap"
condition: "EARS in progress"
parallel_work: "BDD scenarios for completed EARS"
benefit: "Faster progress through testing layer"
rule_2:
name: "Multiple feature tracks"
condition: "Multiple BRDs exist"
parallel_work: "PRD for each BRD"
benefit: "Parallel feature development"
rule_3:
name: "ADR independence"
condition: "Technical decisions needed"
parallel_work: "ADRs can be written in parallel"
benefit: "Architecture decisions don't block each other"
Parallel Work Output:
parallel_opportunities:
can_parallelize:
- track: "Feature A"
current: EARS-01
parallel: "Start BDD-01 scenarios for EARS-01 requirements"
- track: "Feature B"
current: PRD-00 complete
parallel: "Start EARS-02 while Feature A progresses"
blocked_parallelization:
- item: "SPEC creation"
blocker: "REQ layer incomplete"
unblock_by: "Complete REQ-01 through REQ-05"
Generate progress report:
Progress Metrics:
progress_report:
overall:
layers_complete: 2
total_layers: 12
percentage: 17%
by_layer:
- layer: 1 (BRD)
status: complete
artifacts: 3
approved: 2
- layer: 2 (PRD)
status: complete
artifacts: 2
approved: 1
- layer: 3 (EARS)
status: in_progress
artifacts: 0
target: 3 (based on PRD features)
- layer: 4 (BDD)
status: blocked
blocker: "EARS incomplete"
estimated_remaining:
artifacts: 25
layers: 10
critical_path:
- EARS (blocks BDD)
- BDD (blocks ADR)
- REQ (blocks SPEC)
- SPEC (blocks TASKS)
Provide actionable next-step guidance:
Recommendation Format: