---
name: workflow-design
description: Use when designing custom orchestration workflows — choosing which archetypes run in each PDCA phase, setting exit conditions, and configuring the ArcheHelix cycle.
---

# Workflow Design — The ArcheHelix

ArcheFlow's PDCA cycles spiral upward through iterations — each cycle incorporates feedback from the previous one, producing progressively better results. We call this the **ArcheHelix**: a rising spiral of Plan → Do → Check → Act, where each turn is informed by all previous turns.

```
        ╱ Act ──────────── Done ✓
       ╱        ↑
      ╱    Check (review)
     ╱         ↑
    ╱      Do (implement)
   ╱           ↑
  ╱       Plan (design)     ← Cycle 2 (with feedback from Cycle 1)
 ╱              ↑
╱          Act ─┘ (issues found → feed back)
│              ↑
│         Check (review)
│              ↑
│          Do (implement)
│              ↑
│         Plan (design)     ← Cycle 1 (initial)
```

## Built-in Workflows

### `fast` — Single Turn
```
Plan:  Creator designs
Do:    Maker implements (worktree)
Check: Guardian reviews
Act:   Approve or reject (1 cycle max)
```
**Use for:** Bug fixes, small changes, low-risk tasks.

### `standard` — Double Helix
```
Plan:  Explorer researches → Creator designs
Do:    Maker implements (worktree)
Check: Guardian + Skeptic + Sage review (parallel)
Act:   Approve or cycle (2 cycles max)
```
**Use for:** Features, refactors, moderate-risk changes.

### `thorough` — Triple Helix
```
Plan:  Explorer researches → Creator designs
Do:    Maker implements (worktree)
Check: Guardian + Skeptic + Sage + Trickster (parallel)
Act:   Approve or cycle (3 cycles max)
```
**Use for:** Security-critical, public APIs, infrastructure changes.

## Designing Custom Workflows

### Step 1: Identify the Concern

What's the primary risk?

| Primary Risk | Emphasize |
|-------------|-----------|
| Security | Guardian + Trickster in Check |
| Correctness | Skeptic + Sage in Check |
| Performance | Custom `perf-tester` archetype |
| Compliance | Custom `compliance-auditor` archetype |
| Data integrity | Custom `db-specialist` archetype |
| User experience | Custom `ux-reviewer` archetype |

### Step 2: Assign Phases

Rules:
- **Plan** always includes Creator (someone must propose)
- **Do** always includes Maker (someone must build)
- **Check** needs at least one reviewer
- Max 3 archetypes per phase (diminishing returns beyond that)
- Explorer goes in Plan only (research before design)
- Maker goes in Do only (build from plan, not from scratch)

### Step 3: Set Exit Conditions

| Condition | When Cycle Ends | Best For |
|-----------|----------------|----------|
| `all_approved` | Every Check reviewer says APPROVED | Consensus-driven (default) |
| `no_critical` | No CRITICAL findings in Check output | Speed with safety net |
| `convergence` | No new issues vs. previous cycle | Diminishing returns detection |
| `always` | Runs all maxCycles unconditionally | Research, exploration |

### Step 4: Set Max Cycles

- **1 cycle:** Fast, low-risk (fast workflow)
- **2 cycles:** Balanced — one shot + one fix (standard workflow)
- **3 cycles:** Thorough — usually converges by cycle 3
- **4+ cycles:** Rarely useful. If 3 cycles don't converge, the task needs human input.

## Example Custom Workflows

### Security-First
```
Plan:  Explorer (threat modeling) → Creator
Do:    Maker
Check: Guardian + Trickster (parallel)
Exit:  all_approved, max 3 cycles
```

### Research-Heavy
```
Plan:  Explorer (deep research) → Creator
Do:    Maker
Check: Skeptic + Sage (parallel)
Exit:  all_approved, max 2 cycles
```

### Domain-Specific (with custom archetypes)
```
Plan:  Explorer → Creator
Do:    Maker
Check: Guardian + db-specialist + compliance-auditor (parallel)
Exit:  all_approved, max 2 cycles
```

### Minimal Validation
```
Plan:  Creator (no research)
Do:    Maker
Check: Guardian
Exit:  no_critical, max 1 cycle
```

## Anti-Patterns

- **Kitchen sink:** Putting all 7 archetypes in Check. Most can't add value simultaneously.
- **Infinite helix:** maxCycles > 4 burns tokens without convergence.
- **Reviewerless Do:** Skipping Check phase "to save time." You'll pay in bugs.
- **Maker in Plan:** Maker should implement from a proposal, not design on the fly.
- **Solo orchestration:** One archetype in every phase. That's just a single agent with extra steps.