claude-archeflow-plugin/skills/workflow-design/SKILL.md

name, description

name	description
workflow-design	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.