`/ship-sdlc` — Full Pipeline Orchestrator

Overview

Chains six sub-skills into a single end-to-end shipping pipeline: execute the plan, commit, review, fix critical issues, version, and open a PR. Evaluates review findings against a configurable severity threshold and conditionally triggers a fix loop, keeping feature work and review fixes as separate commits. Persists pipeline state after each step so a crashed run can be resumed from where it left off.

Who Should Use This

This skill is for expert users working on projects with established quality guardrails. It trusts your project’s automated gates — review dimensions, test suites, commit conventions — to make decisions on your behalf. Weak guardrails produce weak automated reviews, and issues slip through silently.

Before using /ship-sdlc, your project should have:

Review dimensions configured via /setup-sdlc --dimensions — these drive the automated review step. Without dimensions, /review-sdlc has nothing to evaluate against.
A passing test suite — the pipeline does not run tests itself. It assumes your CI or pre-commit hooks catch regressions.
Commit conventions — /commit-sdlc detects and follows your project’s commit style. If you have no conventions, it still works, but the generated messages will be generic.

If your project isn’t there yet:

No review dimensions? Start with /setup-sdlc --dimensions to scaffold them.
No commit conventions? /commit-sdlc works standalone and will establish a style from your existing history.
Want to ship a single step? Each sub-skill (/commit-sdlc, /pr-sdlc, etc.) works independently. /ship-sdlc is the orchestrator, not a prerequisite.

The philosophy: this skill automates the sequencing and decision-making between steps. It does not replace the quality of each step. A pipeline is only as strong as the review dimensions, test coverage, and conventions behind it.

Usage

/ship-sdlc [--auto] [--skip <steps>] [--preset full|balanced|minimal] [--bump patch|minor|major] [--draft] [--dry-run] [--resume] [--init-config]

Flags

Flag	Description	Default
`--auto`	Non-interactive mode. Forwards `--auto` to sub-skills that support it (commit-sdlc, version-sdlc, pr-sdlc). Pipeline still pauses at received-review-sdlc (intentionally interactive).	Off
`--skip <steps>`	Comma-separated list of steps to skip: `execute`, `commit`, `review`, `version`. PR cannot be skipped.	None
`--preset full\|balanced\|minimal`	Execution preset forwarded to execute-plan-sdlc. full = Speed, balanced = Balanced, minimal = Quality. Legacy A/B/C accepted.	`balanced`
`--bump patch\|minor\|major`	Version bump type forwarded to version-sdlc.	`patch`
`--draft`	Create the PR as a draft.	Off
`--dry-run`	Display the full pipeline plan and stop. No steps are executed.	Off
`--resume`	Resume from the most recent state file for the current branch. Completed steps are skipped; in-progress steps are retried.	Off
`--init-config`	Launch interactive config creation for `.sdlc/local.json`, then stop. No pipeline execution.	Off
`--workspace branch\|worktree\|prompt`	Workspace isolation mode forwarded to execute-plan-sdlc. `branch` creates a feature branch, `worktree` creates a git worktree, `prompt` asks interactively. In worktree mode, the version step is auto-skipped (tags are repo-global) and `--label skip-version-check` is added to the PR step to bypass the CI version check.	`prompt`

How the Pipeline Works

The pipeline runs 7 steps sequentially. Two steps are conditional on the review verdict, and two steps pause even in --auto mode because they require human sign-off.

Key points:

Double-commit pattern: The feature commit (step 5b) and the review fix commit (step 5e) are separate. This keeps feature work and review fixes distinct in git history.
One mandatory pause point in --auto mode: received-review-sdlc (automated code changes need human sign-off). version-sdlc skips the release approval prompt when --auto is forwarded.
Staging gap: execute-plan-sdlc creates files but does not stage them. The pipeline runs git add -A -- ':!.sdlc/' between execute and commit, excluding the .sdlc/ runtime directory.
Pipeline plan is binding: Steps marked “will run” in the pipeline table must execute. Step statuses are computed by ship-prepare.js — the LLM follows them mechanically and cannot unilaterally skip planned steps.
Agent-based dispatch: Sub-skills are dispatched as Agents, not invoked via the Skill tool. Each Agent loads its sub-skill’s SKILL.md in its own context and returns only a structured result (status, summary, artifacts). This keeps the ship pipeline’s context clean — sub-skill definitions stay in the agent, not the orchestrator.
Skip provenance (skipSource): Each step in the ship-prepare.js output includes a skipSource field tracking why it was skipped: "none" (not skipped), "cli" (user --skip), "config" (from .sdlc/local.json), "auto" (workspace rule), "condition" (precondition unmet), or "default" (unexpected — may indicate fabricated flags).
Review threshold: The severity that triggers the fix loop is configurable via reviewThreshold in config (default: high). At high, critical and high findings trigger fixes; medium and below are deferred to the summary.

What Gets Printed

The pipeline prints every decision and state change. Here is a realistic full output for a run with --auto --preset balanced:

I'm using the ship-sdlc skill.

Ship config loaded from .sdlc/local.json
  preset: balanced, skip: [version], draft: false, bump: patch
  reviewThreshold: high

Flag resolution (CLI overrides config):
  auto:    true  (from CLI --auto)
  preset:  balanced  (from config)
  skip:    [version]  (from config)
  bump:    patch (from config default)
  draft:   false (from built-in default)

Context detection:
  Plan in context:     yes (from conversation)
  Uncommitted changes: 0 files modified
  Current branch:      feat/user-auth
  Default branch:      main
  gh CLI:              authenticated as myuser
  OpenSpec:            not detected

Auto-skip decisions:
  execute: WILL RUN — plan detected in context
  commit:  WILL RUN — pending (will check after execute)
  review:  WILL RUN — not in skip set
  version: SKIPPED — in skip set (from config)
  pr:      WILL RUN — not in skip set

Pipeline validation:
  [pass] gh CLI authenticated
  [pass] Not on default branch (feat/user-auth)
  [pass] 4 of 7 steps will run
  [pass] All skip values recognized
  [warn] If review finds critical/high issues, pipeline will pause for fix approval

Ship Pipeline
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Step  Skill                 Status       Args           Pause?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1     execute-plan-sdlc     will run     --preset balanced  no
2     commit-sdlc           will run     --auto         no
3     review-sdlc           will run     --committed    no
4     received-review-sdlc  conditional  (if crit/high) YES
5     commit-sdlc (fixes)   conditional  --auto         no
6     version-sdlc          skipped      ---            ---
7     pr-sdlc               will run     --auto         no
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Review threshold: critical or high findings trigger fix loop
Interactive pauses: received-review (if triggered)

Auto mode — proceeding without confirmation.

━━━ Ship Pipeline — Step 1/7: Execute ━━━
  Invoking: /execute-plan-sdlc --preset balanced
  Reason: plan detected in context, preset balanced from config
  Expectation: execute all plan tasks in waves

  [done] Step 1 complete: 6 tasks, 2 waves completed
  State saved to .sdlc/execution/ship-feat-user-auth-20260327T143000Z.json

Staging changes from execution:
  A  src/auth/oauth.ts
  A  src/auth/oauth.test.ts
  A  src/middleware/session.ts
  M  src/routes/index.ts
  M  src/config.ts
  M  package.json
  Total: 6 files staged
  Reason: execute-plan-sdlc creates files but does not stage them

━━━ Ship Pipeline — Step 2/7: Commit ━━━
  Invoking: /commit-sdlc --auto
  Reason: --auto forwarded from ship --auto mode
  Expectation: stage all changes, generate commit message, commit without approval prompt

  [done] Step 2 complete: a1b2c3d feat(auth): add OAuth2 PKCE flow
  State saved to .sdlc/execution/ship-feat-user-auth-20260327T143000Z.json

━━━ Ship Pipeline — Step 3/7: Review ━━━
  Invoking: /review-sdlc --committed
  Reason: reviewing committed changes on branch
  Expectation: load review dimensions, dispatch review agents, produce verdict

  [done] Step 3 complete: APPROVED WITH NOTES (2 medium, 1 low)
  State saved to .sdlc/execution/ship-feat-user-auth-20260327T143000Z.json

Review verdict: APPROVED WITH NOTES (2 medium, 1 low)
  Decision: CONTINUING — no critical/high issues found
  Deferred findings (2 medium, 1 low) will be shown in pipeline summary

━━━ Ship Pipeline — Step 4/7: Received Review ━━━
  Status: not triggered (no critical/high findings)

━━━ Ship Pipeline — Step 5/7: Commit Fixes ━━━
  Status: not triggered (no review fixes applied)

━━━ Ship Pipeline — Step 6/7: Version ━━━
  Status: skipped (in skip set from config)

━━━ Ship Pipeline — Step 7/7: PR ━━━
  Invoking: /pr-sdlc --auto
  Reason: --auto forwarded from ship --auto mode
  Expectation: generate PR description, create PR without approval prompt

  [done] Step 7 complete: https://github.com/myuser/myrepo/pull/42
  State saved to .sdlc/execution/ship-feat-user-auth-20260327T143000Z.json

Ship Pipeline Complete
================================================================
Step  Skill                 Result
================================================================
1     execute-plan-sdlc     [done] 6 tasks, 2 waves completed
2     commit-sdlc           [done] a1b2c3d feat(auth): add OAuth2 PKCE
3     review-sdlc           [done] APPROVED WITH NOTES (2 medium, 1 low)
4     received-review-sdlc  --- not triggered (no critical/high)
5     commit-sdlc (fixes)   --- not triggered
6     version-sdlc          --- skipped (config default)
7     pr-sdlc               [done] https://github.com/myuser/myrepo/pull/42
================================================================

Decisions log:
  - Preset B selected (from config default)
  - Version step skipped (from config default, bump type: patch)
  - Review found 2 medium, 1 low issues — below threshold, deferred
  - PR created (from --auto flag)

Deferred review findings (2 medium, 1 low):
  1. [medium] src/auth/oauth.ts:42 — Consider extracting token validation to a shared utility
  2. [medium] src/middleware/session.ts:18 — Missing rate limit on new session endpoint
  3. [low] src/config.ts:7 — Magic number for token expiry; extract to named constant
  -> Run /received-review-sdlc to address these

State file cleaned up: .sdlc/execution/ship-feat-user-auth-20260327T143000Z.json deleted

Examples

Basic usage (interactive)

/ship-sdlc

Loads config (if present), detects context, presents the pipeline plan, and asks for confirmation before each major step.

Full auto mode with preset

/ship-sdlc --auto --preset minimal

Runs the quality preset with no confirmation prompts except at received-review-sdlc (if triggered) and version-sdlc.

Dry run to preview the pipeline

/ship-sdlc --dry-run --skip version

Displays the full pipeline table showing which steps will run, which are skipped, and which flags are forwarded. No steps are executed.

Skip execute and version

/ship-sdlc --skip execute,version

Useful when you’ve already implemented the changes manually and want to commit, review, and open a PR.

Draft PR with auto mode

/ship-sdlc --auto --draft

Ships end-to-end and opens the PR as a draft for team review.

Resume after a failure

/ship-sdlc --resume

Finds the most recent state file for the current branch, skips completed steps, and retries from the point of failure.

Set up project config

/ship-sdlc --init-config

Walks through an interactive questionnaire and writes .sdlc/local.json. Does not run the pipeline.

Configuration

Pipeline behavior is configured via .sdlc/local.json. Create it manually or run /ship-sdlc --init-config for guided setup.

Config fields

Field	Type	Default	Description
`preset`	`"full"` \| `"balanced"` \| `"minimal"`	`"balanced"`	Execution preset forwarded to execute-plan-sdlc. Legacy `"A"`/`"B"`/`"C"` accepted.
`skip`	`string[]`	`[]`	Steps to skip by default on every run.
`bump`	`"patch"` \| `"minor"` \| `"major"`	`"patch"`	Default version bump type.
`draft`	`boolean`	`false`	Create PRs as drafts by default.
`auto`	`boolean`	`false`	Run in non-interactive mode by default.
`reviewThreshold`	`"critical"` \| `"high"` \| `"medium"`	`"high"`	Minimum severity that triggers the fix loop.
`workspace`	`"branch"` \| `"worktree"` \| `"prompt"`	`"prompt"`	Workspace isolation strategy forwarded to execute-plan-sdlc.

Merge precedence

CLI flag  >  .sdlc/local.json  >  built-in defaults

Team-specific examples

Solo developer — move fast:

Skip version management, auto-commit, only pause on critical findings.

{
  "$schema": "sdlc-local.schema.json",
  "preset": "full",
  "skip": ["version"],
  "auto": true,
  "bump": "patch",
  "draft": false,
  "reviewThreshold": "critical"
}

Team with guardrails — balanced review:

Full pipeline with high-severity review threshold. PRs open as drafts for team review. Version step runs with manual approval.

{
  "$schema": "sdlc-local.schema.json",
  "preset": "balanced",
  "skip": [],
  "auto": false,
  "bump": "minor",
  "draft": true,
  "reviewThreshold": "high"
}

CI-adjacent — maximum confidence:

Quality preset catches medium-severity findings. Suitable for regulated environments or release branches.

{
  "$schema": "sdlc-local.schema.json",
  "preset": "minimal",
  "skip": [],
  "auto": false,
  "bump": "patch",
  "draft": false,
  "reviewThreshold": "medium"
}

Quick iteration — skip execute and review:

For when you’ve already implemented and reviewed manually, and just need to commit, version, and open a PR.

{
  "$schema": "sdlc-local.schema.json",
  "preset": "balanced",
  "skip": ["execute", "review"],
  "auto": true,
  "bump": "patch",
  "draft": true,
  "reviewThreshold": "high"
}

Resuming After Failure

When the pipeline fails or is interrupted, the state file is preserved at:

.sdlc/execution/ship-<branch>-<timestamp>.json

To resume:

/ship-sdlc --resume

What happens on resume:

The skill finds the most recent state file for the current branch (matched by branch name in the filename).
Steps with status completed or skipped are skipped.
Steps with status in_progress are retried from the beginning.
Steps with status pending run normally.
The same flags from the original run are restored from the state file.

If multiple state files exist for the same branch (from multiple failed attempts), the one with the most recent timestamp is used.

Manual cleanup: If a state file is corrupt or you want to start fresh, delete it manually:

rm .sdlc/execution/ship-<branch>-<timestamp>.json

Or delete all state files:

rm -rf .sdlc/execution/

Then run /ship-sdlc without --resume to start a new pipeline.

Prerequisites

gh CLI — required for PR creation. Must be authenticated (gh auth login). The pipeline validates this before execution and stops with a clear error if authentication fails.
git — must be run inside a git repository on a feature branch (not the default branch).
Review dimensions — .claude/review-dimensions/ must contain at least one dimension file for the review step. Run /setup-sdlc --dimensions to create them. If review is in the skip set, this is not required.
Plan in context — for the execute step, a plan must be present in the conversation. If no plan is found and execute is not skipped, the step is auto-skipped.

Harness Configuration

Field	Value
`argument-hint`	`[--auto] [--skip <steps>] [--preset full\|balanced\|minimal] [--draft] [--dry-run]`
Plan mode	Graceful refusal (Step 0)

What It Creates or Modifies

File / Artifact	Description
`.sdlc/local.json`	Developer-local config. Gitignored by `.sdlc/.gitignore` (created by `--init-config` via `ship-init.js`).
`.sdlc/.gitignore`	Internal gitignore that prevents `.sdlc/` contents from being committed. Created by `--init-config` via `ship-init.js`.
`.sdlc/execution/ship-*.json`	Pipeline state file. Created at start, deleted on successful completion, retained on failure for `--resume`.
Git commits	Feature commit (step 2) and optionally a review fix commit (step 5).
Git tag	Created by version-sdlc if the version step runs.
GitHub PR	Opened or updated by pr-sdlc as the final step.