---
name: ln-300-story-pipeline
description: Orchestrates complete Story workflow from task planning to Done. Delegates to ln-310-story-decomposer, ln-320-story-validator, ln-330-story-executor for full automation.
---

# Linear Story Processor (Orchestrator)

Orchestrate complete Story processing workflow from task planning through verification, execution, and review. This skill coordinates existing Story lifecycle using specialized workers.

## Overview

### What This Skill Does

Coordinates the complete processing pipeline for an existing Story:
- Auto-discovers Team ID from kanban_board.md
- Loads Story metadata ONLY (ID, title, status, labels - NO description)
- **Phase 1:** Discovery (Team ID + Story ID)
- **Phase 2:** Task Planning (delegates to ln-310-story-decomposer)
- **Phase 3:** Verification & Execution Loop (ln-320-story-validator prepares tasks, ln-330-story-executor executes them, explicit delegation to ln-340-story-quality-gate Pass 1 + Pass 2)
- **Phase 4:** Completion Report (Story Done automatically, full pipeline automation)

### When to Use This Skill

This skill should be used when:
- Process existing Story from planning to completion
- Automate full Story pipeline (tasks → verify → execute → review)
- Story already exists in Linear (e.g., US001, API-53)
- Need end-to-end orchestration without manual intervention

**Prerequisites:**
- Story exists in Linear
- Story has Acceptance Criteria defined
- Requirements are clear

### When NOT to Use

Do NOT use if:
- Story doesn't exist → Use ln-220-story-coordinator first to create Story
- Only need task planning → Use ln-310-story-decomposer directly
- Only need execution → Use ln-330-story-executor directly
- Story is vague (no AC) → Refine Story first

---

## Core Concepts

### Orchestrator Pattern

**ln-300-story-pipeline is a pure coordinator** - it does NOT execute work directly:
- ✅ Discovers context (Team ID, Story ID)
- ✅ Loads Story metadata ONLY (no full description)
- ✅ Makes routing decisions (which worker to invoke)
- ✅ Delegates all work via Skill tool
- ✅ Manages workflow state transitions
- ❌ Does NOT generate documents (workers do this)
- ❌ Does NOT create/update Linear issues (workers do this)
- ❌ Does NOT execute tasks (workers do this)

**Workers**:
- **ln-310-story-decomposer**: Plans and creates/replans tasks (1-6 implementation tasks)
- **ln-320-story-validator**: Verifies Story + Tasks against industry standards, auto-fixes, approves (Backlog → Todo)
- **ln-330-story-executor**: Executes all tasks through their workflow (Todo → In Progress → To Review → Done)
- **ln-340-story-quality-gate**: Reviews completed Story (Pass 1: manual testing + test task creation, Pass 2: final verification → Done)

### Workflow Pattern: Looping Orchestrator

**Pattern**: Orchestrator reloads metadata after each worker completes, then re-evaluates state.

**Flow**:
`
Phase 1: Discovery → Phase 2: Task Planning (ln-310-story-decomposer) →
Phase 3: Loop (Verify → Execute → Review Pass 1 + explicit Pass 2 delegation) →
[If new task created] → ln-320-story-validator revalidates Backlog tasks → ln-330-story-executor executes them →
[All tasks Done + test task Done] → explicit Pass 2 delegation → Story Done → Phase 4: Report
`

**Key Principle**: After each worker, reload Story + Tasks metadata (NOT full descriptions) and decide next step.

### Auto-Discovery

**Team ID**: Auto-discovered from `docs/tasks/kanban_board.md` Linear Configuration table (see CLAUDE.md "Configuration Auto-Discovery").

**Story ID**: Parsed from request: "for US001" or "for API-53" or "process US001"

---

## Workflow

### Phase 0: Checkpoint Setup

**Optional checkpoint:**
- If `docs/tasks/checkpoints/[story_id].md` exists → mark progress checkboxes as phases complete
- If file missing → continue without errors (checkpoint optional)

### Phase 1: Discovery (Automated)

Auto-discovers Team ID from `docs/tasks/kanban_board.md`.

Parses request for:
- **Story ID**: "for US001" or "process API-53"

**Validation**:
- Team ID exists in kanban_board.md
- Story ID format valid (e.g., US001, API-53)

Load Story metadata ONLY:
```
Story {
  id: string,
  title: string,
  status: string (Backlog | Todo | In Progress | To Review | Done),
  labels: string[]
}
```

**NO full description loaded** - token efficiency.

### Phase 2: Task Planning

**Check**: Does Story have tasks?

Query Linear: `list_issues(parentId=Story.id)`

**Decision**:
- **ALWAYS** delegate to ln-310-story-decomposer (Decompose-First Pattern)
- ln-310-story-decomposer will build IDEAL plan and choose CREATE (count=0) or REPLAN (count≥1) mode automatically
- Rationale: Stories with ≥3 tasks MUST be replanned if AC changed (current logic skips replan)

**Invocation**:
```
🔄 [PROCESSOR] Phase 2: Delegating task planning to ln-310-story-decomposer

Skill(skill: "ln-310-story-decomposer", context: {
  storyId: Story.id,
  teamId: teamId
})
```

**ln-310-story-decomposer will**:
- Analyze Story (AC, Technical Notes)
- Build IDEAL task plan (1-6 tasks, Foundation-First execution order)
- Create or replan tasks in Linear
- Update kanban_board.md
- Return: Task URLs + summary

**After completion**: Reload Story + Tasks metadata.

### Phase 3: Story Verification & Execution Loop

This phase loops until Story status = "To Review".

**Step 1: Story Verification**

**Trigger**: Story status = "Backlog" OR Tasks exist but not verified

Delegate to ln-320-story-validator:
```
🔄 [PROCESSOR] Phase 3 Step 1: Delegating verification to ln-320-story-validator

Skill(skill: "ln-320-story-validator", context: {
  storyId: Story.id,
  teamId: teamId
})
```

**ln-320-story-validator will**:
- Load Story + Tasks descriptions (sequential, one by one)
- Auto-fix all 16 verification criteria
- Auto-approve (Backlog → Todo)
- Update Story + Tasks status in Linear
- Return: Summary (changes, guides, warnings)

**After completion**: Reload Story + Tasks metadata.

**Step 2: Story Execution**

**Trigger**: Story status = "Todo" OR "In Progress"

Delegate to ln-330-story-executor:
```
🔄 [PROCESSOR] Phase 3 Step 2: Delegating execution to ln-330-story-executor

Skill(skill: "ln-330-story-executor", context: {
  storyId: Story.id,
  teamId: teamId
})
```

**ln-330-story-executor will**:
- Orchestrate task execution with strict priorities: Priority 0 = To Review (ln-332-task-reviewer), Priority 1 = To Rework (ln-333-task-rework), Priority 2 = Todo (ln-331-task-executor / ln-334-test-executor)
- Rely on ln-320-story-validator to move any fix/refactor/test tasks from Backlog to Todo before picking them up (new work always re-enters through ln-320-story-validator)
- Invoke ln-332-task-reviewer, ln-333-task-rework, ln-331-task-executor, ln-334-test-executor
- When all tasks Done → Explicitly delegate to ln-340-story-quality-gate Pass 1 (via Skill tool)
- When test task Done → Explicitly delegate to ln-340-story-quality-gate Pass 2 (via Skill tool) → Story Done
- Return: Execution summary

**After completion**: Reload Story + Tasks metadata.

**Step 3: Story Review Pass 1 + Pass 2 (Explicitly Delegated by ln-330-story-executor)**

**Trigger**: ln-330-story-executor explicitly delegates to ln-340-story-quality-gate Pass 1 when all implementation tasks Done

**ln-340-story-quality-gate Pass 1 will** (Early Exit Pattern):
- Phase 3: Code Quality Analysis (if fail → create refactoring task → ln-320-story-validator re-approves Backlog → Todo → Loop back to ln-330-story-executor)
- Phase 4: Regression Check (if fail → create fix task → ln-320-story-validator re-approves Backlog → Todo → Loop back to ln-330-story-executor)
- Phase 5: Manual Testing (if fail → create fix task → ln-320-story-validator re-approves Backlog → Todo → Loop back to ln-330-story-executor)
- Phase 6: Verdict
  * **Path A**: All passed → Create test task (via ln-350-story-test-planner) → ln-320-story-validator revalidates Backlog → Todo → Loop back to ln-330-story-executor
  * **Path B**: Issues found → ln-320-story-validator revalidates Backlog → Todo → Loop back to ln-330-story-executor

**ln-340-story-quality-gate Pass 2 explicit delegation**:
- **Trigger**: ln-330-story-executor detects test task Done → Updates Story status In Progress → To Review → Explicitly delegates Pass 2 (via Skill tool)
- **Pass 2 will**: Verify tests (E2E 2-5, Integration 3-8, Unit 5-15, Priority ≥15) → Story To Review → Done

**Loop Condition**: If new task created (fix/refactoring/test), Phase 3 restarts from ln-320-story-validator to approve Backlog → Todo before ln-330-story-executor executes again.

**Exit Condition**: Story status = "Done" (all tasks Done, test task Done, Pass 2 passed)

### Phase 4: Completion Report

**Trigger**: Story status = "Done" (all tasks Done, test task Done, Pass 2 passed automatically)

```
🔄 [PROCESSOR] Phase 4: Story processing complete

Story Status: Done
All Tasks: Done
Pipeline: Todo → In Progress → To Review → Done (fully automated)
Summary:
  - Implementation tasks: Completed
  - Code Quality → Regression → Manual Testing: Passed
  - Test task: Completed (E2E 2-5, Integration 3-8, Unit 5-15, Priority ≥15)
  - Pass 2: Verified and approved

Story successfully processed from planning to Done without manual intervention.
```

**Result**: Story fully automated from task planning to Done status.

---

## Critical Rules

### 1. Metadata-Only Loading

**HARD RULE**: Orchestrator loads ONLY Story + Tasks metadata (ID, title, status, labels).

**NO full descriptions loaded**:
- Prevents token waste
- Scales to Stories with many tasks
- Workers load full descriptions when needed

### 2. Strict Delegation

**Orchestrator responsibilities**:
- ✅ Discovery (Team ID, Story ID)
- ✅ Metadata loading (ID, title, status, labels)
- ✅ Routing decisions (which worker to invoke)
- ✅ Workflow state management

**Worker responsibilities** (NOT orchestrator):
- ❌ Generating documents → Workers
- ❌ Loading full descriptions → Workers
- ❌ Creating/updating Linear issues → Workers
- ❌ Executing tasks → Workers
- ❌ Running tests → Workers

### 3. Story Status Responsibility Matrix

**HARD RULE**: Only designated skills can update Story status. Clear ownership prevents conflicts.

| Story Status Transition | Responsible Skill | When |
|-------------------------|-------------------|------|
| **Backlog → Todo** | ln-320-story-validator | After auto-fix and approval (Phase 3 Step 1) |
| **Todo → In Progress** | ln-330-story-executor | First task execution starts (Phase 3 Step 2, Priority 2) |
| **In Progress → To Review** | ln-330-story-executor | All tasks Done (Phase 3 Step 2 → Phase 4 transition) |
| **To Review → Done** | ln-340-story-quality-gate Pass 2 | All tests verified, Priority ≥15 covered (Phase 4 Pass 2) |

**Why this matters**:
- Prevents duplicate updates from multiple skills
- Clear audit trail: each transition has ONE owner
- ln-300-story-pipeline orchestrates but does NOT update status directly

### 4. Loop After Each Worker

**Pattern**: After each worker completes, orchestrator:
1. Reloads Story + Tasks metadata
2. Re-evaluates state
3. Decides: next worker OR loop back OR complete

**Example**:
```
ln-330-story-executor completes → Reload metadata → Check Story status
  - Story status = "In Progress" → Loop back to ln-330-story-executor
  - Story status = "To Review" → Phase 4 (report completion)
```

### 4. Full Pipeline Automation

**Automation Principle**: Orchestrator runs entire pipeline without user prompts (full automation from task planning to Story Done).

**Workers handle prompts**:
- ln-310-story-decomposer: Shows preview, waits for "confirm"
- ln-320-story-validator: Shows summary, auto-approves
- ln-330-story-executor: Orchestrates without prompts (workers may prompt), auto-invokes Pass 1 + Pass 2

**Full Automation**: No manual intervention required. Story lifecycle fully automated: Todo → In Progress → To Review → Done.

---

## Definition of Done

Before completing work, verify ALL checkpoints:

**✅ Checkpoint Setup (Phase 0):**
- [ ] Checkpoint file created/loaded: `docs/tasks/checkpoints/[story_id].md`
- [ ] Resume point identified (if checkpoint existed)

**✅ Team ID Discovered (Phase 1):**
- [ ] Team ID loaded from kanban_board.md OR requested from user
- [ ] Story ID parsed from request
- [ ] Story metadata loaded (ID, title, status, labels - NO description)

**✅ Task Planning Completed (Phase 2):**
- [ ] Checked if tasks exist (count ≥ 0)
- [ ] Delegated to ln-310-story-decomposer to build the IDEAL plan and choose CREATE or REPLAN mode
- [ ] Reloaded metadata after ln-310-story-decomposer completed

**✅ Verification & Execution Loop (Phase 3):**
- [ ] Delegated to ln-320-story-validator (Story Backlog → Todo)
- [ ] Delegated to ln-330-story-executor (orchestrates task execution with To Review → To Rework → Todo priorities)
- [ ] New fix/refactor/test tasks routed back through ln-320-story-validator before execution
- [ ] ln-330-story-executor auto-invoked ln-340-story-quality-gate Pass 1 (Code Quality → Regression → Manual Testing)
- [ ] Pass 1 created test task (ln-320-story-validator re-approved it before execution)
- [ ] ln-330-story-executor executed test task
- [ ] ln-330-story-executor auto-invoked ln-340-story-quality-gate Pass 2 after test task Done
- [ ] Pass 2 verified tests (E2E 2-5, Integration 3-8, Unit 5-15, Priority ≥15)
- [ ] Pass 2 updated Story status: To Review → Done
- [ ] Loop completed: Story status = "Done"

**✅ Completion Report (Phase 4):**
- [ ] Story status = "Done"
- [ ] All tasks Done
- [ ] Full pipeline automation confirmed: Todo → In Progress → To Review → Done
- [ ] Reported to user: "Story successfully processed from planning to Done without manual intervention"
- [ ] Checkpoint file deleted: `docs/tasks/checkpoints/[story_id].md`

**Output**: Story fully automated from task planning to Done status (no manual intervention).

---

## Integration with Ecosystem

### Called By

Users directly: "Process US001" or "Run full pipeline for API-53"

### Calls (via Skill tool)

- **ln-310-story-decomposer**: Task planning (Phase 2)
- **ln-320-story-validator**: Story verification (Phase 3 Step 1)
- **ln-330-story-executor**: Story execution (Phase 3 Step 2)
  - ln-330-story-executor auto-invokes ln-340-story-quality-gate Pass 1 (Phase 3 Step 3)

### Next Steps

After ln-300-story-pipeline completes:
- **Story Done**: No further action required. Story fully automated from task planning to Done status.
- **Full Pipeline Automation**: Todo → In Progress → To Review → Done (no manual intervention)

---

## Best Practices

### Orchestrator Responsibilities

**DO**:
- ✅ Load Story + Tasks metadata ONLY
- ✅ Make routing decisions
- ✅ Delegate to workers
- ✅ Reload metadata after each worker
- ✅ Manage loop logic

**DON'T**:
- ❌ Load full descriptions (workers do this)
- ❌ Generate documents (workers do this)
- ❌ Create/update Linear issues (workers do this)
- ❌ Execute tasks (workers do this)
- ❌ Prompt user mid-pipeline (workers do this)

### Worker Communication

**Context Propagation**: Pass minimal context to workers (Team ID, Story ID only). Workers discover full data themselves.

**Trust Worker Results**: Workers return summary, orchestrator doesn't re-verify.

**Error Handling**: If worker returns error, report to user and stop pipeline.

### Loop Management

**Reload After Worker**: Always reload Story + Tasks metadata after worker completes.

**Exit Condition**: Loop exits when Story status = "To Review" AND all tasks Done.

**Infinite Loop Protection**: Max 10 iterations per loop (safety net). If exceeded, report to user.

---

## Quick Examples

### Example 1: New Story (No Tasks)

**Request**: "Process US001: Implement OAuth token authentication"

**Execution**:
- Phase 1: Team ID discovered, Story ID = US001, Status = Backlog
- Phase 2: No tasks → Invoke ln-310-story-decomposer
  - ln-310-story-decomposer: Analyze Story (5 AC), create 3 tasks (Token generation 4h, Validation middleware 3h, Refresh logic 5h)
  - Reload metadata: Story has 3 tasks
- Phase 3 Step 1: Invoke ln-320-story-validator
  - ln-320-story-validator: Auto-fix + approve (Backlog → Todo)
  - Reload metadata: Story status = Todo
- Phase 3 Step 2: Invoke ln-330-story-executor
  - ln-330-story-executor: Execute 3 tasks (Priority 2: Todo)
  - ln-330-story-executor: Auto-invoke ln-340-story-quality-gate Pass 1
  - Pass 1: Code Quality → Regression → Manual Testing → All passed → Create test task
  - ln-320-story-validator re-approved test task (Backlog → Todo)
  - Reload metadata: Story has 4 tasks (1 test task in Todo)
- Phase 3 Step 2 (Loop): ln-330-story-executor continues
  - ln-330-story-executor: Execute test task (Priority 2)
  - Test task Done
  - ln-330-story-executor: Update Story In Progress → To Review
  - ln-330-story-executor: Auto-invoke ln-340-story-quality-gate Pass 2
  - Pass 2: Verify tests (E2E 2-5, Integration 3-8, Unit 5-15, Priority ≥15) → Pass
  - Pass 2: Update Story To Review → Done
  - Reload metadata: Story status = Done, all tasks Done
- Phase 4: Report "Story successfully processed from planning to Done without manual intervention"

**Result**: Story fully automated from Backlog to Done (no manual intervention).

### Example 2: Existing Story (Tasks Already Exist)

**Request**: "Process US005" (Story already has 4 tasks)

**Execution**:
- Phase 1: Team ID discovered, Story ID = US005, Status = Todo
- Phase 2: 4 tasks exist (count ≥ 3) → Skip task planning
- Phase 3 Step 1: Invoke ln-320-story-validator
  - ln-320-story-validator: Auto-fix + approve (already Todo, validate tasks)
  - Reload metadata: Story status = Todo
- Phase 3 Step 2: Invoke ln-330-story-executor
  - ln-330-story-executor: Execute 4 tasks (Priority 2: Todo)
  - ln-330-story-executor: Auto-invoke ln-340-story-quality-gate Pass 1
  - Pass 1: Code Quality → Regression → Manual Testing → All passed → Create test task
  - ln-330-story-executor Priority 0: Auto-verify test task (Backlog → Todo)
  - Reload metadata: Story has 5 tasks (1 test task in Todo)
- Phase 3 Step 2 (Loop): ln-330-story-executor continues
  - ln-330-story-executor: Execute test task (Priority 2)
  - Test task Done
  - ln-330-story-executor: Update Story In Progress → To Review
  - ln-330-story-executor: Auto-invoke ln-340-story-quality-gate Pass 2
  - Pass 2: Verify tests (E2E 2-5, Integration 3-8, Unit 5-15, Priority ≥15) → Pass
  - Pass 2: Update Story To Review → Done
  - Reload metadata: Story status = Done, all tasks Done
- Phase 4: Report "Story successfully processed from planning to Done without manual intervention"

**Result**: Story fully automated from Todo to Done (no manual intervention).

---

## Reference Files

**Checkpoint Format:**
- `references/checkpoint_format.md` - Execution checkpoint file structure for context recovery

---

## Chat Output Prefix

Use emoji prefix for visual differentiation:
- 🔄 [PROCESSOR] - ln-300-story-pipeline (orchestrator)

**Purpose**: Helps users track orchestrator progress when multiple workers are invoked.

---

**Version:** 2.1.0 (Fixed Writing Style: "Use this skill when" → "This skill should be used when" for skill-creator compliance.)
**Last Updated:** 2025-11-16