The Six Stages

Stage	Command	Writes	Purpose
Assess	/kbd-assess	assessment.md	gap report vs phase goals
Analyze	/kbd-analyze	analysis.md, library-candidates.json	evidence-backed build-vs-adopt calls
Spec	/kbd-spec	change specs	machine-verifiable acceptance criteria
Plan	/kbd-plan	plan.md + change structures	ordered change list with candidates annotated
Execute	/kbd-execute + /kbd-apply	execution.md, progress.json	per-change implementation with QA gates
Reflect	/kbd-reflect	reflection.md	delta analysis; seeds the next phase

Changes are tracked in progress.json (the ledger: changes[], completion.implementation), and the active position lives in current-waypoint.json.

Lifecycle state is separate from stage state

A phase or task can be pending, in_progress, blocked, complete, or cancelled. The run itself has a separate lifecycle:

Lifecycle	Meaning	Mutation policy
ready	Runtime exists and can accept an initial transition	Allowed
running	Work may proceed	Allowed and journal-serialized
pause_requested	An interrupt or operator pause is being checkpointed	Denied
paused	Durable checkpoint exists	Denied
blocked	External or operator blocker is active	Denied
completed	Run reached its terminal success state	Denied
cancelled	Operator terminated the run	Denied
failed	Run ended unsuccessfully	Denied

prometheus kbd resume only resumes a suspended run after validating its plan revision. It does not reopen a completed, cancelled, or failed run. Start a new phase/run for new work after a terminal state.

Independent completion dimensions

KBD no longer treats “implementation complete” as proof that work is shipped. The runtime records four independent dimensions:

1. implementation
2. evidence
3. certification
4. publication

For example, a Docusaurus change can have implementation and certification complete while publication remains pending until GitHub Pages deploys the saved build.

Canonical source: the per-stage SKILL.md files under kbd-process-orchestrator/skills/.