The two modes
Mirrored from the fleet knowledge base: _process/modes.md
Updated
Mirrored verbatim from
utopia-models/knowledge_process/modes.mdby the allowlisted publish pipeline. Edit it there, not here.
audience: [architect, master, personal, alwayson]The two modes
Mode is Q1 of step zero — it decides which subprocesses exist. Exactly two literals, one per plan, no qualifier (ADR-7781, 2026-09-13).
| mode literal | what it means |
|---|---|
dispatch | masters execute; the Architect's involvement ends at dispatch unless the bound subprocess says monitor: yes |
interactive | Tyler and the Architect work it in-session — running, with him in it |
🔴 WHETHER A DISPATCH CHAIN IS WATCHED IS READ, NEVER ASKED: the monitor: yes|no frontmatter of the
subprocess chosen at Q3. yes → the Architect stays on the chain until it completes; no → involvement
ends at dispatch (the normal case). general/none subprocesses have no frontmatter and are not monitored.
🔴 interactive IS THE WHOLE NAME — never needs-tyler, blocked-by-tyler, manual,
human-in-the-loop — and it is NOT "blocked": it is work running with Tyler in it. Work that cannot
run unattended is filed interactive, never filed as dispatched work that then reports itself blocked.
🔴 RETIRED: dispatch-monitor / dispatch-no-monitor (2026-09-13; duplicated a fact the subprocess
holds, ADR-7781) · the interactive who-does-the-work qualifiers (2026-08-24; they answer who does the work, a
subprocess question).
Where the value lives: /plan-start runs project-session.sh load <mode> <project> <recipe>, which writes
mode into ~/.claude/state/plan-issue/<session-id>; the Plan issue carries it as its board Mode field, and the
[session] project=… mode=… recipe=… issue=… line prints it back at every start, resume, clear and compact. The
~/.claude/state/mode stance file and mode-set.sh were retired with the plan registry (ADR-10109).
Subprocesses are per-mode: wi/subprocesses/<mode>/<id>.md and <portfolio>/subprocesses/<mode>/<id>.md
— the directory IS the mode; each lives in exactly one. Full derivation:
wi/work/reference/the-process-modes-portfolios-subprocesses.md.