Workflow Orchestration

Knowledge base for orchestrating multi-phase workflow executions with standardized folder structures, progress tracking, and agent delegation.

Core Concepts

This skill embodies six key orchestration principles:

1. Planning - HOW to create execution plans with phase breakdown and artifact definition
2. Implementation - HOW to execute plans through agent delegation, progress tracking and artifact management
3. Resuming - HOW to restart workflows from specific phases with selective regeneration
4. Delegation - HOW to maintain focused context through strategic agent handoffs
5. Artifacts - HOW to standardize outputs that flow between phases
6. Progress Tracking - HOW to maintain execution state and resumability

Progressive Disclosure

A core architectural principle that emerges from delegation: pass file paths, not content. This enables agents to load context when needed, maintaining high signal-to-noise ratio. Instead of inlining everything upfront, each agent reads only the files it needs for its specific task.

Standard Execution Folder

All task/workflow executions follow this structure:

/{base-dir}/{task/workflow-name}/{YYYY-MM-DD_HH:MM}/
├── data/              # Input files (optional)
├── artifacts/         # Phase outputs
│   ├── 01-*.md
│   ├── 02a-*.md
│   ├── 02b-*.md
│   └── 03-*.md
├── PLAN.md           # Initial plan
├── TODO.md           # Progress tracking
└── RESEARCH.md/STRATEGY.md/CONTENT.md       # Final output

Where base-dir is either research, strategy or content.

See Artifacts for naming conventions and Progress Tracking for folder structure details.

Orchestration Workflows

Planning Phase

Purpose: Create a structured execution plan

Inputs:

• Task description or workflow definition
• User requirements and context

Process: See Planning

Outputs:

• Execution folder structure
• PLAN.md with phase breakdown
• Expected artifact definitions

Implementation Phase

Purpose: Execute the plan through agent delegation

Inputs:

• PLAN.md from execution folder
• data/ (optional, created in planning phase)

Process: See Implementation

Outputs:

• Phase artifacts in execution folder
• Updated TODO.md tracking progress
• Final RESEARCH.md with synthesized findings

Resumption Phase

Purpose: Restart execution from specific phase with selective regeneration

Inputs:

• Existing execution folder with PLAN.md and TODO.md
• User specification of resume point
• Existing artifacts/ (some preserved, some regenerated)

Process: See Resuming

Outputs:

• Updated TODO.md with resumption log
• Regenerated artifacts from resume point forward
• Preserved artifacts from before resume point
• Updated final output

Tools and Resources

Scripts

• scripts/create_execution_folder.py - Creates timestamped execution folders

Templates

• assets/TODO_template.md - Progress tracking template
• assets/PLAN_template.md - Workflow plan template