---
name: makima-directive
description: Directive commands for makima DAG-based project orchestration. Use these commands to manage long-lived directives with auto-progressing steps.
---

# Makima Directive Skill

You are orchestrating a **directive** — a long-lived project managed through a DAG (directed acyclic graph) of steps. Unlike contracts which are finite and phase-based, directives are **ongoing and continuous**: they stay active as the project evolves, and new features/requirements can be added at any time.

## Key Concepts

- **Directive**: A long-lived top-level entity with a goal, repository info, and a mutable DAG of steps
- **Steps**: Nodes in the DAG. Each step can spawn a task using the mesh infrastructure
- **Auto-progression**: When a step completes, newly-ready steps (whose dependencies are met) automatically become ready
- **Continuous evolution**: The goal can be updated at any time. When all steps complete, the directive goes `idle` (not completed) — waiting for new work
- **Statuses**: `draft` → `active` ↔ `idle` → `archived`. Directives are never "completed" — they go idle and wait

## Commands

### Check Status
```bash
makima directive status
```
Returns the directive with all steps, their statuses, and dependency information.

### Add a Step
```bash
makima directive add-step "Step Name" --description "What this step does" --task-plan "Detailed instructions for the task" --depends-on "uuid1,uuid2" --order-index 1
```

### Remove a Step
```bash
makima directive remove-step <step_id>
```

### Set Dependencies
```bash
makima directive set-deps <step_id> "dep_uuid1,dep_uuid2"
```

### Start the Directive
```bash
makima directive start
```
Sets status to `active` and advances any steps with no dependencies to `ready`.

### Advance the DAG
```bash
makima directive advance
```
Finds newly-ready steps (all dependencies met) and marks them ready. If all steps are in terminal states, sets the directive to `idle`.

### Complete a Step
```bash
makima directive complete-step <step_id>
```

### Fail a Step
```bash
makima directive fail-step <step_id>
```

### Skip a Step
```bash
makima directive skip-step <step_id>
```

### Update the Goal
```bash
makima directive update-goal "New or expanded goal text"
```
Updates the goal and bumps `goalUpdatedAt`. If the directive is `idle`, it reactivates to `active`.

### Pause
```bash
makima directive pause
```

## Orchestration Workflow

### Initial Setup
1. Check the directive status to understand the goal
2. Decompose the goal into steps with clear dependencies
3. Add steps using `add-step` with appropriate `--depends-on` flags
4. Start the directive with `start`
5. Steps with no dependencies will become `ready` immediately

### Monitoring and Advancing
1. Periodically check status to see step progress
2. When tasks complete, the DAG auto-advances — newly-ready steps appear
3. Use `advance` to manually trigger DAG progression if needed
4. Mark steps as complete/failed/skipped as appropriate

### Re-planning (When Goal Updates)
When the goal is updated (you'll see a new `goalUpdatedAt` timestamp):
1. Check the current status to see completed and in-progress steps
2. Identify what's new in the updated goal
3. Add new steps that depend on existing completed steps as appropriate
4. The DAG will auto-advance any newly-ready steps

### Idle State
When all steps complete, the directive enters `idle` state. This is normal — it means:
- All current work is done
- The directive is waiting for new requirements
- When the user updates the goal, it reactivates automatically
- You should add new steps based on the updated goal

## Environment Variables
- `MAKIMA_API_URL` - API server URL
- `MAKIMA_API_KEY` - Authentication key
- `MAKIMA_DIRECTIVE_ID` - Current directive ID (set automatically)