porch – Protocol Orchestrator

Synopsis

porch <command> [project-id]

Porch drives SPIR, TICK, and BUGFIX protocols via a state machine with phase transitions, gates, and multi-agent consultations.

Commands

porch status [id]          # Show project status (auto-detects in worktree)
porch run [id]             # Run the protocol loop (strict mode)
porch next [id]            # Get next tasks for a project
porch done [id]            # Signal current phase work is complete
porch approve <id> <gate>  # Approve a gate (human only)
porch pending              # List all pending gates across projects

Gates

Gates are human approval checkpoints. Builders STOP at gates and wait.

porch approve 42 spec-approval    # Approve spec gate
porch approve 42 plan-approval    # Approve plan gate
porch approve 42 pr               # Approve PR gate

Project State

State is stored in codev/projects/<id>/status.yaml, managed automatically by porch. Never edit status.yaml directly.

Common Mistakes

• Never call porch approve as a builder – Only humans approve gates
• Never edit status.yaml directly – Only porch modifies state
• Builders should use porch done to signal phase completion, not porch approve
• porch run is for strict mode only – soft mode builders follow the protocol manually