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Overview

The health command validates .planning/ directory integrity, reports actionable issues, and optionally repairs them. It checks for missing files, invalid configurations, inconsistent state, and orphaned plans.

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Syntax

/gsd:health [--repair]
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--repair
flag
Automatically fix detected issues. Without this flag, health command only reports problems without making changes.

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How It Works

  1. Scans .planning/ directory for structure and files
  2. Validates critical files (STATE.md, ROADMAP.md, CONTEXT.md)
  3. Checks phase consistency between plans and roadmap
  4. Detects orphaned work (incomplete phases, abandoned debugs)
  5. Reports issues with severity levels
  6. Repairs if --repair flag is provided

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Health Checks

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Critical Files

✅ Checks:
  • .planning/STATE.md exists and is valid JSON/YAML
  • .planning/ROADMAP.md exists with phase definitions
  • .planning/CONTEXT.md exists (can be empty)
❌ Issues detected:
  • Missing STATE.md
  • Corrupted STATE.md (invalid format)
  • Missing ROADMAP.md
  • Missing CONTEXT.md

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Phase Consistency

✅ Checks:
  • Phases in roadmap match phase directories
  • Completed phases have SUMMARY.md
  • In-progress phases have PLAN.md
  • Phase numbers are sequential
❌ Issues detected:
  • Phase in roadmap but no directory
  • Phase directory but not in roadmap
  • Completed phase without SUMMARY.md
  • Phase number gaps or duplicates

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Orphaned Work

✅ Checks:
  • No .continue-here.md older than 7 days
  • No debug sessions in investigating state older than 3 days
  • No quick tasks without STATE.md entries
❌ Issues detected:
  • Stale checkpoint files
  • Abandoned debug sessions
  • Untracked quick tasks

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Git Consistency

✅ Checks:
  • No uncommitted changes in .planning/
  • Phase commits exist for completed phases
  • No .planning/ files in gitignore
❌ Issues detected:
  • Uncommitted planning files
  • Completed phase without commit

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Usage Examples

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Check health without repairs

/gsd:health
Output: 
GSD Health Check
================

✅ Critical Files
- STATE.md: valid
- ROADMAP.md: valid (8 phases)
- CONTEXT.md: exists

⚠️  Phase Consistency (2 issues)
- Phase 5 directory missing SUMMARY.md
  Status: completed in roadmap but no summary file
  
- Phase 7 not in roadmap
  Directory: .planning/phases/007-notifications/
  Has PLAN.md but missing from ROADMAP.md

⚠️  Orphaned Work (1 issue)
- Stale checkpoint: .planning/phases/003-auth/.continue-here.md
  Age: 9 days old
  Suggests work was abandoned mid-phase

✅ Git Consistency
- No uncommitted changes
- All phases have commits

═══════════════════════════════════════════
Summary: 3 issues detected

To fix automatically, run:
/gsd:health --repair

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Check and repair issues

/gsd:health --repair
Output: 
GSD Health Check (Repair Mode)
==============================

✅ Critical Files
- STATE.md: valid
- ROADMAP.md: valid (8 phases)
- CONTEXT.md: exists

🔧 Phase Consistency (2 issues)

1. Phase 5 missing SUMMARY.md
   Creating from PLAN.md completion status...
   ✓ Created .planning/phases/005-api-auth/SUMMARY.md
   
2. Phase 7 not in roadmap
   Adding to ROADMAP.md based on PLAN.md...
   ✓ Added "Phase 7: Notification system" to roadmap

🔧 Orphaned Work (1 issue)

1. Stale checkpoint (9 days old)
   Archiving .continue-here.md...
   ✓ Moved to .planning/phases/003-auth/.archived/

✅ Git Consistency
- No uncommitted changes
- All phases have commits

═══════════════════════════════════════════
Repaired: 3 issues
Remaining: 0 issues

Project health: ✅ Good

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Healthy project

/gsd:health
Output: 
GSD Health Check
================

✅ Critical Files
- STATE.md: valid
- ROADMAP.md: valid (5 phases)
- CONTEXT.md: exists

✅ Phase Consistency
- All 5 phases consistent with roadmap
- Completed phases have summaries
- Phase numbers sequential

✅ Orphaned Work
- No stale checkpoints
- No abandoned debug sessions
- All quick tasks tracked

✅ Git Consistency
- No uncommitted changes
- All phases committed

═══════════════════════════════════════════
Project health: ✅ Excellent

No issues detected!

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Corrupted state

/gsd:health --repair
Output: 
GSD Health Check (Repair Mode)
==============================

❌ Critical Files (1 issue)
- STATE.md: corrupted (invalid YAML)

🔧 Repairing STATE.md
   Reconstructing from:
   - ROADMAP.md phase definitions
   - Phase SUMMARY.md files
   - Git commit history
   - Quick task files
   
   ✓ Rebuilt STATE.md from source files
   ✓ Validated new format

✅ Phase Consistency
- All phases valid

✅ Orphaned Work  
- No issues

✅ Git Consistency
- No uncommitted changes

═══════════════════════════════════════════
Repaired: 1 critical issue

Project health: ✅ Good

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Issue Severity Levels

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❌ Critical (Blocks Work)

  • Missing STATE.md
  • Corrupted STATE.md
  • Missing ROADMAP.md
  • Invalid phase structure
Action: Must repair before continuing work

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⚠️ Warning (Should Fix)

  • Missing SUMMARY.md for completed phase
  • Phase directory without roadmap entry
  • Stale checkpoint files (>7 days)
  • Abandoned debug sessions (>3 days)
Action: Repair when convenient, doesn’t block work

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ℹ️ Info (Nice to Fix)

  • Uncommitted changes in .planning/
  • Quick tasks not in STATE.md
  • Empty CONTEXT.md sections
Action: Optional cleanup

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Repair Actions

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STATE.md Reconstruction

# Rebuilds from:
1. ROADMAP.md → phase list
2. SUMMARY.md files → completed phases
3. Git log → commit hashes
4. Quick task files → completed quick tasks
5. Directory structure → current phase

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Phase Sync

# Missing SUMMARY.md
→ Creates from PLAN.md + git log

# Missing roadmap entry
→ Adds based on directory name + PLAN.md

# Orphaned directory
→ Moves to .planning/.archived/

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Checkpoint Cleanup

# Stale .continue-here.md (>7 days)
→ Moves to .planning/phases/{phase}/.archived/

# Active checkpoint (<7 days)
→ Keeps, offers resume in report

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Debug Session Cleanup

# Abandoned debug (>3 days in investigating)
→ Updates status to 'stale'
→ Suggests resume or close

# Resolved debug sessions
→ Moves to .planning/debug/.resolved/

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When to Run Health Check

Run health check

  • After long break from project
  • After manual file edits
  • Before important milestones
  • If commands behave unexpectedly
  • After force-push or branch operations
  • Periodically (monthly for active projects)

Run with --repair

  • When health check reports issues
  • After recovering from editor crash
  • After git conflicts in .planning/
  • When STATE.md seems wrong
  • Before demo or presentation

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Exit Codes

/gsd:health
  • 0 - No issues detected
  • 1 - Warning-level issues (doesn’t block work)
  • 2 - Critical issues (blocks work)
Useful for CI/CD: 
# Pre-commit hook
/gsd:health || exit 1
  • resume-work - Resumes work (runs health check implicitly)
  • progress - Shows progress (reports if health issues)
  • new-project - Creates healthy structure
  • pause-work - Creates checkpoint (checked by health)