iterative-retrieval

Use the four-section spawn template: Task (concrete and bounded), WHY this matters (motivation and context), Success criteria (explicit checkbox acceptance criteria), and Escalation path (what to do when stuck). Vague prompts without WHY context are an anti-pattern.

The protocol caps retries at 3 cycles. Cycle 1 is the initial attempt, cycle 2 is a targeted retry with specific corrections, and cycle 3 is a final attempt with all prior context. After cycle 3, escalate to a decision inbox instead of spawning cycle 4.

Run gh issue list --search with 2-3 representative keywords from the planned issue title before creating any issue. If an open issue already covers the problem, comment on it instead of creating a new one.

Retry when output is structurally correct but missing specific items or the agent misunderstood scope. Escalate when requirements are fundamentally unclear, 3 cycles complete without convergence, results conflict across cycles, or the work depends on unresolved blockers.

Validate that all success criteria are met, the PR exists and matches the issue, no regressions or new TODO/FIXME markers appear, no task parts were silently skipped, and any reported uncertainty was resolved or escalated.