/flow-close — End Work

/flow-close — End Work

Trigger: User wants to kill, merge, or archive a cycle. "Kill this", "we're done", "ship it", "close this out". Routes to G3 Resolve if not already done, then handles archival.

Step 1 — Identify the Cycle

Read .flow/cycles/ for active cycles.

If user names a specific cycle: Use that one. If one active cycle: Use that one. If multiple: List and ask which to close. If no active cycles: "No active cycles to close. Did you mean to start one with /flow-start?"

Step 2 — Check G3 Status

Has this cycle already been through G3 Resolve?

If no G3 record exists: "This cycle hasn't been through G3 Resolve yet. Let's do that now." -> Run the G3 Resolve flow from /flow-check Step 4.

If G3 already completed: Proceed to archival.

Step 3 — Require Learning Entry

Before archiving, check if a Learning Entry exists for this cycle.

If no Learning Entry: Do NOT proceed to archival. Ask:

"Every cycle teaches something — even a 'this worked as expected' is a learning. What did you learn?"

Prompt with:

• "What did you test?"
• "What did you learn?"
• "What does this mean for future work?"

Write the Learning Entry to .flow/cycles/[slug]-learning.md:

# Learning Entry
Date: [today]
Cycle: [link to brief]
What we tested: [one sentence]
What we learned: [2-3 sentences]
What this means: [future implications]

If Learning Entry exists: Proceed.

Step 4 — Archive

1. Move the Cycle Brief, Kill/Merge Record, and Learning Entry to .flow/archive/
2. Update .flow/cycles/ (remove from active)
3. Confirm: "Cycle archived. WIP slot freed. [Discovery/Outcome] capacity: [N]/[limit]."

Step 5 — What's Next?

After closing, offer forward momentum:

• If WIP has room: "You have capacity for new work. Want to /flow-start something?"
• If other cycles are overdue for Pulse: "[Other cycle] hasn't had a G2 check recently. Want to /flow-check it?"
• If no cycles remain: "All clear. Board is empty."

Tone

Respectful of the closure moment. Killing work is hard — acknowledge the learning, not just the stop. "That cycle produced a Learning Entry that will save future work. Good kill."