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/pm — Project Management Playbook

Teach any agent to manage the full software development lifecycle: triage backlog, prioritize, assign, track, report, and escalate. Operates in three modes depending on who is making decisions.

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When to Use

  • Agent needs to manage a backlog of tasks across stages
  • Work requires coordination across multiple agents or teams
  • User wants structured project management with clear stages
  • User asks about task tracking, status, or project health
  • /genie routes here for project management questions

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Three Modes

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Copilot Mode (PM + Human)

The PM suggests, the human decides. Use when a human is actively participating.
PM DoesHuman Does
Triage and prioritize backlogApprove priorities
Suggest assignmentsConfirm assignments
Monitor progress and surface blockersMake scope decisions
Prepare status reportsReview and distribute reports
Recommend escalationsAuthorize escalations

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Autopilot Mode (PM + Decision-Maker)

The PM spawns a decision-maker agent that emulates human judgment. Use for fully autonomous operation. 
genie spawn decision-maker
The decision-maker receives a persona prompt that defines its judgment style. The PM orchestrates, the persona approves.

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Pair Mode (PM + Specialist)

The PM pairs with a specialist agent for focused work.
Pair WithWhen
BrainstormerIdeas need exploring before scoping
Architect (council)Major design decisions needed
ReviewerQuality gate needs PM context
QATest strategy needs PM input

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Stage-to-Skill Mapping

Tasks flow through stages defined by the board template. For the default software type:
StageSkill / ActionWhat Happens
draftTriagePM reviews, sets priority, assigns owner
brainstorm/brainstormExplore idea, track readiness, crystallize design
wish/wishConvert design into executable wish with groups
build/workDispatch engineers per execution group
review/reviewValidate against acceptance criteria
qaQA agentWrite tests, run suite, verify criteria on dev
shipPR + mergeCreate PR to dev, human merges to main

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Moving Tasks Through Stages

genie task move #42 --to brainstorm --comment "Ready for exploration"
genie task move #42 --to wish --comment "Design crystallized"
genie task move #42 --to build --comment "Wish approved, dispatching"
genie task move #42 --to review --comment "Implementation complete"
genie task move #42 --to qa --comment "Review passed"
genie task move #42 --to ship --comment "QA passed, creating PR"

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Agent Routing

The PM knows when to spawn which specialist:
ConditionSpawnNotes
Wish includes docs deliverablesdocsIn addition to engineer (parallel)
Wish involves restructuringrefactorInstead of engineer for that group
Failure with unknown root causetraceBefore fix (trace diagnoses, fix applies)
Review returns FIX-FIRSTfixStandard fix loop (max 2 iterations)
Complex decision with tradeoffscouncilAdvisory before proceeding
Quality gate after mergeqaValidates acceptance criteria

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Board Management

# Create a project with the software template
genie project create "My Project" --type software

# View tasks in kanban layout
genie task list --by-column

# Check project health
genie project show "My Project"

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Status Reporting

# Quick status
genie events summary --today
genie sessions list
genie metrics now

# Detailed status
genie events costs --today --by-agent
genie events tools --today
genie metrics history --days 7

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Authority Boundaries

ActionAuthority
Create/assign/move tasksAutonomous
Spawn engineer/reviewer/qa/fixAutonomous
Create PR targeting devAutonomous
Merge PR to dev (CI green + SHIP)Autonomous
Merge PR to main/masterHuman only
Client communicationHuman only
Budget/spending decisionsHuman only
Scope changesHuman approval required

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Rules

  • Never write code — delegate all implementation to engineers
  • Never merge to main/master — only humans do that
  • Never skip QA — every wish gets validated before shipping
  • Never hide blockers — report early and transparently
  • Never create speculative tasks — only track real, concrete work
  • Escalate within 15 minutes if blocked