Project Phases

Projects in wai progress through six phases:

research → design → plan → implement → review → archive

Phases

1. Research — Gather information, explore the problem space, understand constraints
2. Design — Define architecture, make key decisions, document trade-offs
3. Plan — Break work into tasks, define milestones, set priorities
4. Implement — Build the solution, write code, integrate components
5. Review — Validate the work, run tests, gather feedback
6. Archive — Complete the project, generate final handoff, move to archives

Managing phases

wai phase              # Show current phase
wai phase next         # Advance to next phase
wai phase back         # Return to previous phase
wai phase set design   # Jump to a specific phase

Flexibility

Transitions are flexible — skip forward or go back as needed. Phase history is tracked with timestamps so you can see how a project evolved over time.

Adding artifacts by phase

Each phase has associated artifact types. Wai encourages capturing the right kind of documentation at each stage:

• Research phase → wai add research "..."
• Design phase → wai add design "..."
• Plan phase → wai add plan "..."

Archive Phase vs. Category

The word “archive” is used in two ways in wai, and they serve different purposes:

1. The Archive Phase (wai phase set archive)

This is a status for a project. It indicates that the project is complete, all final handoffs are generated, and no further work is planned. It stays in its current PARA category (usually Projects).

Use when: A project is finished but you still want it to appear in wai status and your active workspace overview.

2. The Archives Category (wai move my-project archives)

This is a storage location. Moving an item to archives reclassifies it in the PARA system, moving its directory from .wai/projects/ to .wai/archives/.

Use when: You want to declutter your workspace. Archived items are hidden from default wai status views and most context suggestions, but remain fully searchable.

Recommended Workflow:

1. Set phase to archive when the work is done.
2. Generate a final handoff (wai close).
3. Move to the archives category when you no longer need it in your active projects list.