Three layers
Maestro separates durable mechanism from workflow policy and working method. That boundary keeps the kernel small while allowing repositories to choose their gates and agents to load deeper guidance only when needed.
Kernel
Section titled “Kernel”The mechanism kernel owns the SQLite store, event log, sessions, CLI dispatch, plugin loading, and readiness projection. It contains mechanism only: work and decision records, leases, events, and plugin lifecycle. It does not encode a particular workflow policy.
Policies and verb plugins
Section titled “Policies and verb plugins”Plugins add verbs and optional gates. Repository policy entries live in
.maestro/config, where a plugin can be enabled or disabled without changing
the kernel. The default configuration enables proof and breakdown gates while
leaving the TDD, QA, research, witness, and lifecycle overlays disabled.
Recipes and skills
Section titled “Recipes and skills”Recipes and skills are prompt-first Markdown methods. Recipes are read on demand:
maestro recipe listmaestro recipe show workThe four installed skills cover bundle routing, design, implementation, and verification. They add working depth without moving policy vocabulary into the kernel.