Archive Development Cycle

Purpose

Archive the current development cycle when it's complete. This preserves all cycle artifacts in a dated archive directory and allows starting fresh with /plan-and-analyze.

When to Use

Use /archive-cycle when:

• You've completed all sprints in a development cycle
• You're pivoting to a new major feature or product direction
• You want to preserve the current state before starting new work
• You're releasing a version and want to snapshot the development state

Invocation

/archive-cycle "MVP Complete"
/archive-cycle "v1.0 Release"
/archive-cycle "Phase 1 Done"

The label becomes part of the archive directory name (converted to slug format).

Process

1. Validate - Confirm ledger exists and has active cycle
2. Create Archive - Create grimoires/loa/archive/YYYY-MM-DD-{slug}/
3. Copy Artifacts - Copy prd.md, sdd.md, sprint.md to archive
4. Copy A2A - Copy sprint directories for this cycle's sprints
5. Update Ledger - Mark cycle as archived, clear active_cycle
6. Confirm - Display archive location and next steps

Archive Structure

grimoires/loa/archive/2026-01-17-mvp-complete/
├── prd.md              # Product Requirements snapshot
├── sdd.md              # Software Design snapshot
├── sprint.md           # Sprint Plan snapshot
└── a2a/
    ├── sprint-1/       # Sprint 1 artifacts (global ID)
    │   ├── reviewer.md
    │   ├── engineer-feedback.md
    │   ├── auditor-sprint-feedback.md
    │   └── COMPLETED
    ├── sprint-2/
    └── sprint-3/

What Gets Preserved

Item	Archived	Original
prd.md	✓ Copied	Kept in place
sdd.md	✓ Copied	Kept in place
sprint.md	✓ Copied	Kept in place
a2a/sprint-N/	✓ Copied	Kept in place (for global ID consistency)
ledger.json	Updated	Status changed to "archived"

Note: Original files are NOT deleted. This allows referencing previous work while starting a new cycle. Delete them manually if you want a clean slate.

Ledger Changes

Before:

{
  "active_cycle": "cycle-001",
  "cycles": [{
    "id": "cycle-001",
    "label": "MVP Development",
    "status": "active"
  }]
}

After:

{
  "active_cycle": null,
  "cycles": [{
    "id": "cycle-001",
    "label": "MVP Development",
    "status": "archived",
    "archived": "2026-01-17T10:30:00Z",
    "archive_path": "grimoires/loa/archive/2026-01-17-mvp-complete"
  }]
}

Next Steps After Archiving

After archiving, you'll typically:

1. Start New Cycle: Run /plan-and-analyze to create a new cycle
2. Optionally Clear Files: Delete old prd.md/sdd.md if starting fresh
3. Continue Development: New sprints will use global IDs continuing from where you left off

# Archive completed cycle
/archive-cycle "MVP Complete"

# Start new development cycle
/plan-and-analyze     # Creates cycle-002
/architect
/sprint-plan          # sprint-1 now maps to global sprint-4

Sprint Numbering Continuity

The key benefit of archiving is global sprint continuity:

Cycle 1 (archived):
  sprint-1 → global 1
  sprint-2 → global 2
  sprint-3 → global 3

Cycle 2 (new):
  sprint-1 → global 4  # Continues from where cycle 1 left off
  sprint-2 → global 5

This prevents directory collisions and maintains a clear audit trail.

Example Output

Archive Cycle
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Archiving: "MVP Development" (cycle-001)
Archive Label: "MVP Complete"

Creating archive at:
  grimoires/loa/archive/2026-01-17-mvp-complete/

Copied artifacts:
  ✓ prd.md
  ✓ sdd.md
  ✓ sprint.md
  ✓ a2a/sprint-1/
  ✓ a2a/sprint-2/
  ✓ a2a/sprint-3/

Updated ledger:
  ✓ Cycle status: archived
  ✓ Active cycle: cleared

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

✓ Archive complete!

Next steps:
  /plan-and-analyze  - Start a new development cycle
  /ledger history    - View all cycles

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Resolution
"No ledger found"	Project doesn't use Sprint Ledger	Run /plan-and-analyze first
"No active cycle"	Cycle already archived or not created	Run /plan-and-analyze to start
"Archive already exists"	Same slug used on same date	Use a different label

Related Commands

Command	Purpose
/ledger	View current ledger status
/ledger history	View all cycles including archived
/plan-and-analyze	Start a new development cycle