Rehearse a release path that has never succeeded

Rehearse an unexercised release path in a disposable worktree, since no wire-proving skill has evidence to route yet.

Also usessuperpowers

No werkstoff fit — this is pure Superpowers. andon-verify proves a wire from evidence that the wire has already produced. A release path that has never run has produced no evidence to route, so there is nothing for it to prove; and no werkstoff skill rehearses an unexercised path.

Start here

One prompt to start

This release workflow has never actually run -- before we trigger it, generate everything that has to be true for it to succeed, write it up as a plan whose steps can survive a failed first attempt, rehearse it in an isolated worktree rather than the real branch, and then show me the artifact it was actually supposed to produce, not just that the workflow went green.

Needssuperpowers

Beats

Run these in order. Each prompt is copy-pasteable straight into Claude Code.

1. superpowers:brainstormingalso in 1 other recipe

   • Scaffold a new project or CLI

   The failure modes of an unexercised path are unknown, not undiscovered; they have to be generated.

   Run this beat on its own

   this release workflow has never actually run. Before we trigger it, list everything that has to be true for it to succeed.

2. superpowers:writing-plansalso in 1 other recipe

   • Scope an ambiguous task

   An untested release path is a multi-step task, and the steps must survive a failed first attempt

3. superpowers:using-git-worktrees

   A rehearsal that mutates the real branch converts a dry run into an incident.

   Run this beat on its own

   set up an isolated worktree so we can rehearse this release without touching the real branch

4. superpowers:verification-before-completionalso in 3 other recipes

   • Finish and integrate a development branch
   • Triage an incident under time pressure
   • Incorporate external review feedback

   "It ran" and "it produced the artifact" are different claims, and only the second matters.

   Run this beat on its own

   don't tell me it worked because the workflow went green — show me the artifact it was supposed to produce

Worked example

Grounded in — why this beat order is trustworthy

`.github/workflows/batch-release.yml` is `workflow_dispatch`-only and reaches the bump-and-tag loop through `workflow_call` into `auto-version-bump.yml`. That reuse path has a different trigger surface from the push path exercised on every merge, so its first real run is also its first test.

Do / Don't

• ✓Generate the unexercised path's failure modes before triggering it -- they're unknown, not undiscovered, and have to be worked out rather than assumed away.
• ✓Write the rehearsal as a plan whose steps survive a failed first attempt.
• ✓Rehearse in an isolated worktree -- mutating the real branch converts a dry run into an incident.
• ✓Check for the actual artifact the workflow was supposed to produce, not just that it went green.

• ×Don't trigger an unexercised release path directly against the real branch -- rehearse it in a disposable worktree first.
• ×Don't treat 'it ran' as equivalent to 'it produced the artifact' -- those are different claims and only the second matters.
• ×Don't reach for andon-verify here -- it proves a wire from evidence the wire already produced, and an unexercised path has none to route.