First Epic Walkthrough

This guide walks through the full epic pipeline — from idea to merged code — using the @saas template's AI agent team.

The Pipeline

/athena:spec → /athena:implement → /athena:qa → commit → /athena:pr

Step 1: Write a Spec

/athena:spec "notifications module — in-app bell icon, mark-as-read, persist to DB"

The @spec-writer agent:

1. Adds an epic entry to docs/epics/EPIC_INDEX.md
2. Creates docs/epics/eNNN-notifications.md with detailed spec
3. Designs the Drizzle schema and Server Actions

Step 2: Implement

/athena:implement

The orchestrator runs TDD:

1. Writes failing tests first (red)
2. Implements the feature (green)
3. Refactors for quality (refactor)

Step 3: QA

/athena:qa

Three agents run in parallel:

• @reviewer — code review + security audit
• @qa — test execution + 80% coverage gate
• @evaluator — independent acceptance evaluation

Step 4: Commit and PR

/athena:pr

Runs pre-merge checks → creates the PR with a structured description.

Autopilot (optional)

For hands-off execution:

/athena:autopilot

Advances the pipeline automatically when confidence ≥ 0.85. Pauses and asks for input on low-confidence steps.

Effort Tiers

/athena:spec --effort thorough "complex feature"    # deeper analysis
/athena:qa --effort ultra "critical path"           # maximum review depth

See the Effort Tiers reference for details.