Workflow / 05
The process has an owner.
Merlin’s orchestrator turns model reasoning into a managed lifecycle. It coordinates the work and judges whether the result is ready to leave the system.
On this page
What the orchestrator does
The orchestrator keeps the user’s request connected to the plan, the current tasks, the evidence collected, and the outcomes produced. It manages dependencies and limits, directs work through the appropriate stages, and retains a final boundary over completion claims.
This is why Merlin is more than a model selection layer. Choosing a capable model answers who reasons. The orchestrator addresses how that reasoning becomes authorized, inspectable work.
SpecKit 009 · AC-009-005-01 · AC-009-008-01
One lifecycle, four responsibilities
Planning establishes what the request requires and how the work fits together. Analysis v2 investigates and challenges findings where investigation is needed. Authoring and execution produces authorized changes or artifacts and checks them. Final analysis reconciles the delivered account with the actual outcomes.
These responsibilities form a conceptual lifecycle, not a compulsory four-stop itinerary. A simple answer need not become an investigation. An authorized authoring task can move from planning into execution; the runtime should not manufacture defect claims to justify writing a document.
SpecKit 018 · AC-018-005-01 · AC-018-005-03 · SpecKit 004 · AC-004-004-02
Why the handoffs matter
A workflow is only as reliable as the information that crosses its boundaries. A downstream step needs usable evidence and the true status of its dependencies—not just an upstream narrative that sounds complete.
Merlin’s requirements give tasks, evidence, verification, and final reporting explicit roles. The intended benefit is that a gap stays visible as work moves through the system. An unsupported finding should not gain authority merely because another stage repeats it.
SpecKit 005 · AC-005-001-01 · SpecKit 004 · AC-004-006-22 · AC-004-004-03
What this buys the operator
The operator can ask concrete questions: What was planned? What was inspected? What was changed? Which check supports this conclusion? What remains blocked?
Merlin’s differentiation is the integration of those responsibilities. Individual building blocks also exist elsewhere. The evaluation is whether they operate together, with their limits intact, on the work you actually need done. Compare the alternatives through that lens.
SpecKit 004 · AC-004-004-01 · AC-004-004-02 · AC-004-004-03