---
name: minimalist-sprint-retrospective
description: Use when a sprint review is complete and the team must preserve learning, remove waste, adapt the backlog, and define concrete actions for the next iteration.
---

# Minimalist Sprint Retrospective

Resolve retrospective.md from <plugin-root>/templates/ and the iteration
contracts from <plugin-root>/references/artifact-contracts.md.

Inspect the delivery system after review and choose the smallest changes that
improve the next iteration. Retrospective work changes process and backlog
decisions; it does not silently rewrite completed history.

## Read

Use the sprint record, verification evidence, review feedback, story histories,
backlog changes, and any blockers. Separate observed evidence from opinions.

## Produce

Create retrospectives/###-retro.md with:

- what helped delivery;
- waste, delay, rework, or avoidable complexity;
- evidence for each observation;
- decisions to keep, remove, change, and try next;
- owner and target iteration for each action;
- carry-over stories with remaining scope and reason;
- automation candidates that still need evidence.

At least one decision must answer what can be simplified or removed. If nothing
should change, record the evidence and why stability is intentional.

## Feed the next cycle

Apply only approved updates:

- update backlog priority or story scope;
- create successor stories for changed needs;
- preserve rejected or deferred items with reasons;
- carry unfinished work with its evidence;
- record process actions for the next sprint;
- send stable repeated workflows to minimalist-automation as candidates.

Do not turn every observation into a task. An action exists only when its owner,
target, and expected improvement are clear.

## Gate

The retrospective is complete when decisions are concrete, carry-over is
explicit, backlog implications are recorded, and the next iteration can start
without reconstructing the prior sprint from conversation history.

## Handoff

Pass the retrospective and updated backlog to minimalist-sprint-selection for
the next cycle. Use minimalist-automation only for candidates that meet its
stability and repetition gate.