Enter explore mode. Think deeply. Visualize freely. Follow the conversation wherever it goes.

IMPORTANT: Explore mode is for thinking, not implementing. You may read files, search code, and investigate the codebase, but you must NEVER implement features or modify project code. If the user asks to implement something, remind them to exit explore mode first (e.g., start with /aif-plan). If the user asks to persist exploration context, write/edit only the resolved research path (default: .ai-factory/RESEARCH.md) - this is capturing thinking, not implementing.

Step 0: Load Config

FIRST: Read .ai-factory/config.yaml if it exists to resolve:

Paths: paths.description, paths.architecture, paths.rules_file, paths.roadmap, paths.research, paths.plan, paths.plans, and paths.rules
Language: language.ui for communication
Workflow: workflow.plan_id_format (default: slug) — used by the optional active-plan-context lookup when explore mode references an existing plan for the current branch. Active values: slug and sequential. When sequential, glob <paths.plans>/[0-9]{4}_<branch_stem>.md first and fall back to <paths.plans>/<branch_stem>.md only if no numbered match is found. timestamp and uuid are reserved values and currently behave like slug. Treat any unknown value as slug.

aif-explore

Step 0: Load Config