Merge pull request #1025 from mattpocock/chore/link-skills-exclude-misc

link-skills: stop linking misc/ into local skill directories

.changeset/add-implement-spec-skill.md

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"mattpocock-skills": patch
+---
+
+Add the `implement-spec` skill (in-progress bucket, user-invoked). It takes a spec and its tickets and drives them to a single PR: the tickets are read as a task graph with blocking edges, so implementer subagents run in background worktrees across the ready frontier for concurrency, a merger subagent folds each one back into the PR branch, and the flow closes with `/code-review` before the PR is marked ready.

.gitignore

@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 node_modules
+.claude

CLAUDE.md

@@ -20,6 +20,6 @@ Every `SKILL.md` is either user-invoked (`disable-model-invocation: true` plus `
 
 [`ask-matt`](./skills/engineering/ask-matt/SKILL.md) is the router that maps every user-reachable skill and how they relate. The same trigger that re-syncs a docs page applies to it: whenever you add, rename, remove, or change how a user-reachable skill fits the flows, re-read `ask-matt`'s `SKILL.md` and update it so the map stays accurate: a new skill it never mentions, or a stale one it still routes to, is a router that lies.
 
-To (re)link every skill into the local harness skill directories (`~/.claude/skills`, `~/.agents/skills`), run `scripts/link-skills.sh`. Each entry is a symlink into this repo, so a `git pull` keeps installed skills current; re-run the script after adding, removing, or renaming a skill.
+To (re)link every skill outside `deprecated/` and `misc/` into the local harness skill directories (`~/.claude/skills`, `~/.agents/skills`), run `scripts/link-skills.sh`. Each entry is a symlink into this repo, so a `git pull` keeps installed skills current; re-run the script after adding, removing, or renaming a skill.
 
 No em-dashes anywhere in this repo's prose (`SKILL.md` files, docs, `README.md`, `CHANGELOG.md`, ADRs, changesets, code comments). Where a sentence reaches for one, rewrite it instead with a comma, colon, period, parentheses, or a conjunction, whichever the sentence actually wants; never do a blind character substitution.

scripts/link-skills.sh

@@ -15,14 +15,20 @@ set -euo pipefail
 REPO="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd)"
 DESTS=("$HOME/.claude/skills" "$HOME/.agents/skills")
 
-# Collect the repo's skills once, link into every destination.
+# Collect the repo's skills once, link into every destination. `deprecated/`
+# is retired, and `misc/` is kept around but rarely used and not promoted (see
+# each bucket's own README): neither belongs in a daily-driver skill
+# directory, so both are skipped here, same as everywhere else non-promoted
+# skills are kept out. `in-progress/` IS still linked: it's public on purpose,
+# feedback wanted, and this local install is exactly where that feedback loop
+# runs.
 names=()
 srcs=()
 while IFS= read -r -d '' skill_md; do
   src="$(dirname "$skill_md")"
   names+=("$(basename "$src")")
   srcs+=("$src")
-done < <(find "$REPO/skills" -name SKILL.md -not -path '*/node_modules/*' -not -path '*/deprecated/*' -print0)
+done < <(find "$REPO/skills" -name SKILL.md -not -path '*/node_modules/*' -not -path '*/deprecated/*' -not -path '*/misc/*' -print0)
 
 for DEST in "${DESTS[@]}"; do
   # If $DEST is a symlink that resolves into this repo, we'd end up writing the

skills/in-progress/README.md

@@ -14,3 +14,5 @@ npx skills@latest add mattpocock/skills --skill=<name>
 - **[writing-shape](./writing-shape/SKILL.md)**: Take a markdown file of raw material and shape it into an article paragraph by paragraph, arguing format choices at each step.
 - **[claude-handoff](./claude-handoff/SKILL.md)**: Hand the current conversation off to a fresh background agent that picks up the work immediately, seeded with a handoff summary via `claude --bg`. User-invoked.
 - **[setup-ts-deep-modules](./setup-ts-deep-modules/SKILL.md)**: Wire dependency-cruiser into a TypeScript repo so each package is a deep module: implementation hidden in subfolders, reachable only through its entry-point files, tests exercising it through those. User-invoked.
+- **[implement-spec](./implement-spec/SKILL.md)**: Implement a whole spec on one branch. Works the tickets as a task graph rather than a list, running implementer subagents across the ready frontier for maximum concurrency, and lands the result as a single PR. User-invoked.
+- **[retro](./retro/SKILL.md)**: Suggest improvements to the coding agent's environment (steering files, coding standards, automated checks, tooling) after a session. STUB: design notes only, not functional yet. User-invoked.

skills/in-progress/implement-spec/SKILL.md

@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+---
+name: implement-spec
+description: "Implement a specification in code."
+disable-model-invocation: true
+---
+
+You have been provided a spec. This spec should have tickets associated with it, describing how to implement the spec.
+
+The goal is a PR which implements the entire spec on a single branch.
+
+The tickets are not a list of steps. They are a **task graph** with blocking relationships between them. This means there is always a **frontier** of tickets which are ready to be grabbed.
+
+Communication to and from subagents should be sparse. Communicate primarily through **context pointers**: to the spec, tickets, research notes, and previous commits. Don't duplicate information already available via pointers.
+
+**Implementer subagents** should be run in the background where possible for **maximum concurrency**.
+
+## Steps
+
+1. Read the spec and tickets. Read enough to understand the task graph.
+
+2. (optional) Use an **exploration subagent** to conduct any exploration required by the tickets - relevant codebase files or external documentation. Ensure the exploration subagent can save files - it should save its markdown notes in a directory outside the repo, accessible by all future subagents. This lets **implementer subagents** focus on implementation rather than exploration.
+
+3. Create a branch, and a draft PR. The PR should be marked as 'closing' the spec issue and tickets.
+
+4. Use **implementer subagents** to implement each ticket. Each implementer subagent should work in its own worktree, on its own branch.
+
+5. Once an **implementer subagent** completes, merge its work to the PR branch with a **merger subagent**.
+
+6. If this changes the **frontier** of available tickets, kick off more **implementer subagents** to work on the new tickets. This allows for maximum concurrency.
+
+7. Once all tickets are complete, run /code-review on the PR branch. Fix all issues raised by the code review in a single **implementer subagent**.
+
+8. Mark the PR as ready for review.
+
+9. Clean up all **implementer subagent** worktrees.

skills/in-progress/implement-spec/agents/openai.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+interface:
+  display_name: "Implement Spec"
+  short_description: "Implement a whole spec as one PR"
+policy:
+  allow_implicit_invocation: false

skills/in-progress/retro/SKILL.md

@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+---
+name: retro
+description: "Conduct a retrospective on a coding session."
+disable-model-invocation: true
+---
+
+The user has asked for a **retrospective**. You are suggesting improvements to the coding agent's **environment** to improve future runs.
+
+## Steps
+
+1. Call the Skill tool with `writing-for-agents` for the writing style guide.
+
+2. Read the primary sources for the session the user specifies. This may mean searching through session logs on this machine. If the user doesn't specify a session, default to the current one.
+
+3. Look for candidates for improvement in these categories.
+
+- **Navigation**: how easy was it for the agent to find the right files? Are there hidden dependencies between files? Would a **navigation pointer** make it easier? _Use when_ the session took a long time to find a piece of information.
+- **Automated checks**: are there automated checks that could catch errors the agent made? Linting, typing, tests, filesystem linters? _Use when_ the agent made a mistake that could have been caught by an automated check.
+- **Coding standards**: should the **reviewer agent** be given a new rule to enforce? Should an existing rule be removed or clarified? _Use when_ the reviewer agent failed to catch a mistake.
+- **Global AGENTS.md**: are there any steering instructions that should be moved to coding standards (or automated checks) instead? _Use when_ the AGENTS.md file is particularly large - in the repo OR the user's global scope.
+- **Tool economy**: did the agent make expensive tool calls that could be streamlined? Is there any custom tooling (CLI's, MCP's) that is particularly token-inefficient? _Use when_ the agent made an expensive tool call.
+- **No-ops**: look for instructions in steering files that don't modify the agent's behavior. _Use when_ the steering files are large and unwieldy.
+- **Information access**: look for opportunities to increase the agent's access to information. Teeing dev server logs, readonly access to third-party services. _Use when_ a crucial piece of information was not available to the agent.
+
+4. Present these candidates to the user, in order of severity.
+
+## Reference
+
+### Implementation vs Review
+
+Remember that all work goes through two stages: implementation and review. The implementation agent has the most **context pressure**. They are responsible for exploration, writing code, and debugging failures.
+
+The review agent has the least context pressure - it receives a diff, so no exploration needed. It often does not need to write code or debug.
+
+This means that the review agent should be responsible for imposing coding standards, not the implementation agent.
+
+### Files
+
+You have access to several files in the repo:
+
+- `CLAUDE.md`/`AGENTS.md`: these files are pushed to the context window of any agent working in this repo. They should be used incredibly sparingly, usually only for **navigation pointers** to other files.
+- `CODING_STANDARDS.md`: this file is read during review, not implementation. Add **navigation pointers** to docs folders if the standards file gets more than 1,000 lines long.
+- Docs: use docs as references files, pointed to by other files. Look for existing docs before writing new ones.
+- Skills: use skills for docs (since their description goes into the agent's context window), or for user-invoked commands. Follow the advice in the `writing-for-agents` skill.

skills/in-progress/retro/agents/openai.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+interface:
+  display_name: "Retro"
+  short_description: "Conduct a retrospective on a coding session."
+policy:
+  allow_implicit_invocation: false