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Matt PocockandClaude Opus 4.8 340d01b145 docs: add "It's working if" convention; flesh out PRD section
- Replace the inline "watch for the leading words" line with an
  optional `## It's working if` section — a short list of observable
  signals the skill is doing its job. Keeps observability from being
  hammered onto leading words specifically.
- Build out to-prd's "What the PRD includes" with proper casing and a
  one-line explainer per section.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-01 11:05:35 +01:00
Matt PocockandClaude Opus 4.8 77cc47773c docs: rework the skill docs-page template
Reframe docs pages around cognitive-load relief: most skills are
user-invoked, so the human is the index that must remember when to
reach for each one. Each page's job is to make one skill memorable
and situate it in the system.

Template changes (.agents/writing-docs.md):
- Quickstart block: install + `npx skills update`, install-first
- New `## When to reach for it` (invocation mode + trigger boundary)
- New optional `## Prerequisites` (workspace/state, prior setup, tooling)
- Free-form middle with one firm rule: surface the leading word
  (also an observability signal in the agent's output)
- `## Where it fits`: role-based, absorbs "Pairs well with", links ask-matt
- No H1; every cross-link absolute

Nest docs under bucket folders (docs/<bucket>/<name>.md); the
published URL stays skills-<name> regardless. Re-sync to-prd as the
worked exemplar.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-01 11:00:54 +01:00
Matt PocockandClaude Opus 4.8 64d9f3d49e Add Task ticket type to decision-mapping skill
Some blockers are neither a decision, a prototype, nor research — just
literal manual work (moving data, signing up for a service, provisioning
access) that must happen before discussion can move forward.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-01 10:41:51 +01:00
12 changed files with 131 additions and 85 deletions
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# Writing docs pages
Every promoted skill (`engineering/`, `productivity/`, `misc/`) has a human-facing **docs page** at `docs/<skill-name>.md`, published at `https://aihero.dev/skills-<skill-name>`. The page is not the skill and not a copy of `SKILL.md` — it is the explainer a human reads to decide whether to reach for the skill. Skills in `personal/`, `in-progress/`, and `deprecated/` get no page, mirroring the README rule.
Every promoted skill (`engineering/`, `productivity/`, `misc/`) has a human-facing **docs page** at `docs/<bucket>/<skill-name>.md` — the docs tree mirrors the bucket folders under `skills/`. It is published at `https://aihero.dev/skills-<skill-name>`; the URL is always `skills-<skill-name>` regardless of bucket, so the docs path is repo organisation only. The page is not the skill and not a copy of `SKILL.md`.
Act whenever a promoted skill is added, renamed, or has its behaviour changed: create or re-sync its docs page. A rename moves the file too (`docs/<old>.md``docs/<new>.md`), because the published URL tracks the name.
Most of these skills are **user-invoked**: the agent will never fire them for you, so *you* are the index that has to remember they exist and when to reach for them. That memory is **cognitive load**. The job of a docs page is to relieve it — to orient one reader around one skill so they can hold it in their head, know when to reach for it, and see where it sits in the system. The pages are collectively a distributed router; each is a node.
Act whenever a promoted skill is added, renamed, or has its behaviour changed: create or re-sync its docs page. A rename moves the file too (`docs/<bucket>/<old>.md``docs/<bucket>/<new>.md`), because the published URL tracks the name; a skill that moves buckets moves its docs file to the matching folder. Skills in `personal/`, `in-progress/`, and `deprecated/` get no page, mirroring the README rule.
Because these pages are published on `aihero.dev`, **every link is absolute** — never a repo-relative path. A link to another skill points at `https://aihero.dev/skills-<name>`; a link into the repo points at its full `https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/...` URL. A relative link that works in the repo breaks once published.
There is no H1 — the published page takes its title from the slug.
## Page structure
Fill the template below. The **fixed frame** (install block, source link, `## What it does`) appears on every page. The **adaptable middle** carries only the sections this particular skill earns delete the ones it doesn't.
Fill the template below. The **fixed frame** (Quickstart block, source link, `## What it does`, `## When to reach for it`, `## Where it fits`) appears on every page. The **adaptable middle** `## Prerequisites` and the free-form substance sections — carries only what this particular skill earns; delete the rest.
<page-template>
Quickstart:
```bash
npx skills add mattpocock/skills --skill=<name>
```
```bash
npx skills update <name>
```
[Source](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/tree/main/skills/<bucket>/<name>)
## What it does
One or two plain-language paragraphs. Lead with the skill's one-sentence job, then state the **load-bearing constraint** — the single fact that makes this skill behave differently from the obvious default (for `to-prd`: it does not interview the user again, it synthesises what is already known). This line is the most valuable on the page; never omit it.
## <Substance heading>
## When to reach for it
Unpack what the skill produces or how it moves — e.g. a list of the artifact's parts, or a description of the loop it runs. Use as many of these sections as the skill needs; omit if it needs none.
How and when you reach for the skill — two beats, both effectively always present:
## <Concept highlight>
- **Invocation mode.** State whether you type it or the agent fires it. A user-invoked skill: "You invoke this by typing `/<name>` — the agent won't reach for it on its own." A model-invoked skill: "Type `/<name>`, or the agent reaches for it automatically when a task fits."
- **Trigger boundary.** The index entry: "reach for this when …". Where the skill is confusable with a sibling, add the other half — "for <X> instead, use [<sibling>](https://aihero.dev/skills-<sibling>)."
Name the one idea worth calling out, in the skill's own vocabulary, and say why it matters (`to-prd`'s `## Deep modules` explains what a deep module is and why it helps agentic testing). Omit if there is none.
## Prerequisites
## How it fits the workflow
Optional — include only when the skill needs something in place to be functional; omit the heading entirely otherwise. Covers: a **workspace it writes into** (a stateful skill like `grill-with-docs` writes `CONTEXT.md` and ADRs; `teach` builds a whole directory — say what it writes and where), **prior setup** (`triage`/`to-prd`/`to-issues` need `setup-matt-pocock-skills` to have configured an issue tracker), or **repo-specific tooling**. A stateless skill that runs anywhere has no prerequisites — drop the section.
```txt
grill-with-docs → to-prd → to-issues → tdd
```
## <free-form middle>
A sentence on where in that chain to reach for the skill. Include only when the skill belongs to a chain.
One to three short sections, in the skill's *own vocabulary*, that make it click — choose whatever headings fit the skill: the loop it runs, the artifact it produces, the fork it makes, the one anti-pattern it kills. There is no prescribed heading; the skills are too heterogeneous for one.
## Pairs well with
The single non-negotiable: **surface the skill's leading word / load-bearing idea**`tight` feedback loop, `deep module`, throwaway-code-answers-a-question, red-green. It pays off twice: the reader learns what the skill *is*, and learns the word they'll later think with to *reach for* it.
- [<sibling>](https://aihero.dev/skills-<sibling>), because-clause saying what the pairing buys
## It's working if
Optional. A short, checkable list of the observable signals that tell the reader the skill is actually doing its job — what they should see when it fires, and by absence when it hasn't. Include it when a skill has crisp tells (e.g. `to-prd` writes without re-interviewing you; a leading word reappearing in the trace); omit the heading when the signals are vague. A few bullets, no more.
## Where it fits
Always present. Situate the skill in the system in a sentence or two:
- **Role.** Name it: a **chain step** (`grill-with-docs → to-prd → to-issues → tdd`), a **run-once setup** (`setup-matt-pocock-skills`), **periodic maintenance** (`improve-codebase-architecture`, "every few days"), or a **reach-for-it-anytime standalone** (`diagnosing-bugs`, `prototype`, `handoff`). A standalone's map is one honest sentence — far better than omitting the section.
- **Neighbours.** The one or two siblings that matter, each with a because-clause, linked absolutely.
- **The map.** Point to [ask-matt](https://aihero.dev/skills-ask-matt), the router over the whole set, so this page stays a node and never has to redraw the graph.
</page-template>
## Conventions
- Explain the **why**, not the process. The page sells and situates the skill; it never reproduces the `SKILL.md` steps or template dumps — a human choosing a tool does not need the runbook.
- Explain the **why**, not the process. The page orients and situates the skill; it never reproduces the `SKILL.md` steps or template dumps — a human choosing a tool does not need the runbook.
- Use the skill's **leading words** (_seam_, _deep module_, _tracer bullet_) so the page and the skill speak one language.
- Keep the page itself low-load. It is documentation *about* low-cognitive-load skills; furniture (spare headings, restated links) is the thing it is arguing against.
## Done when
- The page exists at `docs/<name>.md`, and no stale page survives a rename.
- The install command and source link name the correct bucket and skill.
- The load-bearing constraint is stated in `## What it does`.
- The page exists at `docs/<bucket>/<name>.md`, and no stale page survives a rename or bucket move.
- The Quickstart block and source link name the correct bucket and skill; the update line names the skill.
- `## What it does` states the load-bearing constraint.
- `## When to reach for it` states invocation mode and the trigger boundary.
- `## Where it fits` names the role and links to `ask-matt`.
- A prerequisite (workspace, prior setup, tooling) is stated where one exists, and the section is absent where none does.
- The middle surfaces the leading word.
- Every link is absolute, and every one resolves.
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---
"mattpocock-skills": minor
---
Add a fourth **Task** ticket type to the **`decision-mapping`** skill. Some blockers are neither a decision, a prototype, nor research — just literal manual work that has to happen before the discussion can move forward (moving data, signing up for a third-party service, provisioning access). The agent automates it where it can, otherwise hands the human a precise checklist, and records any resulting facts later tickets depend on.
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---
"mattpocock-skills": minor
---
Make the **`prototype`** skill model-invoked, so the agent can reach for it autonomously (and other skills can too). Its description is rewritten around the leading word _prototype_ — throwaway code that answers a design question — with one trigger per branch (state/logic sanity-check, or UI exploration).
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---
"mattpocock-skills": patch
---
Give the in-progress **`review`** skill an always-on Fowler smell baseline on its Standards axis. A curated ~12 high-signal "Bad Smells in Code" (Mysterious Name, Duplicated Code, Feature Envy, Data Clumps, Primitive Obsession, Repeated Switches, Shotgun Surgery, Divergent Change, Speculative Generality, Message Chains, Middle Man, Refused Bequest) are inlined into `SKILL.md` as a fixed baseline alongside whatever the repo documents — not a new third axis. Two binding rules keep it safe: a documented repo standard overrides the baseline, and every smell is reported as a judgement call, never a hard violation.
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---
"mattpocock-skills": patch
---
Add the **tautological test** anti-pattern to the `tdd` skill. Tests whose assertion is recomputed the way the code computes it pass by construction and give zero confidence — distinct from the implementation-coupling anti-pattern already covered. Added as a peer at the same three sites: a Philosophy principle (expected values must come from an independent source of truth), a per-cycle checklist gate, and a BAD/GOOD example pair in `tests.md`.
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---
"mattpocock-skills": patch
---
Extend the **`triage`** skill to triage external pull requests, treating a PR as an issue with attached code that runs through the same roles and state machine. PRs flow inline alongside issues (gated by a per-repo setup toggle), discovery surfaces only external PRs, the bug-only "reproduce" step is generalized into a single "verify the claim" step, and a redundancy check resolves already-implemented requests to `wontfix` without polluting the out-of-scope knowledge base. `setup-matt-pocock-skills` gains the PRs-as-a-request-surface toggle for GitHub/GitLab.
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# mattpocock-skills
## 1.1.0
### Minor Changes
- [`850873c`](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/commit/850873cd73d5f81826ebf512ad35d2b1e113001f) Thanks [@mattpocock](https://github.com/mattpocock)! - Make the **`prototype`** skill model-invoked, so the agent can reach for it autonomously (and other skills can too). Its description is rewritten around the leading word _prototype_ — throwaway code that answers a design question — with one trigger per branch (state/logic sanity-check, or UI exploration).
### Patch Changes
- [#394](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/pull/394) [`7a4c756`](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/commit/7a4c7561d4d8d866a9ae6e0073648ac94785ac8a) Thanks [@mattpocock](https://github.com/mattpocock)! - Give the in-progress **`review`** skill an always-on Fowler smell baseline on its Standards axis. A curated ~12 high-signal "Bad Smells in Code" (Mysterious Name, Duplicated Code, Feature Envy, Data Clumps, Primitive Obsession, Repeated Switches, Shotgun Surgery, Divergent Change, Speculative Generality, Message Chains, Middle Man, Refused Bequest) are inlined into `SKILL.md` as a fixed baseline alongside whatever the repo documents — not a new third axis. Two binding rules keep it safe: a documented repo standard overrides the baseline, and every smell is reported as a judgement call, never a hard violation.
- [`43ea088`](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/commit/43ea0884b07a3e67a5a07f025ce92aefa983177b) Thanks [@mattpocock](https://github.com/mattpocock)! - Add the **tautological test** anti-pattern to the `tdd` skill. Tests whose assertion is recomputed the way the code computes it pass by construction and give zero confidence — distinct from the implementation-coupling anti-pattern already covered. Added as a peer at the same three sites: a Philosophy principle (expected values must come from an independent source of truth), a per-cycle checklist gate, and a BAD/GOOD example pair in `tests.md`.
- [`e00eadb`](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/commit/e00eadb4bb32c3d5a631ead1a5ed5d6a7c5f74e2) Thanks [@mattpocock](https://github.com/mattpocock)! - Extend the **`triage`** skill to triage external pull requests, treating a PR as an issue with attached code that runs through the same roles and state machine. PRs flow inline alongside issues (gated by a per-repo setup toggle), discovery surfaces only external PRs, the bug-only "reproduce" step is generalized into a single "verify the claim" step, and a redundancy check resolves already-implemented requests to `wontfix` without polluting the out-of-scope knowledge base. `setup-matt-pocock-skills` gains the PRs-as-a-request-surface toggle for GitHub/GitLab.
## 1.0.1
### Patch Changes
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Each bucket folder has a `README.md` that lists every skill in the bucket with a one-line description, with the skill name linked to its `SKILL.md`. Bucket `README.md`s and the top-level `README.md` group entries into **User-invoked** and **Model-invoked**.
Every promoted skill also has a human-facing docs page at `docs/<skill-name>.md`. When you add, rename, or change the behaviour of a skill in `engineering/`, `productivity/`, or `misc/`, create or re-sync its docs page following [.agents/writing-docs.md](./.agents/writing-docs.md).
Every promoted skill also has a human-facing docs page at `docs/<bucket>/<skill-name>.md` (the docs tree mirrors the bucket folders under `skills/`). The published URL is `https://aihero.dev/skills-<skill-name>` regardless of bucket — the docs path is repo organisation only. When you add, rename, or change the behaviour of a skill in `engineering/`, `productivity/`, or `misc/`, create or re-sync its docs page following [.agents/writing-docs.md](./.agents/writing-docs.md).
Every `SKILL.md` is either user-invoked (`disable-model-invocation: true`, reachable only by the human) or model-invoked (model- or user-reachable). See [.agents/invocation.md](./.agents/invocation.md).
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Quickstart:
```bash
npx skills add mattpocock/skills --skill=to-prd
```
```bash
npx skills update to-prd
```
[Source](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/tree/main/skills/engineering/to-prd)
## What it does
`to-prd` turns the current conversation and your codebase understanding into a product requirements document, then publishes it to your issue tracker.
The load-bearing constraint: it does **not** interview you again. By the time you reach for it, the alignment work is done — `to-prd` synthesises what is already known rather than asking a fresh round of questions.
## When to reach for it
You invoke this by typing `/to-prd` — the agent won't reach for it on its own.
Reach for it once a change has been talked through and the domain language is settled, and you want that shared understanding written down as a spec before any code is written. If you *haven't* aligned yet, grill first — for that, use [grill-with-docs](https://aihero.dev/skills-grill-with-docs). To split the finished PRD into tickets, use [to-issues](https://aihero.dev/skills-to-issues).
## Prerequisites
`to-prd` publishes into your issue tracker, so [setup-matt-pocock-skills](https://aihero.dev/skills-setup-matt-pocock-skills) must have configured the tracker and triage labels for this repo first. It applies the `ready-for-agent` label itself — no separate triage pass needed.
## What the PRD includes
- **Problem statement** — what is broken or missing, and why it's worth solving, in the project's own vocabulary.
- **Solution** — the shape of the fix at a high level, before any implementation detail.
- **User stories** — an extensive, numbered list of the concrete behaviours the change must support, each one independently checkable.
- **Implementation decisions** — the choices already settled during the conversation, so they aren't relitigated later.
- **Testing decisions** — the seams the feature will be tested at, and what "done" looks like.
- **Out-of-scope items** — what this change deliberately does *not* cover, to keep the ticket bounded.
- **Further notes** — anything else worth carrying forward that doesn't fit the sections above.
## Deep modules
Before writing the PRD, `to-prd` sketches the **seams** at which the feature will be tested and looks for **deep module** opportunities — a lot of functionality hidden behind a small, stable interface. It prefers existing seams to new ones and the highest seam possible, ideally just one across the whole change.
That matters for agentic development: a good interface gives tests something durable to target, so the code underneath can change without the tests moving.
## It's working if
- It starts writing the PRD instead of asking you a fresh round of questions.
- It checks the seams with you before writing, and proposes as few as possible.
- The PRD comes back in your project's domain vocabulary, not generic boilerplate.
## Where it fits
`to-prd` is a step in the main build chain:
```txt
grill-with-docs → to-prd → to-issues → tdd
```
Reach for it after the plan and domain language are resolved, and before you break the work into implementation tickets. Its key neighbours are [grill-with-docs](https://aihero.dev/skills-grill-with-docs), which sharpens the context so the PRD is precise, and [to-issues](https://aihero.dev/skills-to-issues), which turns the PRD into independently-grabbable issues for [tdd](https://aihero.dev/skills-tdd) to implement. When you're unsure which skill or flow fits, [ask-matt](https://aihero.dev/skills-ask-matt) routes you.
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Install this skill:
```bash
npx skills add mattpocock/skills --skill=to-prd
```
[Source](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/tree/main/skills/engineering/to-prd)
## What it does
`to-prd` turns the current conversation context and codebase understanding into a product requirements document.
The important constraint is that it does not interview the user again. It synthesizes what is already known.
## What the PRD includes
The generated PRD includes:
- problem statement
- solution
- extensive numbered user stories
- implementation decisions
- testing decisions
- out-of-scope items
- further notes
The skill also asks the agent to sketch the major modules that need to be built or modified.
## Deep modules
`to-prd` actively looks for deep module opportunities.
A deep module hides meaningful complexity behind a small, stable, testable interface. That matters for agentic development because a good interface gives tests something durable to target.
## How it fits the workflow
```txt
grill-with-docs → to-prd → to-issues → tdd
```
Use `to-prd` after the plan and domain language have been resolved. Then use `to-issues` to break the PRD into tracer-bullet implementation issues.
## Pairs well with
- [grill-with-docs](https://aihero.dev/skills-grill-with-docs), to make sure the context is precise before the PRD is written
- [to-issues](https://aihero.dev/skills-to-issues), to turn the PRD into implementation tickets
- [tdd](https://aihero.dev/skills-tdd), to implement the resulting issues one behavior at a time
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{
"name": "mattpocock-skills",
"version": "1.1.0",
"version": "1.0.1",
"private": true,
"description": "Matt Pocock's agent skills for real engineering",
"repository": {
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Blocked by: <slug>, <slug>
Status: open | in-progress | resolved
Type: Research | Prototype | Grilling
Type: Research | Prototype | Grilling | Task
### Question
@@ -44,13 +44,12 @@ Each ticket must be sized to one 100K token agent session.
## Ticket Types
There are three types of tickets:
There are four types of tickets:
- **Research**: Reading documentation, third-party API's, or local resources like knowledge bases. Creates a markdown summary as an asset. Use this when knowledge outside the current working directory is required.
- **Prototype**: Raise the fidelity of the discussion by making a cheap, rough, concrete artifact to react to — an outline, a rough take, a stub, or UI/logic code via the /prototype skill. Creates the prototype as an asset. Use this when "how should it look" or "how should it behave" is the key question.
- **Grilling**: Conversation with the agent. Uses the /grilling and /domain-modeling skills. Asks one question at a time. The default case.
Validation isn't a fourth type — it's the thread running through all three.
- **Task**: Literal manual work that must be done before the discussion can move forward — nothing to decide, prototype, or research. Moving data from one place to another, signing up for a third-party service, provisioning access. The agent automates it where it can; otherwise it hands the human a precise checklist to do by hand. Resolved when the work is done; the answer records what was done and any resulting facts (credentials location, new URLs, row counts) later tickets depend on.
## Fog of war