validating-environment

name	validating-environment
description	Use to validate spectacular environment - checks superpowers plugin, git-spice, git repo, and project structure before running spectacular workflows

Validating Environment

Overview

This skill validates that all required dependencies and configuration are in place for spectacular workflows. It checks for the superpowers plugin, git-spice installation, git repository status, and project structure. It also detects whether the workspace is single-repo or multi-repo.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• Starting a new spectacular session
• Running /spectacular:init command
• Before beginning any spectacular workflow to ensure prerequisites are met
• Troubleshooting spectacular setup issues

Announce: "I'm using validating-environment to check the spectacular setup."

The Process

Step 1: Check Superpowers Plugin

Check if superpowers is installed (handles both direct and marketplace installs):

# Check both possible install locations:
# - Direct: ~/.claude/plugins/cache/superpowers
# - Marketplace: ~/.claude/plugins/cache/superpowers-marketplace/superpowers
SUPERPOWERS_PATH=""
if [ -d ~/.claude/plugins/cache/superpowers ]; then
  SUPERPOWERS_PATH=~/.claude/plugins/cache/superpowers
elif [ -d ~/.claude/plugins/cache/superpowers-marketplace/superpowers ]; then
  SUPERPOWERS_PATH=~/.claude/plugins/cache/superpowers-marketplace/superpowers
fi

if [ -n "$SUPERPOWERS_PATH" ]; then
  echo "Superpowers plugin is installed"
  SUPERPOWERS_VERSION=$(cd "$SUPERPOWERS_PATH" && git describe --tags 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")
  echo "   Version: $SUPERPOWERS_VERSION"
  echo "   Path: $SUPERPOWERS_PATH"
else
  echo "Superpowers plugin NOT installed"
  echo ""
  echo "Spectacular requires the superpowers plugin for core skills:"
  echo "  - brainstorming"
  echo "  - subagent-driven-development"
  echo "  - requesting-code-review"
  echo "  - verification-before-completion"
  echo "  - finishing-a-development-branch"
  echo ""
  echo "Install with:"
  echo "  /plugin install superpowers@superpowers-marketplace"
  echo ""
  SUPERPOWERS_MISSING=true
fi

Step 2: Check Git-Spice

Verify git-spice is installed and accessible:

if command -v gs &> /dev/null; then
  echo "Git-spice is installed"
  GS_VERSION=$(gs --version 2>&1 | head -1)
  echo "   $GS_VERSION"

  # Check if we're in a git repo
  if git rev-parse --git-dir > /dev/null 2>&1; then
    # Check if git-spice is initialized
    if gs ls &> /dev/null; then
      echo "Git-spice is initialized for this repo"
    else
      echo "Git-spice not initialized for this repo"
      echo ""
      echo "Initialize with:"
      echo "  gs repo init"
      echo ""
      GS_NOT_INITIALIZED=true
    fi
  fi
else
  echo "Git-spice NOT installed"
  echo ""
  echo "Spectacular uses git-spice for stacked branch management."
  echo ""
  echo "Install instructions:"
  echo "  macOS: brew install git-spice"
  echo "  Linux: See https://github.com/abhinav/git-spice"
  echo ""
  GS_MISSING=true
fi

Step 3: Configure Gitignore

Ensure .gitignore has spectacular-specific entries:

if [ -f .gitignore ]; then
  echo ".gitignore exists"

  # Check for .worktrees/ entry
  if grep -q "^\.worktrees/" .gitignore 2>/dev/null; then
    echo "   .worktrees/ already in .gitignore"
  else
    echo "   Adding .worktrees/ to .gitignore"
    echo "" >> .gitignore
    echo "# Spectacular parallel execution worktrees" >> .gitignore
    echo ".worktrees/" >> .gitignore
    echo "   Added .worktrees/ to .gitignore"
  fi

  # Check for specs/ is NOT ignored (we want specs tracked)
  if grep -q "^specs/" .gitignore 2>/dev/null; then
    echo "   WARNING: specs/ is gitignored - you probably want to track specs"
    echo "   Remove 'specs/' from .gitignore to track your specifications"
  else
    echo "   specs/ will be tracked (not in .gitignore)"
  fi
else
  echo "No .gitignore found - creating one"
  cat > .gitignore << 'EOF'
# Spectacular parallel execution worktrees
.worktrees/

# Common patterns
node_modules/
.DS_Store
*.log
EOF
  echo "   Created .gitignore with spectacular patterns"
fi

Step 4: Check Git Repository

Validate git setup:

if git rev-parse --git-dir > /dev/null 2>&1; then
  echo "Git repository detected"

  # Check current branch
  CURRENT_BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current)
  echo "   Current branch: $CURRENT_BRANCH"

  # Check if there's a remote
  if git remote -v | grep -q .; then
    echo "   Remote configured"
    git remote -v | head -2 | sed 's/^/   /'
  else
    echo "   No remote configured"
    echo "   You may want to add a remote for PR submission"
  fi

  # Check working directory status
  if git diff --quiet && git diff --cached --quiet; then
    echo "   Working directory clean"
  else
    echo "   Uncommitted changes present"
  fi
else
  echo "NOT a git repository"
  echo ""
  echo "Initialize git with:"
  echo "  git init"
  echo "  git add ."
  echo "  git commit -m 'Initial commit'"
  echo ""
  NOT_GIT_REPO=true
fi

Step 5: Validate Project Structure

Check for expected directories:

echo ""
echo "Checking project structure..."

# Check/create specs directory
if [ -d specs ]; then
  echo "specs/ directory exists"
  SPEC_COUNT=$(find specs -name "spec.md" 2>/dev/null | wc -l | tr -d ' ')
  echo "   Found $SPEC_COUNT specification(s)"
else
  echo "Creating specs/ directory"
  mkdir -p specs
  echo "   Created specs/ directory"
fi

# Check for .worktrees (should NOT exist yet, just checking)
if [ -d .worktrees ]; then
  echo ".worktrees/ directory exists"
  WORKTREE_COUNT=$(ls -1 .worktrees 2>/dev/null | wc -l | tr -d ' ')
  if [ "$WORKTREE_COUNT" -gt 0 ]; then
    echo "   Contains $WORKTREE_COUNT worktree(s) - may be leftover from previous execution"
    echo "   Clean up with: git worktree list && git worktree remove <path>"
  fi
else
  echo "No .worktrees/ directory (will be created during parallel execution)"
fi

Step 6: Multi-Repo Detection and Validation

Detect whether the workspace is single-repo or multi-repo, and validate per-repo requirements:

echo ""
echo "Detecting workspace mode..."

# Detect workspace mode by looking for multiple .git directories
# In multi-repo setups, there are typically multiple repos in the parent directory
REPO_COUNT=$(find . -maxdepth 2 -name ".git" -type d 2>/dev/null | wc -l | tr -d ' ')
if [ "$REPO_COUNT" -gt 1 ]; then
  echo "Multi-repo workspace detected ($REPO_COUNT repos)"
  WORKSPACE_MODE="multi-repo"

  # List and validate each repo
  REPOS=$(find . -maxdepth 2 -name ".git" -type d | xargs -I{} dirname {} | sed 's|^\./||' | sort)

  for REPO in $REPOS; do
    echo ""
    echo "Checking repo: $REPO"

    # Check for CLAUDE.md with setup commands
    if [ -f "$REPO/CLAUDE.md" ]; then
      if grep -q "**install**:" "$REPO/CLAUDE.md"; then
        echo "  CLAUDE.md with setup commands found"
      else
        echo "  Warning: CLAUDE.md exists but missing setup commands"
        echo "    Add '**install**: \`your-install-command\`' to $REPO/CLAUDE.md"
      fi
    else
      echo "  Warning: No CLAUDE.md found in $REPO"
      echo "    Create $REPO/CLAUDE.md with setup commands for worktree support"
    fi

    # Check for constitution (optional)
    if [ -d "$REPO/docs/constitutions/current" ]; then
      echo "  Constitution found"
    else
      echo "  Note: No constitution at docs/constitutions/current/"
    fi
  done

else
  echo "Single-repo mode"
  WORKSPACE_MODE="single-repo"
fi

Create workspace-level specs directory (multi-repo only):

if [ "$WORKSPACE_MODE" = "multi-repo" ]; then
  echo ""
  if [ ! -d "specs" ]; then
    echo "Creating specs/ directory at workspace root"
    mkdir -p specs
    echo "   Created specs/ for cross-repo specifications"
  else
    echo "specs/ directory exists at workspace root"
    SPEC_COUNT=$(find specs -name "spec.md" 2>/dev/null | wc -l | tr -d ' ')
    echo "   Found $SPEC_COUNT specification(s)"
  fi
fi

Step 7: Report Summary

Generate final status report:

echo ""
echo "========================================="
echo "Spectacular Initialization Summary"
echo "========================================="
echo ""

# Report workspace mode
if [ "$WORKSPACE_MODE" = "multi-repo" ]; then
  echo "Workspace Mode: Multi-repo"
else
  echo "Workspace Mode: Single-repo"
fi
echo ""

# Check if all critical dependencies are met
if [ -z "$SUPERPOWERS_MISSING" ] && [ -z "$GS_MISSING" ] && [ -z "$NOT_GIT_REPO" ]; then
  echo "Environment ready for spectacular workflows!"
  echo ""
  echo "Next steps:"
  echo "  1. Generate a spec: /spectacular:spec \"your feature description\""
  echo "  2. Create a plan: /spectacular:plan @specs/{run-id}-{feature-slug}/spec.md"
  echo "  3. Execute: /spectacular:execute @specs/{run-id}-{feature-slug}/plan.md"
  echo ""

  if [ -n "$GS_NOT_INITIALIZED" ]; then
    echo "Optional: Initialize git-spice with 'gs repo init'"
    echo ""
  fi
else
  echo "Setup incomplete - resolve issues above before using spectacular"
  echo ""

  if [ -n "$SUPERPOWERS_MISSING" ]; then
    echo "REQUIRED: Install superpowers plugin"
    echo "  /plugin install superpowers@superpowers-marketplace"
    echo ""
  fi

  if [ -n "$GS_MISSING" ]; then
    echo "REQUIRED: Install git-spice"
    echo "  macOS: brew install git-spice"
    echo "  Linux: https://github.com/abhinav/git-spice"
    echo ""
  fi

  if [ -n "$NOT_GIT_REPO" ]; then
    echo "REQUIRED: Initialize git repository"
    echo "  git init"
    echo ""
  fi

  echo "Run /spectacular:init again after resolving issues"
fi

echo "========================================="

Multi-repo summary addition:

If WORKSPACE_MODE="multi-repo", append additional details:

if [ "$WORKSPACE_MODE" = "multi-repo" ]; then
  echo ""
  echo "========================================="
  echo "Multi-Repo Workspace Summary"
  echo "========================================="
  echo ""
  echo "Workspace root: $(pwd)"
  echo "Repos detected: $REPO_COUNT"
  echo ""
  echo "Per-repo status:"
  for REPO in $REPOS; do
    CLAUDE_STATUS="missing"
    CONST_STATUS="missing"
    [ -f "$REPO/CLAUDE.md" ] && CLAUDE_STATUS="present"
    [ -d "$REPO/docs/constitutions/current" ] && CONST_STATUS="present"
    echo "  $REPO: CLAUDE.md=$CLAUDE_STATUS, constitution=$CONST_STATUS"
  done
  echo ""
  echo "Specs location: ./specs/ (workspace root)"
  echo ""
  echo "Next steps for multi-repo:"
  echo "  1. Ensure each repo has CLAUDE.md with setup commands"
  echo "  2. Generate a spec: /spectacular:spec \"your feature\""
  echo "  3. Spec will be saved to ./specs/{runId}-{feature}/"
  echo "  4. Use @repo:path syntax to reference files across repos"
  echo ""
  echo "========================================="
fi

Quality Rules

1. All checks must complete - Do not skip any validation step
2. Clear status indicators - Use consistent status messages for pass/fail/warning
3. Actionable guidance - Every failure must include instructions for resolution
4. Non-destructive - Only create directories and modify .gitignore; never delete or overwrite existing content
5. Idempotent - Running multiple times should produce the same result

Error Handling

Superpowers Plugin Missing

If superpowers is not installed:

1. Report the missing dependency clearly
2. Explain why it's required (list the dependent skills)
3. Provide exact installation command
4. Mark initialization as incomplete

Git-Spice Missing

If git-spice is not installed:

1. Report the missing dependency
2. Explain its purpose (stacked branch management)
3. Provide installation instructions for multiple platforms
4. Mark initialization as incomplete

Git-Spice Not Initialized

If git-spice is installed but not initialized for this repo:

1. Report as a warning (not a blocker)
2. Provide the initialization command
3. Continue with remaining checks

Not a Git Repository

If the current directory is not a git repository:

1. Report as a critical failure
2. Provide git initialization commands
3. Mark initialization as incomplete

Stale Worktrees

If .worktrees/ exists with content:

1. Report as a warning
2. Explain these may be from a previous incomplete execution
3. Provide cleanup commands
4. Continue with remaining checks

Multi-Repo Workspace

If multiple repositories are detected:

1. Report the workspace mode and repo count
2. Validate each repo for required configuration:
   • Check for CLAUDE.md file
   • Check if CLAUDE.md has setup commands (**install**:)
   • Check for constitution at docs/constitutions/current/
3. Create workspace-level specs/ directory if missing
4. Generate per-repo status summary showing:
   • CLAUDE.md presence (required for worktree support)
   • Constitution presence (optional, shows warning if missing)
5. Provide clear next steps for multi-repo workflows

Missing CLAUDE.md in Repo

If a repo lacks CLAUDE.md:

1. Report as a warning (not a blocker)
2. Explain why it's needed (worktree setup requires install commands)
3. Provide guidance on what to add
4. Continue checking other repos

Missing Setup Commands

If CLAUDE.md exists but lacks setup commands:

1. Report as a warning
2. Explain the required format (**install**: \command``)
3. Note that worktrees won't work properly without setup commands
4. Continue validation