dev

name	dev
description	Development entry point that analyzes requests and routes to the appropriate workflow. Use when user says "/cortex-core:dev", "what should I work on", "start working on", "dev hub", "where do I start", "next task", "what's next", or describes a feature without naming a specific skill.

Dev

Route a development request to the right workflow. A named skill in the request is a strong signal, not a pass-through — analyze independently and surface any discrepancy.

Step 1: Route

First match wins.

1. No arguments, or "what should I work on" / "what's next" → backlog triage (Step 3).
2. Three or more distinct features, or a batch → classify each as trivial or non-trivial. All non-trivial → /cortex-overnight:overnight with the feature list. All trivial → implement each in this conversation. Mixed → present a table of task/routing/justification and confirm before proceeding.
3. Vague topic ("not sure how to approach", "explore", "investigate") → /cortex-core:discovery <topic>.
4. Trivial change (single file, existing pattern, one obvious approach) → implement it here, commit, and close any backlog item it resolved: cortex-update-item {slug} --status complete (skip when there's no item or the backend is external).
5. Otherwise → assess criticality (Step 2), then route by the ticket's readiness: no spec: field (or no ticket at all) → /cortex-core:refine <feature-name> with the criticality context; status: refined with a spec: → /cortex-core:build <feature-name>. When unsure, cortex-lifecycle-next <feature> reports the served phase — research/specify means refine, anything later means build.

Never use built-in EnterPlanMode as a substitute for /cortex-core:build.

Step 2: Criticality Pre-Assessment

If cortex/lifecycle/<feature>/ exists, read cortex-lifecycle-state --feature <feature> --field criticality and ask whether to resume at its served phase. Resuming skips the suggestion below; a fresh start needs confirmation that existing artifacts are discarded.

Otherwise suggest a level from the feature description: critical for security, financial, or data-loss surfaces; high for shared libraries, CI/CD, migrations, foundational tooling, or broad hard-to-reverse blast radius; low for docs and formatting; medium otherwise and when uncertain. Present as Criticality suggestion: <level> — <one-sentence justification>.

Step 3: Backlog triage

cortex-backlog-triage

One call resolves the backend, regenerates the index, builds the epic map, and renders both triage blocks. Act on state:

• ok → print blocks verbatim, then ask which item to pick up.
• external-backend → relay message; the local index isn't authoritative, so route through /cortex-core:refine or /cortex-core:discovery without touching it.
• no-index / error → relay message and stop.

If the user overrides any suggested route, honor it immediately without re-arguing. If they change the scope, re-classify from Step 1.