local-only-repos

# Local-only repos The default model assumes a git repo with a GitHub remote: the issue is the spec, the work ends in a PR, the survey reads `gh`. Real local-only repos exist -- scratch projects, private tools never pushed, and not-yet-git directories. For those the GitHub substrate is absent, so survey, sweep, and dispatch take a different path. This skill defines that path and how each tier adapts. ## Detection: `git remote` is the test A repo is local-only when it has no GitHub remote. Detect it once, per repo, from durable state: ```bash git -C <path> remote # empty output => no remote => local-only ``` Three cases, all routed here: | Case | Signal | Routing | |---|---|---| | Git repo, no remote | `git remote` empty | Commits + CLAUDE.md path below | | Git repo, non-GitHub remote | remote URL is not github.com | Same as no-remote for the `gh` axes | | Not yet a git repo | no `.git/` | No git history either; CLAUDE.md is the only durable home until `git init` | The detection is reconstituted each pass, never cached. A repo gains a remote the moment someone runs `git remote add` + `git push`; the next survey sees it and routes it back to the default GitHub path. ## Survey + sweep: blank GitHub columns are expected In [`workspace-survey`](../workspace-survey/SKILL.md) and [`maintenance-sweep`](../maintenance-sweep/SKILL.md) a local-only repo is still a real project (the `CLAUDE.md` active-flag and the `.git/` test are unchanged). What changes is that every GitHub-derived column is blank by design: - Open PRs, draft PRs, open issues, CI state (survey) -- record `-`. - Stars, forks, issues/PRs split, downloads (sweep axes a, b, c) -- record `-`. A blank GitHub column on a local-only repo is the correct readout, not a failed `gh` call. Do not emit an error, do not retry, and do not drop the repo from the report. The survey already degrades each `gh` axis to `-` on a missing signal; this skill states the rule: detect no-remote up front and skip the `gh` axes deliberately rather than letting each one fail. ## Dispatch: commits + CLAUDE.md, not issues + PRs The GitHub-centric dispatch flow has no anchor here. There is no issue to read as the spec ([`runner-issue-authority`](../runner-issue-authority/SKILL.md) has nothing to point at) and no PR to open ([`draft-pr-first`](../draft-pr-first/SKILL.md) has no remote to push to). Route work to the two durable layers that do exist locally: - **The spec lives in CLAUDE.md or the prompt.** With no issue, the task definition comes from a `## Pending work` entry in the repo's CLAUDE.md, or directly from the dispatch prompt. Hand the worker the slice it needs in the prompt rather than an issue number. - **The work lands as commits.** With no PR, the unit of work completes when the change is committed to the local branch (or to `main` directly for a solo local repo). The commit message is the durable record of what changed, in place of a PR body. - **Decisions and follow-ups land in CLAUDE.md.** Findings that would have become an issue go into a `## Pending work` entry instead -- CLAUDE.md is the only durable, re-readable home a cold restart can pick up from (see [`durable-context`](../durable-context/SKILL.md)). Everything else from the runner lifecycle that does not depend on a remote still applies: a single focused commit, tests before commit, conventional-commit messages. ## Maintenance sweep: which axes survive The seven-axis sweep degrades to the axes that read local state. Per [`maintenance-sweep`](../maintenance-sweep/SKILL.md): | Axis | Local-only behavior | |---|---| | (a) Stars / forks | Skip -- `-`. Needs `gh api`. | | (b) Issues / PRs split | Skip -- `-`. Needs `gh api`. | | (c) Package downloads | Skip unless the repo publishes a package independent of GitHub; usually `-`. | | (d) Release due? | Keep, against **local tags**. `git describe --tags --abbrev=0` then `git log <last_tag>..HEAD` -- no `origin/main` anchor and no registry cross-check, just local tags vs local `HEAD`. | | (e) Test run | Keep, unchanged. Run the project's own test command; record `pass` / `fail` / `-`. | | (f) Stale CLAUDE.md | Keep, unchanged. Compare last CLAUDE.md touch against last commit overall. | | (g) Branch cleanup | Keep, over **local branches only**. `git branch --merged` against the local default branch; drop the `gh pr list` PR-state cross-reference (no PRs exist), so a branch is a candidate purely on merged-or-stale by local commit date. | Do not fail the sweep because a repo has no remote. The release-due axis loses its registry cross-check (there is no published version to reconcile), so "release due" here means local unreleased conventional commits since the last local tag, full stop. ## Anti-patterns - **Treating an empty `gh` result as an error.** A local-only repo has no stars, issues, or PRs by definition; that is a `-`, not a failure. Detect no-remote and skip the `gh` axes deliberately. - **Dropping a local-only repo from the survey.** It is still an active project if it has a CLAUDE.md. Blank GitHub columns, present in the report. - **Looking for an issue to read or a PR to open.** There is none. The spec is CLAUDE.md or the prompt; the output is a commit and a CLAUDE.md entry. - **Anchoring release-due on `origin/main`.** No remote means no `origin/main`. Anchor on local tags vs local `HEAD`. - **Cross-referencing branch cleanup against PR state.** No PRs exist; judge local branches on merged-or-stale alone. - **Caching the no-remote verdict.** Reconstitute it each pass; a repo can gain a remote at any time and route back to the default path. ## Related - [`workspace-survey`](../workspace-survey/SKILL.md) -- the project map this skill blanks the GitHub columns of for no-remote repos. - [`maintenance-sweep`](../maintenance-sweep/SKILL.md) -- the seven-axis health pass this skill degrades to the local axes. - [`durable-context`](../durable-context/SKILL.md) -- why CLAUDE.md plus commits is the durable substrate when issues and PRs are absent. - [`runner-issue-authority`](../runner-issue-authority/SKILL.md) -- the issue-is-the-spec rule that has nothing to point at locally. - [`release-audit-anchoring`](../release-audit-anchoring/SKILL.md) -- the `origin/main` + registry discipline that degrades to local tags vs local `HEAD` with no remote.