nmg-sdlc

Interview user about a feature need, create groomed GitHub issue with BDD acceptance criteria. Use when user says 'create issue', 'new feature', 'report a bug', 'log a bug', 'request a feature', 'I need a...', 'file an issue', 'draft an issue', 'how do I create an issue', or 'how to file a feature request'. Do NOT use for writing specs, implementing code, or creating PRs. Supports feature and bug templates with codebase investigation and milestone assignment. First step in the SDLC pipeline — followed by $nmg-sdlc:start-issue.

Initialize a project for the SDLC: bootstrap greenfield projects with steering interview, VERSION + manifest setup, v1 milestone seeding, and starter issues via $nmg-sdlc:draft-issue; or reconcile brownfield specs from closed issues, merged PR diffs, and the current source tree. Use when user says 'onboard project', 'bootstrap project', 'initialize project', 'adopt nmg-sdlc', 'set up nmg-sdlc', 'I need specs for an existing codebase', or 'reconcile specs from history'. Do NOT use for new feature specs (use $nmg-sdlc:write-spec), template upgrades (use $nmg-sdlc:upgrade-project), or issue/PR creation. Delegates to $nmg-sdlc:init-config, $nmg-sdlc:upgrade-project, and $nmg-sdlc:draft-issue where appropriate. Pipeline position: runs once per project lifetime, before $nmg-sdlc:draft-issue.

Upgrade a project to the latest nmg-sdlc contract — relocate legacy `.codex/steering/` and `.codex/specs/` to the project root, update specs, steering docs, and configs to current template standards. Use when user says 'upgrade project', 'update templates', 'check for outdated docs', 'sync with latest plugin', 'relocate specs', 'how do I update my project', or 'bring my project up to date'. Detects the legacy `.codex/{steering,specs}` directory layout and migrates it in place via `git mv`, then diffs headings against current templates and merges missing sections while preserving all user content. Utility skill — run after plugin updates, outside the main SDLC pipeline.

Verify implementation against spec, fix findings, review architecture and test coverage, update GitHub issue. Use when user says 'verify specs', 'check implementation', 'review the code against spec', 'validate the code', 'check if done', 'run verification for #N', 'how do I verify the implementation', 'how to check if the feature is done', or 'is this ready to merge'. Do NOT use for writing specs, implementing code, or creating PRs. Includes SOLID/security/performance review, exercise testing for plugin changes, and auto-fix of findings. Fifth step in the SDLC pipeline — follows $nmg-sdlc:write-code and precedes $nmg-sdlc:open-pr.

Read specs for current branch, enter plan mode, then execute implementation tasks sequentially. Use when user says 'implement the spec', 'start coding', 'build the feature', 'implement issue #N', 'resume implementation', 'how do I implement this', 'how to start coding', 'write the code', or 'build it'. Do NOT use for writing specs, verifying implementations, or creating PRs. Reads requirements, design, and tasks from specs/ and executes them in order. Fourth step in the SDLC pipeline — follows $nmg-sdlc:write-spec and precedes $nmg-sdlc:verify-code.

Create BDD specifications from a GitHub issue: requirements, technical design, and task breakdown. Use when user says 'write specs', 'create specifications', 'spec this issue', 'spec #N', 'formalize requirements', 'how do I write specs', 'how to spec a feature', 'design this feature', or 'plan the implementation'. Do NOT use for creating issues, implementing code, or verifying implementations. Produces requirements.md, design.md, tasks.md, and feature.gherkin with human review gates. Third step in the SDLC pipeline — follows $nmg-sdlc:start-issue and precedes $nmg-sdlc:write-code.

Generate an SDLC runner config for the current project. Use when user says 'generate config', 'set up SDLC runner', 'configure runner', 'init config', 'how do I set up the runner', or asks about sdlc-config.json. Creates a ready-to-use sdlc-config.json from the template with project-specific paths. Prerequisite for $nmg-sdlc:run-loop.

Select a GitHub issue, create a linked feature branch, and set the issue to In Progress. Use when user says 'start issue', 'pick up issue', 'begin working on #N', 'start #N', 'what should I work on', 'how do I start an issue', 'how to begin work on an issue', or 'kick off issue #N'. Do NOT use for creating issues, writing specs, or implementing code. Fetches milestones, presents issue selection, creates branch via gh issue develop, and updates project board status. Second step in the SDLC pipeline — follows $nmg-sdlc:draft-issue and precedes $nmg-sdlc:write-spec.

Run the full SDLC pipeline loop from within an active Codex session. Use when user says 'run the SDLC loop', 'run loop', 'run SDLC for #N', 'process issue end-to-end', 'run pipeline', 'how do I run the SDLC loop', or 'kick off automation'. Invokes sdlc-runner.mjs as a subprocess; the runner starts nested `codex exec` sessions for each SDLC step. Orchestrates the unattended pipeline: start issue → write spec → write code → simplify → verify code → open PR → monitor CI → merge.

Prepare delivery and create a pull request with spec-driven summary, linking GitHub issue and spec documents. Use when user says 'create PR', 'open pull request', 'submit for review', 'push for review', 'ready to merge', 'make a PR for issue #N', 'how do I create a PR', 'how do I open a pull request', or 'ship this'. Stages eligible work, applies the version bump, commits, rebases safely, pushes, and creates the PR. Seventh step in the SDLC pipeline — follows $nmg-sdlc:verify-code and precedes $nmg-sdlc:address-pr-comments.

Close the PR review loop locally: read the automated reviewer's unresolved threads on an open PR, classify each as clear-fix / ambiguous / disagreement, apply fixes via $nmg-sdlc:write-code + $nmg-sdlc:verify-code, reply and resolve each successful thread, push with plain git push, and loop until the PR is review-clean. Use when the user says 'address PR comments', 'address review findings', 'respond to the reviewer', 'close the review loop', 'handle reviewer comments on #N', 'fix PR review findings', 'resolve review threads', 'clean up the PR review', or 'run the review loop'. Do NOT use for creating PRs, handling CI failures, or human-reviewer comments — those are owned by $nmg-sdlc:open-pr (creation, CI) and are intentionally out of scope for this skill (human comments). Final SDLC pipeline step — follows $nmg-sdlc:open-pr.

Deprecated compatibility stub. Use $nmg-sdlc:open-pr instead; open-pr now stages eligible work, applies version bumps, commits, rebases safely, pushes, and creates the pull request in one delivery step.

Analyze defect specs to identify spec-writing gaps and produce actionable learnings. Use when user says 'run retrospective', 'analyze defects', 'review past bugs', 'what can we learn from bugs', 'update retrospective', 'how do I run a retrospective', or 'learn from our bugs'. Produces steering/retrospective.md that $nmg-sdlc:write-spec reads to avoid repeating past failures. Utility skill — run periodically, outside the main SDLC pipeline.

Review changed files for behavior-preserving simplification opportunities, then apply worthwhile cleanup fixes across reuse, code quality, and efficiency without changing feature behavior.

[DEPRECATED — use $nmg-sdlc:upgrade-project instead] This skill was renamed in nmg-sdlc 1.42.0. Invoking $nmg-sdlc:migrate-project prints a deprecation notice pointing to $nmg-sdlc:upgrade-project and exits. Will be removed in the next minor release.

Stop unattended mode and clear runner state. Use when user says 'end loop', 'stop loop', 'kill the runner', 'exit unattended mode', 'disable unattended mode', 'cleanup runner artifacts', or 'stop SDLC automation'. Pairs with $nmg-sdlc:run-loop — signals the runner PID (if live) and removes .codex/unattended-mode and .codex/sdlc-state.json.

Fixture skill used by the skill-inventory audit self-test. Not installed at runtime.

Fixture skill used by the skill-inventory audit self-test. Not installed at runtime.