approve-idea

name	approve-idea
description	Mark a named idea as approved at an approval gate and move it to the next lifecycle phase. Use when the user approves an idea, says to mark an idea approved, asks to move an idea to the next stage, or asks to clear it from the approval queue in DASHBOARD.md.

Approve Idea

Use this skill when the user gives an idea name and wants to approve it.

Do not use Trello. Only use files in this repo.

Follow SYSTEM_OVERVIEW.md and IDEA_LIFECYCLE.md for lifecycle rules and valid statuses.

Inputs

Get these from the user request or by resolving from files:

• Idea name, required.
• Initiative and project, if provided.

If the idea name matches more than one row across initiatives or projects, stop and ask the user to choose the correct one.

Approval workflow

Run all steps in order.

1. Locate the idea row in the correct initiative ideas.md file.
2. Confirm current status is In Review. If it is not In Review, report the current status and ask whether to continue anyway.
3. Identify the stage that was just finished.
   • Prefer the Awaiting your approval row in DASHBOARD.md.
   • If no tracker row exists, infer from the linked artifact in Notes / next action or from the idea folder.
4. Determine the next lifecycle status.
   • Elaboration (thin idea) approved -> set status to Brief when brief drafting is next, or Backlog if IDEA_LIFECYCLE.md says the row should stay there until Brief starts. Match what the approval row says.
   • Brief approved -> default PressureTest. Exception: if that idea’s ideas.md Notes include an explicit Pressure Test waiver (see IDEA_LIFECYCLE.md Waiver - skip Pressure Test, e.g. a line starting with Waiver: skip Pressure Test), set status to Research instead.
   • Pressure Test approved (or tracker says 02_pressure_test / pressure test stage finished) -> Research.
   • Research Part 1 approved -> keep status Research and set notes to continue 02b_customer_discovery.md.
   • Research approved (full research, both parts done) -> PRD.
   • PRD approved -> Design.
   • Design approved -> Build.
   • Build approved -> Evaluation.
   • Evaluation approved -> Launch.
   • Launch approved -> Marketing.
   • Marketing approved -> Growth.
   • If stage text is custom, map it to the nearest lifecycle stage and explain the mapping in your summary.
5. Update the stage artifact document that was approved.
   • Change its top status line from In Review to Approved.
   • Add an approval stamp line near the top, Approved on: YYYY-MM-DD.
   • Add or refresh a one line Next: note that points to the next artifact or next action.
6. Update the idea row in initiative ideas.md.
   • Set Status to the next lifecycle status from step 4.
   • Set Last updated to today, YYYY-MM-DD.
   • Update Notes / next action to reflect the approved state and the exact next step.
7. Update DASHBOARD.md.
   • Remove the matching row from Awaiting your approval.
   • If approval included a revision request instead of true approval, keep the row and refresh Notes.
8. If you made substantive progress on the initiative today, set that initiative Last initiative work to today in the Initiatives table.
9. Return a short completion summary that names:
   • The approved idea.
   • The new status.
   • The document updated.
   • Confirmation that the approval queue row was removed.

Guardrails

• Keep names exact. Project and Idea names must match folder names and rows exactly.
• Do not modify unrelated approval rows.
• Do not move to Done from approval flow unless the user explicitly says the work is complete.
• If required files are missing, stop and report what is missing before editing.