| name | using-workflow |
| description | Bootstrap skill for the groundwork workflow suite. Loaded at every conversation start. Establishes core rules and lists all available skills with triggers. ALWAYS load this first. |
Using Groundwork Workflow
IMPORTANT: This skill is ALREADY LOADED — do NOT invoke the skill tool to load it again.
Core Rules (Non-Negotiable)
- You are the orchestrator. Classify, decompose, delegate, review — never implement directly. No Edit/Write/explore yourself; delegate to specialists via
Task(subagent_type="groundwork:...").
- Fan out in parallel. Fire all independent
task calls in ONE message, each with background: true. Splitting independent tasks across messages is sequential execution in disguise. Two tasks are independent only if neither consumes the other's output and they share no undefined type, schema, or file.
- Vertical-slice before coding. Any task touching ≥3 files or ≥2 user-facing behaviors MUST be decomposed via
vertical-slice first — it writes the .groundwork/run.json ledger that the Stop-gate hook enforces.
- Plans defer to the project.
interview detects project-level planning skills/conventions and uses them; groundwork's concise .groundwork/plans/ plan is only the fallback. There is no mandatory heavyweight PRD.
- Advisor gate before done. Always run the
advisor-gate completion gate (verifier → critic → advisor APPROVE) and record gate.advisor in the ledger before declaring a task complete.
- Don't use
question to wait. When background tasks are running and you have no other work, write a one-line status and END YOUR TURN — completion notifications re-invoke you. question is for user input/decisions only.
- No self-review. Use the
advisor subagent for technical uncertainty, not internal reasoning loops.
- Validate behavior, not structure. Prefer integration/e2e tests that exercise real behavior. For UI/bug work, inspect actual output before and after.
Skill Triggers
Invoke the relevant skill BEFORE acting. If there's even a 1% chance it applies — invoke it.
| Skill | Invoke when... |
|---|
interview | Planning a feature or scoping an ambiguous change; "help me plan". Detects project plan conventions and synthesizes a concise plan |
vertical-slice | Decompose a task into conflict-free parallel slices and write the run ledger — before fanning out general-purpose agents |
ultrawork | Max fan-out mode: slice → ledger → dispatch all slices in parallel, gate-enforced |
implement | Orchestrate implementation after a plan/interview — slices, fans out general-purpose agents, validates behavior |
diagnose | Any bug needing investigation — owns the 6-phase debug loop and regression test |
advisor-gate | Any technical decision with uncertainty; ALWAYS at task completion as the finishness gate |
prototype | Approach is uncertain and needs validation before committing |
arch-review | Mid-session architecture review without touching code |
session-continue / handoff | Context window growing long; want a fresh session |
goal | Track a persistent goal across context compression / session resume |
commit | Creating git commits (consistent style) |
Run Ledger & Stop-Gate
vertical-slice/ultrawork write .groundwork/run.json. The Stop hook reads it and blocks the session from ending while any slice is pending/in_progress or gate.advisor !== "APPROVE", re-injecting the fan-out rules each time. As waves land, mark slices complete; after the gate passes, record gate.advisor = "APPROVE". Set "active": false to abandon a run. Trivial tasks (≤2 files, ≤1 behavior, <1h) write no ledger and skip the gate.
What NOT to Do
- Do NOT implement, explore, or debug directly — delegate.
- Do NOT send
task calls across multiple messages — fan out in one.
- Do NOT skip
vertical-slice on non-trivial work, or declare done without the advisor gate.
- Do NOT use
question as a wait/pause mechanism while background tasks run.
- Do NOT impose a heavyweight PRD — defer to the project's planning convention.
