| name | start-work |
| description | Start work on a new task: read a Jira ticket, create a git worktree with a properly named branch, produce a coding plan, and move the ticket to In Progress. Use when: starting a new task, picking up a ticket, beginning a feature, start work, new worktree. |
| argument-hint | Optional: Jira ticket number (e.g. DT-1234) |
Start Work
Full workflow to go from a ticket (or description) to a ready-to-code workspace with a plan.
Step 1: Claim the ticket
If a Jira ticket was provided (or can be inferred from context):
- Read the ticket by following the
jira-read-ticket skill
- Follow the
jira-transition skill targeting "In Progress" — this also assigns the ticket to you if it's unassigned
- Derive a short kebab-case slug from the ticket summary:
- Lowercase, strip filler words, replace spaces with hyphens
- Keep it ≤ 40 chars (e.g. "Add discount code field to checkout" →
add-discount-code-checkout)
If no ticket, ask: "What are you working on? (brief description for the branch name)" and derive the slug from the answer.
Step 2: Create the worktree (if needed)
Check whether Claude is already running inside a linked worktree:
git rev-parse --git-dir
git rev-parse --git-common-dir
If the two outputs differ, you are already in a linked worktree — skip to Step 3.
If they are the same (main checkout), follow the create-worktree skill, passing the ticket key (if any) and the derived slug as context for the branch name.
Step 3: Produce a coding plan
Follow the plan-work skill using the ticket (or the user's description) fetched in Step 1.
Step 4: Hand off to the user
Present the coding plan. If a new worktree was created in Step 2, also share the worktree path. If already in a worktree, just confirm the branch and present the plan.
