contribution-system

name	contribution-system
description	Canonical reference for all contribution artifact schemas, templates, folder naming conventions, file format rules, and workflow patterns (progressive disclosure, two-gate system, constraint discovery, routing) used across dev-strategy workflow skills.
skills-depend-on	["design-principles"]

Contribution System

Standardized conventions for contribution artifacts, folder naming, directory structure, and workflow patterns used across all dev-strategy workflow skills.

What This Skill Provides

This skill is the canonical reference for:

• Artifact schemas — Exact structure of decision-log.yaml, context-handoff.md, design-doc.md
• Folder naming conventions — Sequential numbering (NNN-phase-X-[type]-[specialty]-[agent])
• Directory structure — Where artifacts live and how they relate
• Templates — Ready-to-use starting points for all artifact types
• Lookup table — Find the right artifact for any question

Load this skill when:

• Creating or contributing to a dev-strategy plan
• Unsure where to find specific information about a feature
• Starting a new contribution and need folder naming rules
• Writing decision logs, context handoffs, or design docs

Core References

Structure & Naming:

• artifact-system.md — Directory structure and artifact organization
• folder-naming.md — Sequential naming convention for contributions
• decision-schema.md — Unified decision-log.yaml schema and why it's unified

Artifact Schemas by Type:

• implementation-artifacts.md — Implementation/review contribution schemas
• design-artifacts.md — Design contribution schemas (design-doc.md, decision-log.yaml, context-handoff.md)
• strategy-artifacts.md — Strategy contribution schemas (planning phase output)

Templates

For decision-log.yaml (implementation contributions):

• MANDATORY Generate using: diffviz templates decision-log > decision-log.yaml
• This ensures your template always matches the current schema
• MANDATORY Validate with: diffviz validate decision-log decision-log.yaml

Reference templates (design, strategy, other artifacts):

• context-handoff-template.md
• design-doc-template.md

Design templates:

• design-doc-template.md

Strategy (planning) templates:

• code-context-template.md
• context-document-template.md
• implementation-roadmap-template.md
• steel-thread-roadmap-template.md

Finding the Right Artifact

When you need information about a feature, use this table to find the right artifact:

Question	Answer From	Location
"What am I building?"	context-document.md	Plan root
"What's the overall execution strategy?"	implementation-roadmap.md	Plan root
"What functions/classes are relevant?"	code-context.md	Plan root
"Why was this architecture chosen?"	decision-log.yaml	Plan root
"What changed in this contribution?"	decision-log.yaml	contributions/NNN-.../
"Where must a reviewer scrutinize decision #3?"	decision-log.yaml → code_impacts	contributions/NNN-.../
"What should the next phase focus on?"	context-handoff.md	contributions/NNN-.../
"What's the design for error handling?"	design-doc.md	contributions/NNN-design-.../
"What design constraints exist?"	decision-log.yaml (design variant)	contributions/NNN-design-.../
"How do I get oriented quickly?"	context-handoff.md	contributions/NNN-.../

Progressive Disclosure Rule: Always start with context-handoff.md in a contribution, then dive into decision-log.yaml for details.

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Workflow Patterns Reference

This skill also defines workflow patterns used across all dev-strategy skills. Load these references as needed:

• Execution Requirements Template — Standard outcome-based structure for all skills (UNDERSTANDING → EXECUTION → TRANSFER)
• Progressive Disclosure — How to read contributions efficiently (start with context-handoff.md)
• Onboarding Guide Generation — Generating codebase orientation guides with Explore agent
• Two-Gate System — Design gates in planning and implementation (Last Responsible Moment)
• Constraint Discovery — AskUserQuestion patterns for gathering real constraints
• Routing Patterns — Determining next skill by reading roadmap state