Grade ONE artifact along ONE named quality dimension and write a verdict JSON to .rpiv/artifacts/verdicts/. Single-pass, no subagents, no fixes — it only judges. Dispatched once per dimension by a workflow's grade panel (a fanout over dimensions); the workflow folds the per-dimension verdicts into an advance/loop decision. Use as a panel member, not standalone.
Design ONE vertical slice from a slice map in isolation — its architecture decisions, file map, key interfaces, integration points, and success criteria — and write a per-slice design doc to .rpiv/artifacts/designs/. Single-pass, no research subagents, no self-review; asks the user only when a genuine design fork blocks the slice. Dispatched once per slice by a design fanout; the per-slice designs are later merged by synthesize. Use as a fanout unit, not standalone.
Write implement-ready code into ONE phase of a synthesized plan — read the whole plan plus the real code the phase touches, then emit a code-bearing replacement for that single `## Phase N:` section to .rpiv/artifacts/elaborations/. Single-pass, no subagents, no self-review, no questions. Dispatched once per phase by an elaborate fanout after synthesize; the per-phase elaborations are folded back into the plan by the deterministic `stitch-elaborations` script, and the grade panel judges the stitched plan. Use as a fanout unit, not standalone.
Answer structured research questions about a codebase using targeted parallel analysis agents, then synthesize findings into a research document in .rpiv/artifacts/research/. Internally dispatches the scope-tracer agent to formulate trace-quality research questions, then answers them. Use when the user wants in-depth research on a codebase area, asks to "research X", or needs answers to architecture or behavior questions before designing changes.
Decompose a research artifact into independent vertical slices — each a self-contained, separately-designable unit — and write a slice map to .rpiv/artifacts/slices/ with a machine-readable `slices:` frontmatter array. A research artifact is required (it is the cut's grounding); confirms the decomposition with you before writing. Also runs in RE-SLICE mode (`--slices <map> --slice-verdicts <v>…`) to STRUCTURALLY re-cut a slice map that failed the design-readiness gate — splitting epics, completing under-cited footings, redistributing frozen coverage units, breaking dependency cycles, renumbering — which a surgical reviser cannot do. Feeds a per-slice design fanout.
Merge N independent per-slice designs (plus the research they rest on) into ONE coherent phased plan in .rpiv/artifacts/plans/ — reconciling cross-slice overlaps, wiring inter-slice integration, and ordering phases by slice dependencies. Single-pass, no subagents, no self-review. The fan-in barrier of a fanout-and-synthesize flow — one phase per slice, plan-compatible so implement/validate consume it unchanged. For large slice maps it also runs hierarchically — as a per-cluster partial (`--as-subplan` turns designs into a subplan) and as the root merge (`--subplans` turns subplans into a plan) — so no single pass must hold every design at once. Use after a per-slice design fanout.
Create structured git commits by analyzing staged and unstaged changes and grouping them logically into one or more commits with clear, descriptive messages. Use when the user asks to commit, says "commit this" or "commit my changes", wants help writing a commit message, or has finished a chunk of work that needs committing.
Verify that an implementation plan was correctly executed by running each phase's success criteria against the working tree and producing a validation report. Use after the implement skill completes, when the user asks to "validate the plan", wants a post-implementation audit, or needs to confirm a feature is fully shipped per its plan.