| name | triage-work |
| description | Triage focus cards before acting. Determines whether each card needs design, a feature session, or inline work. Use when the user says "start work on X" or references one or more focus cards for implementation. |
Triage Work
When the user requests work on one or more focus cards, DO NOT jump
straight to spawning feature sessions. Run this triage first.
Step 1: Load the cards
For each card ref the user mentioned, run focus show <ref> to get
the full card: title, status, contract items, body, files.
Step 2: Triage each card
Apply this decision tree independently per card:
Is the card specced?
A card is specced if it has:
- Contract items (clear definition of done)
- A body with enough detail to act on
- Files or areas of change identified
If NOT specced --> the card needs design work first. Do not spawn a
session. Tell the user what's missing and offer to help spec it.
Is it big enough for a feature session?
A feature session means: branch + worktree + PR + Copilot review.
That overhead is justified when:
- Changes touch project repo code (not just config/memory)
- Multiple files or non-trivial logic changes
- A PR review adds value
If YES --> feature session. Follow the feature session flow below.
If NO --> inline work. Apply the inline vs. branch rule:
memory/, learnings/ -- safe to commit directly on main- Everything else -- requires a feature branch and PR
- When unsure, default to branch
Step 3: Propose the plan
Present a single triage summary to the user:
Triage: <N> card(s)
#<id> <title>
Verdict: <feature session | inline | needs design>
Reason: <one line>
#<id> <title>
...
Proposed action: <what you'll do>
Wait for user approval before taking any action.
Feature session flow
When triage says "feature session" and the user approves:
coda feature start <id>-<slug> <project_dir> -- create branch +
worktree + session- Write IMPLEMENT.md brief to the worktree. The brief MUST start with:
"The brief is complete. Do not explore. Build what is described."
- Prepend AGENTS.md if the project has one
- Tell the user: session is ready, trigger with
"read @IMPLEMENT.md and execute"
- After PR opens, kick off copilot-review-watcher if available
- After PR merges:
focus done <id> --force, clean up worktree
Multiple cards
When the user requests work on multiple cards at once:
- Triage ALL cards before acting on ANY
- Present one combined proposal
- Wait for approval on the whole plan
- Then execute in order
When to use this skill
- User says "start work on #X" or "implement card X"
- User says "work on these cards" with multiple refs
- User asks to kick off a feature from a focus card
- Any transition from "card exists" to "work begins"
