| name | working-on-an-issue |
| description | Use when asked to work on, read, or implement a GitHub issue - structured understand, plan, verify, implement, verify workflow with developer approval gates and mandatory verification |
Working on an Issue
Announce at start: "I'm using the working-on-an-issue skill to implement this GitHub issue."
Overview
A structured workflow for implementing GitHub issues with verification.
Core Principle: Understand → Plan → Verify → Implement → Verify Again
When to Use
- Developer asks to work on a GitHub issue
- Developer asks to implement an issue
- Developer provides an issue URL or number
Pre-flight Checklist
Before starting:
The Process
1. Read and Understand the Issue
Get the issue content via:
- GitHub CLI:
gh issue view <number>
- Ask user to paste the issue content
- Use GitHub MCP tools if available
Clarify before proceeding:
- If requirements are ambiguous, ask specific questions
- If acceptance criteria are missing, propose them
- If scope is unclear, confirm boundaries
Do not assume or invent requirements not in the issue.
2. Write an Implementation Plan
Use the superpowers:writing-plans skill (if available) or create a brief plan covering:
- What changes are needed
- Which files will be modified/created
- Order of implementation
- Risks or unknowns
Save to docs/plans/issue-<number>-plan.md and get developer approval before proceeding.
3. Write a Verification Plan
Use the writing-verification-plans skill to create acceptance tests for the issue.
4. Implement
- Follow TDD practices if
TDD.rules.md is present (a project-level TDD rules file, if the repo defines one)
- Commit after each logical change
- Pause and ask if you hit unexpected complexity
5. Execute Verification
Run the verification plan. Report results using the verification log format from the writing-verification-plans skill.
Absolute Rules
- No assumptions: Ask if anything is unclear
- No scope creep: Only implement what's specified
- Verification required: Task is incomplete until verification passes or developer confirms manual verification
- Blocked = Stop: If blocked, stop and ask the developer — do not guess.
