project-management-skill

name	Project Management Skill
description	Alex project management patterns: rapid AI-assisted iteration, meditation-based retrospectives, session-focused work, and safety-first release gates.

Project Management Skill

Alex project management: rapid iteration, meditation-based retrospectives, session-based work, and safety-first release gates.

Our Management Philosophy

Based on actual project history (v3.6.0 → v4.2.5 in ~6 days vs months planned):

Principle	Description
Rapid Iteration	Ship often, consolidate learnings, iterate
Meditation as Retrospective	Post-session consolidation, not scheduled meetings
Skills Through Doing	"Skills are earned through doing, not declared by planning"
Single Source of Truth	One roadmap (Imperative I6), living documents
Safety Before Speed	Pre-release gates are non-negotiable
Git as Safety Net	Commit before risky operations (Imperative I5)
AI-Assisted Acceleration	Expect 4-6× faster than human estimates

---

The Alex Work Cycle

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    WORK SESSION                             │
│  Focus → Build → Test → Ship → Repeat until natural pause   │
└──────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┘
                           │
                           ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    MEDITATION                               │
│  Reflect → Connect → Persist → Integrate                    │
│  Creates: .prompt.md, .instructions.md, skill updates       │
└──────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┘
                           │
                           ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    CONSOLIDATION                            │
│  Update roadmap → Global knowledge → Dream maintenance      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Session Types

Session Type	Duration	Output
Work Sprint	Variable	Code, docs, features
Meditation	15-45 min	Memory files, insights
Dream	5-15 min	Synapse validation, health report
Release	30-60 min	Published version, changelog

When to Meditate

• After completing a feature or bug fix
• Before ending a work day
• After learning something significant
• When insights are accumulating uncommitted
• After a crisis or recovery

---

📋 Planning Document Standards

Task Lists First (MANDATORY)

All planning documents MUST have task lists at the top (after title/metadata).

Why:

• Immediate visibility into what needs doing
• Quick status check without scrolling
• Aligns with how Alex and humans scan documents

Required Structure

# [Document Title]

> Metadata (created, owner, status)

---

## 📋 Task List (Quick Reference)

[Remaining tasks with status, dual effort columns]

[Progress summary table]

---

## [Rest of document...]

Alex Effort Estimation

Always use dual-column effort estimates:

Task	Human Est.	Alex Est.	Status
Research X	4h	🔄 25m	⬜
Implement Y	8h	⏱️ 1h	⬜

Effort units:

• ⚡ Instant (<5m)
• 🔄 Short (5-30m)
• ⏱️ Medium (30-60m)
• 📦 Session (1-2h)
• 🗓️ Multi-session (2h+)

See alex-effort-estimation skill for methodology.

---

Roadmap Management

Living Document Pattern

Our roadmap is a living document, not a frozen spec.

Element	Update Frequency
Current version	Every release
Task status	As completed
Estimates	Retroactively with actuals
Timeline	Adjust based on velocity

Unified Roadmap (Imperative I6)

"One platform, one roadmap. Separate roadmaps caused Phoenix chaos."

• A unified roadmap is the single source of truth for any project
• Detailed plans feed INTO the roadmap, not alongside it
• Never maintain parallel task lists

---

Release Process

Pre-Release Gates (Non-Negotiable)

Gate	Check	Tool
Version bumped	package.json updated	Manual
Compiles	No TypeScript errors	npm run compile
Lints	No errors (warnings OK)	npm run lint
Changelog	Entry for this version	Visual review
Committed	No uncommitted changes	git status

See release-management.instructions.md for full protocol.

If User Says "Just Publish"

"I understand the urgency, but our release process exists to prevent issues that have bitten us before. Let me quickly run through the critical items - it'll only take 2 minutes and could save hours of rollback pain."

---

Safety Imperatives (From Phoenix Recovery)

#	Imperative	Rationale
I1	Never test in Master Alex workspace	Source of truth protection
I2	Always use F5 + Sandbox for testing	Safe dev environment
I3	Never run Initialize on Master	Would overwrite living mind
I4	Never run Reset on Master	Would delete architecture
I5	Commit before risky operations	Git is safety net
I6	One platform, one roadmap	Prevents identity divergence
I7	Root .github/ is source of truth	Extension .github/ is copy

---

Chronicle Pattern

For significant events (crises, major releases, architecture changes), create a Chronicle:

# Chronicle: [Event Title]

**Date**: YYYY-MM-DD
**Status**: Living document

## The Setup: What Happened
## The Crisis/Challenge  
## The Solution
## Lessons Learned

Example: chronicle-2026-01-30-phoenix-to-dawn.md

---

Velocity Tracking

Track Acceleration Factor

Version	Human Est.	Alex Actual	Acceleration
v4.2.5	8.5h	2h	4.25×
v4.1.0	16h	3h	5.3×

Use this data to calibrate future estimates.

Anti-Patterns

❌ Don't estimate in human hours only - Always include Alex estimate
❌ Don't skip meditation - Unconsolidated knowledge is lost
❌ Don't maintain parallel task lists - Single source of truth
❌ Don't push without gates - Release process exists for reasons
❌ Don't test in Master Alex - Use Sandbox (Imperative I1)

---

Traditional Approaches (Reference)

For enterprise contexts requiring formal PM:

PMBOK Process Groups

Group	Purpose	Our Equivalent
Initiating	Authorize project	Create roadmap section
Planning	Define approach	Implementation plan
Executing	Do the work	Work sessions
Monitoring	Track progress	Todo list tracking
Closing	Formal completion	Meditation + release

Agile Elements We Use

Scrum Concept	Our Pattern
Sprint	Work session (variable)
Retrospective	Meditation session
Backlog	Roadmap remaining tasks
Definition of Done	Pre-release gates

When to Use Traditional PM

• Enterprise projects with external stakeholders
• Regulated environments requiring documentation
• Multi-team coordination with formal handoffs
• Fixed-bid contracts with milestone payments

---

Synapses

High-Strength Connections

• [alex-effort-estimation/SKILL.md] (Critical, Uses, Forward) — "Effort estimation methodology"
• [release-management.instructions.md] (Critical, Gates, Forward) — "Release process"
• [meditation/SKILL.md] (High, Complements, Bidirectional) — "Consolidation as retrospective"

Medium-Strength Connections

• [testing-strategies/SKILL.md] (Medium, Plans, Forward) — "Testing in project schedule"
• [release-preflight/SKILL.md] (Medium, Uses, Forward) — "Release planning within projects"
• [global-knowledge/SKILL.md] (Medium, Captures, Forward) — "Cross-project learnings"

Supporting Connections

• [chronicle-2026-01-30-phoenix-to-dawn.md] (Low, Documents, Forward) — "Why safety matters"
• [bootstrap-learning/SKILL.md] (Low, Accelerates, Forward) — "Learning within projects"