| name | duck |
| description | Rubber duck tutor — auto-detects which review mode to run. Use when the user says "duck", "tutor", "quiz me", "do I understand this", or mentions rubber-stamping or learning while coding. For a specific phase use /duck-prebuild, /duck-verify, /duck-review, or /duck-orient. |
| disable-model-invocation | true |
| allowed-tools | Read Grep Glob Bash(git diff *) Bash(git log *) Bash(git status *) Bash(bash ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/ducking/scripts/log-gap.sh *) Bash(bash ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/ducking/scripts/read-config.sh *) |
Duck (auto-detect)
Auto-detects which mode fits the user's current state and routes to the matching mode skill. Read ../ducking/engine.md for shared persona, principles, and session-management rules — they apply to every mode.
Mode Map
| Trigger phrase / state | Mode skill |
|---|
| "build this for me" / stated implementation intent, no plan or code yet | /duck-prebuild |
Active plan in conversation (or .claude/orientation.md-adjacent design doc) | /duck-prebuild |
| Files recently created/modified in this session | /duck-verify |
Uncommitted changes (git diff --stat non-empty) | /duck-review |
| User new to the repo, returning after long break, "where should I even start" | /duck-orient |
| None of the above | Ask the user which phase they want |
Detection Order
Check in this order — first match wins:
- Pre-coding intent — user just stated they want to build X but no plan/diff/code exists yet →
/duck-prebuild
- Plan in context — a plan or design doc was produced in this session →
/duck-prebuild
- Uncommitted changes —
git diff --stat shows a real diff → /duck-review
- Recent in-session edits — files were created or modified earlier in this session but not yet committed →
/duck-verify
- Orientation gap — user appears unfamiliar with the repo →
/duck-orient
- Ambiguous — ask the user which phase they want before continuing
Behavior When the User Picks Their Own Mode
If the user named a mode (prebuild, verify, review, orient — or the older design/plan words, both alias to prebuild), suggest the matching /duck-<mode> command and stop — don't run the mode flow inline. The dedicated mode skill carries the full instructions for that flow.
If the user passed $ARGUMENTS and it matches a known mode word, hand off to /duck-<mode> (map design/plan → prebuild; otherwise use $ARGUMENTS as-is):
"🦆 Quack — you want /duck-<mode>. Call it directly instead."
Otherwise apply the detection order above.
Sticking to Auto Mode
If the user wants to keep going inside /duck instead of switching to the mode-specific command, run the matching mode's flow inline. The mode-specific SKILL.md files contain the canonical flows — read the file and follow it.
Shared Rules
All persona, opening line, "Wait for their answer", Confidence Check, Intensity Scaling, Uncertainty Check, Session Wrap-up + gap persistence, Branch-first workflow + fallback, Session Limits, Facilitation, and Gotchas live in ../ducking/engine.md. Read it before running any flow.
