setup-approach

name	setup-approach
description	Change the development approach in CLAUDE.md without re-running /setup-agents. Triggers on 'change approach', 'switch approach', 'setup approach', 'reconfigure approach'.
version	0.1.0

/setup-approach

Change the development approach for Batch Creative Studio without re-running the full /setup-agents dialogue. This skill directly edits the "Development Approach" section in CLAUDE.md.

---

Steps

1. Read current approach

   Read CLAUDE.md and look for a section starting with ## Development Approach:.

   • If found: extract the approach name by reading the text after the colon (e.g., ## Development Approach: Iterative + Timeboxing → current approach is "Iterative + Timeboxing"). Report: "Current approach: "
   • Also check for a ### Secondary Approaches subsection. If present, extract secondary approach names from the approach content headings within that subsection.
   • If not found: report "No approach currently configured."

   The approach name in the heading is always one of the option names from Step 3:

   • Iterative + Timeboxing
   • Shape Up
   • TDD-First
   • Trunk-Based
   • YAGNI/KISS
   • Custom

2. Load approach reference

   Read docs/approaches-reference.md.

   • If the file does not exist: stop and report "Approach reference file not found. Run /setup-agents to generate it." Do not proceed.

3. Present options

   Show all 5 approaches with a one-line description. Mark the current selection (if any):

   Development Approaches (select 1-3, first is primary):
   
   1. Iterative + Timeboxing — Ship working increments every 1-3 days
   2. Shape Up — 6-week cycles, 2-week cooldown, appetites not estimates
   3. TDD-First — Tests before implementation, coverage as quality signal
   4. Trunk-Based — Single main branch, short-lived branches, feature flags
   5. YAGNI/KISS — Build the minimum, refactor on second similar case
   6. Custom — (only if a custom approach exists in the reference file)
   7. None — Remove all approach sections entirely
   
   Current: <primary name> [+ secondary names, or "none"]
   

   Only show option 6 (Custom) if docs/approaches-reference.md contains a ## Custom section. If no custom approach has been defined, show options 1-5 and 7 (None) only.

   The developer may select 1 to 3 approaches. The first selected is the primary (sets cadence and phase structure). Additional selections are secondary (layer rules on top).

   Wait for the developer to select. Do NOT proceed to Step 3a until they respond.

3a. Conflict check (run this before anything else after the developer selects)

Check the selected combination against the conflict matrix:

Pair	Conflict
Iterative + Timeboxing + Shape Up	Cadence conflict: 1-3 day cycles vs 6-week cycles

If the developer selected a conflicting pair, you MUST stop and warn before proceeding:

"⚠️ Conflict: Iterative + Timeboxing (1-3 day cycles) and Shape Up (6-week cycles) have incompatible cadences. Please drop one, or type 'confirm' to proceed anyway with awareness of the conflict."

Wait for the developer to respond. Do NOT proceed to Step 4 until they either drop an approach or explicitly confirm the conflict. This is a hard gate.

If no conflict: proceed to Step 4 immediately.

4. Confirm change

   If the developer selected the same combination as current: "Already using this configuration. No changes needed." Stop.

   Otherwise, confirm before editing:

   Switch to <primary> [+ <secondary>, ...]? [yes / no]
   

   Wait for explicit confirmation. Do not edit without it.

5. Apply the change

   If the developer selected approaches (1-5):

   Read the matching sections from docs/approaches-reference.md. Each section starts at ## <Approach Name> (e.g., ## Iterative + Timeboxing) and ends before the next ## heading (or end of file). Extract the body content below the ## heading — do not include the reference file's ## heading itself.

   Reference file section headings:

   • ## Iterative + Timeboxing
   • ## Shape Up
   • ## TDD-First
   • ## Trunk-Based
   • ## YAGNI/KISS
   • ## Custom

   In CLAUDE.md:

   Primary approach:

   • Create/maintain the heading ## Development Approach: <approach name> (e.g., ## Development Approach: Iterative + Timeboxing). Insert the body content from the reference file below this heading.
   • If an approach section already exists: replace everything from ## Development Approach: up to (but not including) ### Secondary Approaches or the next ## heading.
   • If no approach section exists: insert before the ## Development Workflow section. If that section does not exist, append at the end of the file.

   Secondary approaches (if any):

   • After the primary approach content, add a subsection with this exact heading: ### Secondary Approaches (plural, no approach names in the heading — never ### Secondary Approach: <name>).
   • Follow the heading with this exact precedence note: "The following approaches layer additional rules on top of the primary approach above. Where rules conflict, the primary approach takes precedence."
   • Insert each secondary approach's content from the reference file, separated by ---.
   • If no secondary approaches were selected, remove the ### Secondary Approaches subsection if it exists.

   If the developer selected "None" (6):

   Remove the entire ## Development Approach: ... section from CLAUDE.md — everything from that heading up to (but not including) the next ## heading (including any ### Secondary Approaches subsection).

6. Verify

   Read CLAUDE.md and confirm:

   • If approach selected: the ## Development Approach: heading exists with the correct primary approach name and content
   • If secondary approaches: the ### Secondary Approaches subsection exists with the correct secondary approach content
   • If "None": no ## Development Approach: section exists

   Report the result: "Approach set to " [+ " with secondary: , "] or "Approach removed."

---

Rules

• Only modify CLAUDE.md. Do not touch any other files.
• Use the content from docs/approaches-reference.md verbatim. Do not summarize or rephrase.
• Always confirm before making changes. This is a hard gate.
• The secondary approaches heading is ALWAYS ### Secondary Approaches — never ### Secondary Approach: <name> or any other variation.
• The conflict check (Step 3a) is a hard gate. Never skip it, never proceed to Step 4 without completing it first.
• Maximum 3 approaches total (1 primary + up to 2 secondary).
• If CLAUDE.md does not exist, stop and suggest running /setup-agents first.
• If docs/approaches-reference.md does not exist, stop and suggest running /setup-agents first.